Boek
No other contemporary novel received the volume and intensity of criticism andcuriosity that greeted Nigger Heaven upon its publication in 1926. Carl VanVechtens novel generated a storm of controversy because of its scandaloustitle and fed an insatiable hunger on the part of the reading public formaterial relating to the black culture of Harlems jazz clubs cabarets andsocial events.The book and not the title is the thing James Weldon Johnson insisted withregard to Nigger Heaven. Indeed the book is a nuanced and vibrant portrait ofthe great black walled city of Harlem. Here upperclass elites discuss art inwellappointed drawing rooms rowdy and lascivious drunks spend long nights injazz clubs and speakeasies and politically conscious young intellectuals drinkcoffee in walkup apartments and debate the race problem. At the center ofthe story two young people a quiet serious librarian and a volatileaspiring writer struggle to love each other as their dreams are slowlysuffocated by racism.This reissue is based on the seventh printing which included poetry composedby Langston Hughes especially for the book. Kathleen Pfeiffers astuteintroduction investigates the controversy surrounding the shocking title andshows how the novel functioned in its time as a site to contest racialviolence. She also signals questions of racial authenticity and racial identityraised by a novel about black culture written by a white admirer of thatculture. «
Boeklezers.nl is een netwerk voor sociaal lezen. Wij helpen lezers nieuwe boeken en schrijvers ontdekken, en brengen lezers met elkaar en schrijvers in contact. Meer lezen »
Er zijn nog geen recensies voor dit boek.