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AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE Prof. Nellie McKay |
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NewsHour Links:
March 7, 1997:
Nellie McKay and Henry Louis Gates discuss their work on The Norton Anthology of African American Literature.
March 5, 1997:
Author and journalist Keith Richburg questions the importance of his African roots in his book"Out of America."
September 19, 1996:
David Gergen talks to William Julius Wilson, author of "When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor."
May 3, 1996:
Charlayne Hunter-Gault looks at the smash Broadway hit Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk.
April 11, 1996:
An interview with Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker.
April 11, 1996:
A look at the history and cultural roots of Jazz.
Browse the Gergen Dialogue's index.
Browse the NewsHour's Arts and Literature index.
Outside Links:
The University of Wisconsin, Madison's Afro-American studies program.
Web site for Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research.
In 1773 Phillis Wheatley, the first black person to publish a book of poetry in English, was questioned by 18 leading citizens of Boston to determine if the poems were really her own. In 1993, Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In this way the "Norton Anthology of African American Literature," which covers 250 years and 120 writers is about so much more than a collection of stories. This idea is laid out clearly in the preface by the volumes editors Henry Louis Gates and Nellie McKay. "At least since the end of the seventeenth century, Europeans had wondered aloud whether or not the African 'species of men,' as they commonly put it, could ever create formal literature. If they could, the argument ran, then the African variety of humanity and the European were fundamentally related. If not, it seemed clear that the African was designed by nature to be a slave."
Thus, the editors argue, for African Americans literacy and the quest for freedom have been linked from the beginning.
From the little known, Lucy Terry's 1746 poem "Bar Fight," through the more familiar works of W.E.B. DuBois and Ralph Ellison to the contemporary writing of Jamaica Kincaid and Walter Mosley, the anthology lays out a view of America that is both a unique and important part of the country's literary heritage and history.
Our forum asks: What accounts for the African element in African-American literature? What relation does the African literature bear to that of the American tradition? How important has African-American literature been in the movement for freedom and equality in America?
Nellie Y. McKay is Professor of African American and American literature at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has written extensively on the writings of African Americans, especially on black women and autobiography. She is the author of "Jean Toomer, Artist: A Study of His Literary and Work" and the editor of "Critical Essays on Toni Morrison."
Nellie McKay's answers to your questions are below.
Questions asked in this forum:
- Where does African American literature fit into the education system?
- How important is the oral tradition to African American literature?
- How do you balance something like the importance of Black English (Ebonics) with the importance of the need to use standard English in African American literature?
- How did you decide what to put into the anthology and what to leave out?
- What is the reason for the strong female prescence in African American literature?
A question from Marilyn King of Los Angeles, CA:I am really appreciative that a black woman as yourself took it upon yourself to compile a book of African American literature. I am a English major at UCLA and there is not too many Black anthologies here and it is a shame. We are required to read Shakespeare and all of the other authors people consider "classics" and there is hardly a chance to read the African American "classics."
[Editor's note: Could you please comment on where African American Literature fits into today's education system in America and where you'd like to see it be in the future.]
Nellie McKay responds:
I am pleased that Marilyn King appreciates my work with "The Norton Anthology of African American Literature." Please note that four additional women made significant contributions to this book as well. They were among the nine Period Editors who were responsible for making the initial choices of the materials that ended up in the volume. Black or African American literature has not been widely taught in America until recently, and many people do not know of its existence or that it is valuable. That was one of the primary reasons for doing this anthology: to inform the world at large that African Americans have been writing since the early 1700's and have produced a very rich body of a distinct literary tradition. Because this book will be distributed in almost every part of the world in which English is spoken or taught, no one in any of those places will ever again be able to say that they do not know that the literature exists, or they do not know what to read or teach. In our own country, we know it is very important that children and young people of all ages, races, classes, creeds etc are made familiar with this material. It must be part of what we teach from kindergarten to graduate school if we are to have an intelligent and well-informed nation, a populace aware and respectful of the differences among its many groups and equally knowledgeable about the links that binci us to each other.
