A Case of Mis-Taken Identity: Detective Undercurrents in Recent African American Fiction Contributor(s): Daemmrich, Horst (Editor), Lock, Helen (Author) |
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ISBN: 0820423823 ISBN-13: 9780820423821 Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi OUR PRICE: $45.55 Product Type: Hardcover Published: October 1994 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Foreign Language Study | English As A Second Language - Literary Criticism | American - General - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social |
Dewey: 813.087 |
LCCN: 93037318 |
Series: Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature, |
Physical Information: 147 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: The detective story, staple of Western popular culture, has undergone a transformation in recent African American fiction. In the work of Ishmael Reed, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison, among others, a pattern of detection emerges which has its roots in African mythology and aesthetics. The traditionally marginal figure of the victim here takes center stage, and the investigation focuses not on -whodunit?- but on how to undo it: how to invalidate the victimization by resurrecting the victim as a fully autonomous, de-marginalized figure." |