Research Catalog

Title

The tragic black buck : racial masquerading in the American literary imagination / Carlyle Van Thompson.

Author

Thompson, Carlyle Van.

Publication

New York : P. Lang, c2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 198 p.; 23 cm.

Summary

"The Tragic Black Buck examines the phenomenon, often paradoxical, of black males passing for white in American literature. Focusing on the first third of the twentieth century, the book argues that black individuals successfully assuming a white identity represent a paradox, in that passing for white exemplifies a challenge to the hegemonic philosophy of biological white supremacy, while denying blackness. Issues of race, gender, skin color, class, and law are examined in the literature of passing, involving the historical, theoretical, and literary tropes of miscegenation, mimicry, and masquerade."--Jacket.

Series Statement

African-American literature and culture ; v. 1

Uniform Title

African-American literature and culture v. 1.

Subject

• Faulkner, William
• Chesnutt, Charles Waddell
• Johnson, James Weldon
• Fitzgerald, Francis Scott
• 1900-1999
• Geschichte 1900-1932
• American fiction > 20th century > History and criticism
• African American men in literature
• American fiction > History and criticism
• Identity (Psychology) in literature
• Passing (Identity) in literature
• Group identity in literature
• Tragic, The, in literature
• Deception in literature
• Racism in literature
• Race in literature
• African Americans > Intellectual life > 20th century

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [165]-198).

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- 1. Introduction : black bucks being as white as they wanna be : the historical and theoretical roots of black people passing for white -- 2. "The circular ruins" of passing : race, class, and gender in Charles Waddell Chesnutt's The house behind the cedars -- 3. The improvisational and Faustian performance in James Weldon Johnson's The autobiography of an ex-coloured man -- 4. The tragic black buck : Jay Gatsby's passing in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The great Gatsby -- 5. Joe Christmas a black buck with attitude : the virulent nexus of race and color in William Faulkner's Light in August -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography.

ISBN

0820462063 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2003025666

OCLC

53824090

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library