A question from Tony Okole of Boston, MA:
I noted that you are including a CD along with your anthology. How important is the oral tradition to African American literature.
Nellie McKay responds:
The African American literary tradition began with the oral culture long before any of the materials in it were written down. Throughout their American history, African Americans have used the oral culture as a natural part of black expressive culture. What would our literature be like without the spell-binding sermons that draw large numbers of people to black churches each week? Who can resist the ringing cadences in the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr,, Malcolm X or Jesse Jackson? For one thing, American literature would be a lot poorer. And because the editors of this anthology know how important this oral culture has been and continues to be, we all knew it was critical to include it in the literature we want to preserve. Now it will always be there to teach to young people. We attached the cd to the classroom edition of the book so that everyone who has our book has access to hearing the voices behind the words. They are very powerful voices that give fuller meanings to words on a page.
A question from Courtney Taylor of Rochester, NY:
How do you balance something like the importance of Black English (Ebonics) with the importance of the need to use standard English in African American literature?
Nellie McKay responds:
Black English or Ebonics as some people are calling it (I call it black English) is an integral part of black culture and constitutes one form in which black people communicate with each other. However, the language of the marketplace is standard English, and all Americans need to know how to use it well if they want to get ahead in the world. If you examine the Norton anthology, you will find a lot of black English interwoven into standard English, especially in the poetry. At the same time, there is a lot of standard English too. Black people who use black English need to be also fluent in standard English and feel free to use each in its appropriate time and place. Neither one is better than the other, each serves a different purpose. And since no one in any employment sector will hire someone who speaks only black English, then it's our responsibility to be in command of the language that is the curency of the marketplace as well. As Professor Gates often reminds us, standard English is not only the King's English, it is also the English of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I would add that it was also the English of Frederick Douglass and of W.E. B Du Bois and many others, including the writers included in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature.
A question from Rose Martelli of New York, NY:
How did you decide what to put into the anthology and what to leave out? There must have been quite a few angonizing decisions involved.
Nellie McKay responds:
There were many agonizing decisions as we assembled the Norton. Our criteria included the "first" (such as the first novel, first poem etc.), representativeness: and quality of work. We made sure that women writers were well represented - and we considered things like sexual orientation. The names of the eleven people who worked on this book for ten years are on the spine of our book. In addition, we had a large Board of Advisers (professors) who gave us suggestions based on what they taught and what they thought was important. The book could have been almost twice as large as it is, but at that size we would not have had a book. So, we did the best we could and tried in our selection process to make it as good as we were able to make it. There were many cuttings-back up until the very end, But there were no bitter fights and after ten years of working together on it all eleven scholars remain friends with each other That's really quite remarkable and part of the success of the project
A question from Tim Versteeg of London, ON:
Black women seem to have been a crucial part of African American Literature since it's inception. What is the reason for their strong presence throughout it's history?
Nellie McKay responds:
Sometimes readers complain that all the "good" literature is sad and tends to be about the sufferings of people. That's not completely accurate, but "great" literature is often about the ability of the human spirit to rise or not rise above great trials in life. African American literature has much of that quality and since black women suffered equally with black men they also expressed their strength of will and humanity through literature. One thing they also understood from the beginning: there are great differences between how men see their world and how women see their world. Knowing that, black women have fought to have their voices heard as much as black men have fought to be heard. As Anna Julia Cooper, one of the nineteenth century black women included in The Norton Anthology points out, women do not want to have themselves spoken for by black men. So they have produced a literature of their own. Today more black women writers than ever before have access to publishing and they are taking advantage of that. The reading public seems to like what they are doing and their books are selling well. I think that one reason for their popularity is their willingness to write about things that are close to the hearts of many ordinary people. There is a freshness in their works that brings into the public spaces women's perspectives on such issues as concerns for the lives of women and girls, of families, and others whom they love.
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