Research Catalog

Title

Exodus politics : civil rights and leadership in African American literature and culture / Robert J. Patterson.

Author

Patterson, Robert J., 1980-

Publication

Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2013.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 202 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

"Using the term "exodus politics" to theorize the valorization of black male leadership in the movement for civil rights, Robert J. Patterson explores the ways in which the political strategies and ideologies of this movement paradoxically undermined the collective enfranchisement of black people. He argues that by narrowly conceptualizing civil rights in only racial terms and relying solely on a male figure, conventional African American leadership, though frequently redemptive, can also erode the very goals of civil rights. The author turns to contemporary African American writers such as Ernest Gaines, Gayl Jones, Alice Walker, and Charles Johnson to show how they challenge the dominant models of civil rights leadership. He draws on a variety of disciplines--including black feminism, civil rights history, cultural studies, and liberation theology--in order to develop a more nuanced formulation of black subjectivity and politics. Patterson's connection of the concept of racial rights to gender and sexual rights allows him to illuminate the literature's promotion of more expansive models. By considering the competing and varied political interests of black communities, these writers reimagine the dominant models in a way that can empower communities to be self-sustaining in the absence of a messianic male leader." -- Publisher's description.

Uniform Title

Project Muse UPCC books.

Alternative Title

Civil rights and leadership in African American literature and culture

Subject

• American literature > African American authors > History and criticism
• Civil rights in literature
• Leadership in literature
• American literature > African American authors
• Civil rights
• Leadership
• Literature

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages [179]-193) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction: Civil rights, leadership, and exodus politics -- "Is he the one?" : civil rights activism and leadership in Ernest Gaines' The autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman -- "The refusal of Christ to accept crucifixion" : bridge leadership in Alice Walker's Meridian -- "The important thing is making generations" : reproduction and blues performances as forms of civil rights leadership in Gayl Jones' Corregidora -- "We all killed him" : the limits of formal leadership and civil rights legislation in Charles Johnson's Dreamer -- Epilogue: Is there life after exodus politics?

ISBN

• 9780813935256 (cloth : acid-free paper)
• 0813935253 (cloth : acid-free paper)
• 9780813935263 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
• 0813935261 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
• 9780813935270 (e-book) (canceled/invalid)
• 081393527X (e-book) (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

• ^^2013011900
• 40022949477

OCLC

• 836206078
• SCSB-12833060

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library