Lynching in American Literature and Journalism

doi:10.5771/9781666909081

Lynching in American Literature and Journalism

1. Edition 2022

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doi.org/10.5771/9781666909081
ISBN print: 978-1-6669-0907-4
ISBN online: 978-1-6669-0908-1
Lexington, Lanham Lexington, Lanham

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Abstract

Lynching in American Literature and Journalism consists of twelve essays investigating the history and development of writing about lynching as an American tragedy and the ugliest element of national character. According to the Tuskegee Institute, 4,743 people were lynched between 1882 and 1968 in the United States, including 3,446 African Americans and 1,297 European Americans. More than 73 percent of the lynchings in the Civil War period occurred in the Southern states. The Lynchings increased dramatically in the aftermath of the Reconstruction, after slavery had been abolished and free men gained the right to vote. The peak of lynching occurred in 1882, after Southern white Democrats had regained control of the state legislators. This book is a collection of historical and critical discussions of lynching in America that reflects the shameful, unmoral policies, and explores the topic of lynching within American history, literature, and journalism.

Schlagworte

american history american literature lynching in journalism lynching in literature historical lynchings

Chapter Expand | CollapsePage
i–viii Preface i–viii
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
1–4 Introduction 1–4
5–20 The “Girl Reporter” Confronts the Lynch Mob 5–20
21–30 Theodore Dreiser’s “Nigger Jeff” 21–30
31–46 Theodore Dreiser’s “Nigger Jeff,” Richard Wright’s “Big Boy Leaves Home,” and Lynching 31–46
47–60 Lynching as an American Tragedy in Theodore Dreiser’s Literary Works 47–60
61–72 Faulkner on Lynching 61–72
73–90 Lynching in Richard Wright’s “Big Boy Leaves Home” 73–90
91–102 Lynching in Modern American Short Stories and Sexual Crime in Classic Myth 91–102
103–112 The Southern Ritual of Lynching in Faulkner’s Light in August and Ellison’s Three Days before the Shooting 103–112
113–136 The Electric Execution of Bigger Thomas in Wright’s Native Son 113–136
137–150 Lynching as Surrealism 137–150
151–166 Lynching in African-American Poetry 151–166
167–180 Depictions of Racial Violence in the Work of Paul Laurence Dunbar 167–180
181–190 Index 181–190
191–192 About the Contributors 191–192

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