| 'Bitter with the Past But Sweet with the Dream': Communism in the African American Imaginary: Representations of the Communist Party, 1940-1952 Contributor(s): Bergin (Author) |
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ISBN: 9004263721 ISBN-13: 9789004263727 Publisher: Brill OUR PRICE: $143.45 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Political Ideologies - Communism, Post-communism & Socialism - Political Science | Political Process - Political Parties - Literary Criticism |
| Dewey: 324.273 |
| LCCN: 2015008979 |
| Series: Historical Materialism Book |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.3" W x 9.5" (1.45 lbs) 232 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The legacy of the relationship between African American writers and Communism in the US is a contested one. Bergin argues that in three novels, by seminal mid-century authors (Wright, Himes and Ellison) Communism is not dismissed as incapable of meeting the demands of black political identity but is castigated for its refusal to do so. A detailed focus on the political milieu in which these texts operate challenges many of the presumptions about the 'inability' of Communism to comprehend racial oppression, which dominate literary critical approaches to these novels. She draws on the complex formations black political agency presumed and reproduced by American Communism during the Depression. |