THE CULTURAL SELF: THE NOVEL AS GRIOT IN AFRICAN
AMERICAN FICTION
A Thesis
Presented to the
Faculty of
California State University,
San Bernardino
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
in
English Composition:
Literature
by
Eric Christian Atkinson
March 2011
From Eric Atkinson
Adobe PDF document
Pub. on June 20th 2011
Pages: 96
Views: 8
Downloads: 0
The Griot: The Rhetorical Impetus of African American Fiction
African Americans, as a cultural group, frequently struggle with issues of identity as they
attempt self-validation.
At its core, the African American cultural group is juxtaposed between
the Afrocentric cultural definition and racial stereotyping from the hegemonic...
More
The Griot: The Rhetorical Impetus of African American Fiction African Americans, as a cultural group, frequently struggle with issues of identity as they attempt self-validation. At its core, the African American cultural group is juxtaposed between the Afrocentric cultural definition and racial stereotyping from the hegemonic majority. The struggle can be characterized as an attempt to rescue “Africa, once lost, [which] has yet to be recovered; whereas America, as an ideal, has yet to be become home” (Gomez 177). Essentially, African American people are attempting to “self-consciously commit […] to that reaffirmation of the status of the African person and African people as bearers of dignity, of their right to a free, full, and meaningful life, and of their right and responsibility to speak their own special cultural truth to the world and make their own unique contribution to the forward flow of human history” (Karenga 6). African Americans struggle to wield the power to define
Less
From Eric Atkinson
an impressionist painting every nuance around you pleading that you
listen: pay attention to me
thesun is tooloud
understandingconceptsconvolutedbut
it’s thebasics thatelude
Frustration, Frustration and Frustration creeps in this
petty pace…
Is unintentional omission Dyslexia is
Is conceptual based Did you know that everything
is...
More
an impressionist painting every nuance around you pleading that you listen: pay attention to me thesun is tooloud understandingconceptsconvolutedbut it’s thebasics thatelude Frustration, Frustration and Frustration creeps in this petty pace… Is unintentional omission Dyslexia is Is conceptual based Did you know that everything is something else a reference? scattered frustrationcomes notunderstanding but fromexpressions lacking distraction; a cloud that continually surrounds who I am…. . It’s always too bright Head swimming with constant barrage of cacophonic euphony Did you know that fluorescent lights have a sound? Not a good one either leap thinking; quantum even terrified of reading aloud
Less
From Eric Atkinson
To Get There
He grew his hair like roots to make connections
to peaces lost: to knot together fragments of what was
as if understanding could be achieved through tinges;
learning the before
makes the know-ing
Seeing the budding shoots as merely affectation
the obviously ill-witted
ask him if they can buy some weed
or if he’s a...
More
To Get There He grew his hair like roots to make connections to peaces lost: to knot together fragments of what was as if understanding could be achieved through tinges; learning the before makes the know-ing Seeing the budding shoots as merely affectation the obviously ill-witted ask him if they can buy some weed or if he’s a musician— can they do that? Pockmarked by cotton bush thorns his hands wash the legacy of filth of curtseys, of ill-fitting shoes, and body shame cleaning his roots to remember those who walked back to Africa.
Less
From Eric Atkinson
Jane Russell’s Pose: Or What You Will
-inspired by Norman Rockwell’s Painting Girl at the Mirror
There’s no sin greater
than having a tummy where
my stomach once was
From Eric Atkinson
1
And the Rocket’s Red Glare
The following excerpt is a DOD transcript of a 22 June, 1971 taped conversation of Yeoman Third-class William
Roundtree III, a survivor of the 17 July, 1944 Port Chicago Disaster; file #E06221971-1634B and Robert Meeks, a
student at Berkeley City College.
The taped conversation took place in the Oakland...
More
1 And the Rocket’s Red Glare The following excerpt is a DOD transcript of a 22 June, 1971 taped conversation of Yeoman Third-class William Roundtree III, a survivor of the 17 July, 1944 Port Chicago Disaster; file #E06221971-1634B and Robert Meeks, a student at Berkeley City College. The taped conversation took place in the Oakland apartment of Roundtree with his full knowledge and consent and was publicly broadcast four times by Meeks through the student group “Alaiyo”. The conversation was confiscated due to its sensitive nature surrounding the classified events of 17 July, 1944 at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine. It is not known the extent of the dissemination of the material at the time of confiscation. All additional addenda are to be attributed to DOD file #E06221971-1634B as evidence for qualification for sanction and confiscation of taped material. All in-transcript italics are for denotation of speaker emphasis. (Transcript prepared on date 19 May, 1976 by Dr. Aldous Or
Less
From Eric Atkinson
United States
Facebook
Digg
del.icio.us
Furl
rededit
StumbleUpon