African American literature: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
Studies of major periods of African American literature are Dickson D. Bruce, Jr., Black American Writing from the Nadir: The Evolution of a Literary Tradition, 1877–1915 (1989), and The Origins of African American Literature, 1680–1865 (2001); Frances Smith Foster, Written by Herself: Literary Production by African American Women, 1746–1892 (1993); Blyden Jackson, A History of Afro-American Literature: The Long Beginning, 1746–1895 (1989– ); and David Levering Lewis, When Harlem Was in Vogue (1981, reissued 1997).
Studies of major genres and literary traditions in African American literature include William L. Andrews, To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 1760–1865 (1986); Bernard W. Bell, The Afro-American Novel and Its Tradition (1987); Barbara T. Christian, Black Women Novelists: The Development of a Tradition, 1892–1976 (1980); Robert B. Stepto, From Behind the Veil: A Study of Afro-American Narrative, 2nd ed. (1991); and Jean Wagner, Black Poets of the United States: From Paul Laurence Dunbar to Langston Hughes (1973).
Among the major anthologies of African American literature are Henry Louis Gates, Jr., et al. (eds.), The Norton Anthology of African American Literature (2003); and Patricia Liggins Hill et al. (eds.), Call & Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition (1998).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- William L. Andrews
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add new Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - African-American Literature. | Mar 02, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: CORE - Black Enough? African American Writers and the Vernacular Tradition (PDF). | Sep 06, 2025 | ||
| Media added. | Mar 31, 2025 | ||
| Media added. | Mar 28, 2025 | ||
| Added a cross-reference to Lynn Nottage. | Mar 03, 2025 | ||
| Added cross-references. | Nov 14, 2024 | ||
| Link added. | Apr 30, 2024 | ||
| Added links. | Apr 25, 2024 | ||
| Added links to Percival Everett and Kevin Young. | Mar 09, 2024 | ||
| Added a section on 21st-century African American literature. Media and cross-references added throughout. | Jan 26, 2024 | ||
| Links added. | Aug 25, 2023 | ||
| Link added. | Jan 11, 2023 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Aug 18, 2022 | ||
| Changed “black” to “Black” throughout article. | Jul 28, 2020 | ||
| Add new Web site: Academia - The Identity Crisis and the African American Literature. | Apr 28, 2016 | ||
| Updated Antebellum literature section to note that Hannah Bond has been credited as the author of The Bondwoman's Narrative. | Sep 20, 2013 | ||
| Added new Web site: PBS Online - Literature and Life. | Sep 14, 2006 | ||
| Added new Web site: African American Literature. | Jun 07, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | Nov 29, 2004 | ||
| New article added. | Apr 01, 2004 |