African American Criticism in today’s society may be one of the more well-known criticisms among readers. We all know of Martin Luther King Jr, and for many of us Toni Morrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Frederick Douglas, but what makes their works special? Some may have the attitude in that there should be nothing special as they are American just as much as white Americans. However that couldn’t be further from the truth. For years African Americans first were brought to America as forced slave laborers, then while on paper may have been equal freedoms, were still treated as slave by society, just in a different way. Poet Aldon Lynn Nielsen may have said it best in his critique of African American criticism:
“Despite the rapid proliferation of critical texts addressing themselves to black writing, it
remains the case that many critics come to black writing with methodologies and agendas
already in hand, while few critics have taken upon themselves the task of rereading the critical
history of African American work in theory. This has often resulted in a sort of critical shortsight-
edness, with the field of black literary theory presented as a foreshortened, if now more level,
playing field.” (Nielsen, 86)
remains the case that many critics come to black writing with methodologies and agendas
already in hand, while few critics have taken upon themselves the task of rereading the critical
history of African American work in theory. This has often resulted in a sort of critical shortsight-
edness, with the field of black literary theory presented as a foreshortened, if now more level,
playing field.” (Nielsen, 86)
For so many the tendency can be to approach African American work, sometimes with a bit of resentment with the idea of ‘why do you keep telling me about how you’ve been treated? We know, let’s move on.’ That is exactly the attitude critics should not approach African American literature with. For many African American writers they either fell into 2 categories during slavery, or until segregation laws were passed: hid their works out of guilt, or fear, or wrote with anger and determination for their voices to be heard. These feelings are much of what fueled African Americans during the Civil Rights movement. They were not simply just asking for equality, but for their voices to be truly heard, including through literature.
So why African American criticism? Why should African American writing not simply be critiqued based on the Marxist theory, deconstruction theory, or reader response theory? Understanding is the answer. For those critiques typically we as readers will use our knowledge, and apply what we know, and twist or manipulate the text to fit those notions. African American criticism was created to bring a very forward awareness to the different culture, or lives many lived and wrote about. “Cultural identity is, thus, not a product but a “complex historical process… of appropriation, compromise, subversion, masking, invention, and revival” (Olaniyan, 880-881). African American writes HAD, not want, HAD to write differently than white Americans. For example, Phillis Wheatley, in her poem “On Being Brought from AFRICA to AMERICA”, while for many years the poem was read as a lovely sentiment to Wheatley’s gratefulness to her masters, more scholars today are taking into account the possibility of Wheatley masking her true intentions, as to not upset her master or ‘white’ society, and cause more pain and suffering for herself. See my “Text Analysis” page for more on a new interpretation of Wheatley’s poem. For others like Frederick Douglas who was very outspoken in his writing did so while knowing his writing could gain him severe punishment from society or even death. For African Americans literature has been a way to make their voices heard even in the face of adversity. This is why African American literature must be read differently, and critiqued differently. While I’m personally drawn to transcendentalist writings of the 1800s, comparing a Thoreau piece to a Douglas piece is not a fair comparison. For Thoreau his life was not on the line for his writing, nor his livelihood to a large degree: Douglas had everything to lose. We need to honor the fact that many African Americans wrote with much courage, even if masked, and honor their experiences. We should not try to alter the text to our views and understandings, but rather alter our views and understandings to the text.
Citations
Nielsen, Aldon Lynn. “Black Deconstruction: Russell Atkins and the Reconstruction of African-American Criticism.” Diacritics, vol. 26, no. 3/4, Oct. 1996, pp. 86–103. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.1566407&site=eds-live.
Olaniyan, Tejumola. “African-American Critical Discourse and the Invention of Cultural Identities.” African American Review, vol. 50, no. 4, Winter 2017, pp. 877–889. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/afa.2017.0143.
Nielsen, Aldon Lynn. “Black Deconstruction: Russell Atkins and the Reconstruction of African-American Criticism.” Diacritics, vol. 26, no. 3/4, Oct. 1996, pp. 86–103. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.1566407&site=eds-live.
Olaniyan, Tejumola. “African-American Critical Discourse and the Invention of Cultural Identities.” African American Review, vol. 50, no. 4, Winter 2017, pp. 877–889. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/afa.2017.0143.