Research Catalog

Title

Charles Johnson's spiritual imagination / Jonathan Little.

Author

Little, Jonathan, 1959-

Publication

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, 1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xi, 174 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• In this first book-length study of Charles Johnson's work, Jonathan Little offers an engaging account of the artistic growth of one of the most important contemporary African American writers. From his beginnings as a political cartoonist through his receipt of the National Book Award for Middle Passage, Johnson's imagination has become increasingly spiritual.
• Little draws upon a wide array of sources, including short stories, interviews, reviews, articles, and cartoons, as he traces the brilliant achievement of this provocative artist who is very much at the height of his career. This book will appeal to anyone interested in African American literature, spirituality, aesthetics, and the culture wars.

Subject

• Johnson, Charles, 1948- > Criticism and interpretation
• Civil rights movements in literature
• African Americans in literature
• Spiritual life in literature

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction: The Integrative Impulse -- 1. From the Comic Book to the Comic: Charles Johnson's Variations on Creative Expression -- 2. Liberatory Aesthetics: Faith and the Good Thing, the Conjurer, and Native Son -- 3. Social Duty: Hinduism, Zen, and the Art of Oxherding Tale -- 4. Staring into the Abyss: The Sorcerer's Apprentice -- 5. Revisions of Self and Society: Middle Passage and Invisible Man -- Conclusion: Beyond Race through Spirituality.

ISBN

• 082621147X (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0826211518 (paper : alk. paper)

LCCN

97033392

OCLC

• 37426361
• ocm37426361

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries