Research

October 4, 2010

Book|Report

The missing decades: African American writers, 1934-1960

Natasha Trethewey Book ReportWhile researching his biography of Ralph Ellison a decade ago, Emory professor of English and African American Studies Lawrence Jackson found a huge gap in the academic literature. Little, if anything, had been written about the lives of African American writers in between the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts movement.

Now, Jackson has filled that gap with his new book, “The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960” (Princeton University Press, 2011).  In it, he discusses the rise of social realism literature – works that dealt with the realities of the struggles of the working class. He also profiles writers who set the stage for the cultural and political shifts of the 1960s through their work.

Click on player below to listen to Jackson talk about the indignation of the African American writers and critics profiled in his book.


 3 min. 29 sec. Download file


Click on player below to listen to Jackson read an excerpt of "The Indignant Generation" focusing on scholar and writer J. Saunders Redding.


 3 min. 62 sec. Download file



Watch a book trailer exploring Lawrence Jackson's new book.

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