The apocalypse in African-American fiction

243 Pages·1996·0.65 MB·English

by  Maxine Lavon Montgomery

The Apocalypse in African-American Fiction
Maxine Lavon Montgomery
University Press of Florida
Gainesville Tallahassee Tampa Boca Raton
Pensacola Orlando Miami Jacksonville

The Apocalypse in African American
title:
Fiction
author: Montgomery, Maxine Lavon.
publisher: University Press of Florida
isbn10 | asin: 0813013895
print isbn13: 9780813013893
ebook isbn13: 9780813020020
language: English
American fiction--African American
authors--History and criticism, Apocalyptic
literature--History and criticism,
subject Christianity and literature--United States,
Fiction--Religious aspects--Christianity,
End of the world in literature, African
Americans in li
publication date: 1996
lcc: PS374.A65M66 1996eb
ddc: 813.009/38
American fiction--African American
authors--History and criticism, Apocalyptic
literature--History and criticism,
subject: Christianity and literature--United States,
Fiction--Religious aspects--Christianity,
End of the world in literature, African
Americans in li
Page iv
Copyright 1996 by the Board of Regents of the State of Florida
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
All rights reserved
01 00 99 98 6 5 4 3 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Montgomery, Maxine Lavon, 1959-
The Apocalypse in African-American fiction/
Maxine Lavon Montgomery
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8130-1389-5 (alk. paper)
1. American fictionAfro-American authors
History and criticism. 2. Apocalyptic literature
History and criticism. 3. Christianity and
literatureUnited States. 4. FictionReligious
aspectsChristianity 5. End of the world in
literature. 6. Afro-Americans in literature. I. Title.
PS374.A65M66 1966
813.009´38dc20 95-36850
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for
the State University System of Florida, comprised of Florida A & M
University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International
University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida,
University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of
South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL
32611

Page v
To the Montgomery family:
my mother, Mollie Montgomery;
my sisters, Juanita M. Hale and Valeria Nyaga-Ireri;
my niece, Monika M. Helper;
and my nephews, Daniel Nyaga-Ireri and Taivon Fuce.
In memory of my father,
Samuel Montgomery II;
and my sister, Carol A. Montgomery.
Page vii
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 15
Charles Chesnutt, The Marrow of Tradition
2 28
Richard Wright, Native Son
3 40
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
4 52
James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain
5 64
LeRoi Jones [Imamu Amiri Baraka], The System of
Dante's Hell
6 74
Toni Morrison, Sula
7 88
Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place
Notes 103
Bibliography 107
Index 111

Page ix
Preface
I became aware of the use of apocalypse among African-American
novelists while enrolled in a graduate course on postmodern black
fiction at the University of Illinois-Champaign. Not only did I notice
that the authors whose works we read frequently turned to biblical
apocalyptics in giving form and essence to their works, it became
clear to me that they did so with a rhetorical emphasis that differed
from that of their American counterparts.
This book reflects what has become an ongoing interest on my part in
the close relationship between biblical texts and African-American
fictional discourse. Apocalypse, an idiom that is central to the black
literary tradition, seemed the best starting point for scholarly inquiry
into the ways in which the Bible has influenced black writing. It is my
hope that this book will help to lay the critical groundwork for further
study of the connections between Scriptural texts and African-
American literature.
My primary purpose in writing is to reveal the uniqueness of the
image of apocalypse in African-American fiction. Because African
Americans have been excluded from full participation in America's
social, political, and economic mainstream, they have been forced to
develop a theological perspective at odds with that of White America.
From the point of view of the dispossessed masses, the end of the
world suggests a welcomed end to all forms of oppression and the
beginning of a new era of equalityin this life more so than in the next
one.

Page x
In undertaking this enterprise, I wish to acknowledge the assistance of
those who helped to make this book a reality: Chester J. Fontenot II
and Emily Watts, for offering criticisms throughout; the Florida
Endowment Fund for Higher Education, for awarding me a McKnight
Junior Faculty Fellowship while I wrote and conducted research; Fred
Standley, Joseph McElrath, Hunt Hawkins, and Anne Rowe, for
reading portions of the book-in-progress; and, the late Richard
Kenneth Barksdale, my mentor and dissertation director, whose
fatherly wisdom, guidance, and encouragement inspired me to
persevere.
Finally, since portions of this book have appeared elsewhere as
articles, I wish to thank the editors of College Language Association
Journal and Black American Literature Forum for permission to
reprint. Chapter 2, "Richard Wright, Native Son, " appeared in College
Language Association Journal 34, no. 4 (June 1991): 45366; chapter
6, "Toni Morrison, Sula," appeared in African-American Review/Black
American Literature Forum 23, no. 1 (Spring 1989): 12737; and
chapter 7, "Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place," appeared in
College Language Association Journal 36, no. 1 (September 1992):
111.