Is black literature any good?

Question

I'm asking because in English we have spent the last several months on the Harlem Renaissance and all their themes just seem to focus on oppression and nothing esoteric. Now we are being forced to read Their Eyes Were Watching God. The teacher is black and I am Korean and I would like to know if black literature has any real literary merit in comparison to white or Asian authors especially pertaining to Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Answer 1

I think it is Great!!

Answer 2

Heck, why not ask "Is white literature any good?" or, for that matter Korean literature?

A lot is and some isn't - which is something that could be said for literature all over the world, written by men and women of various ethnic backgrounds, social standings, religions, etc.
Sure, many American Blacks (or, if preferable Afro-Americans) tend to focus on oppression - you're supposed to write about what you KNOW. And oppression is a condition that affects much of humanity, not just Blacks. I imagine that, as a Korean, even you might have experienced some.
There are some wonderful authors who also happen to be Black. Some of my personal favorites are as follow:

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston,Countee Cullen, James Baldwin (you want esoteric, try him),
Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man is fantastic), Nikki Giovanni, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Toni Morrison, and, of course, Alice Walker.

And, though the term is often used far too loosely,
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a genuine classic.

Answer 3

Of course there is good black literature. Is there any good Korean literature? Of course. But if I were forced to read only what someone who is biased has selected, I probably wouldn't like it either unless I shared that bias. The Harlem Rennaisance writings DO have literary merit: they depict, accurately, the coming-of-age of a oppressed and suppressed race. They focus on oppression, because the writers LIVED oppressed. What else do you expect? You may not like the writing, and you may not identify with the subject, but that doesn't remove the literary worth of the writing. It simply means that it does not currently hold a lot of meaning for you. Maybe sometime it will. But I would try to find more diverse black literature; there are as many different kinds as there are blacks writing. Don't judge it by what one English teacher picks out, or one cultural movement selects as important. Try something different.

Answer 4

I think your teacher is not doing the literature justice. I'm an English major and I took a whole class devoted to the Harlem Renaissance. We did not read, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," but did read, "Dust Tracks on the Road"

The Harlem Renaissance focuses much more on just oppression. It also focuses on the movement of blacks from the south to the north, sexual representation, gender issues, traditional family values, hard work, nature, religion, folklore, and the passing of blacks as whites, etc

Try reading people like Langston Hughes or Nella Larson

Answer 5

First of all why complain? I bet you like 'black' music and don't complain about listening to the latest hiphop tracks playing on the radio. Open your eyes and ears. If only for a moment read without abandon instead of prejudging the book. There is soo much great literature out there black, white, spanish, italian, and greek just to name a few. But you're here complaing and whining about having to read Their Eyes Are Watching God! And yes African-American literature talks alot about oppression because apparently you haven't realized black people were oppressed and to some extent they still are. Most people identify with feelings that are most relevant to them. The Jews talk about the Holocaust all the time. Lots of Italians and Irish people talking about having to leave their home country and no one complains. But as soon as someone black starts talking about OUR STRUGGLE God forbid you shut us down because our experience don't have any real merit to you. I think you need to just take a step back and re-evaluate and read the book and get something from it. I hope you're old enough to embrace this.

Answer 6

To add some historical perspective, you may not be aware that the Harlem Renaissance took place in the 1920s & early 1930s, which (not necessarily coincidentally) was the same time period when the Ku Klux Klan was at its height. African-Americans emigrated from the rural South to Northern cities not only because of greater economic opportunities but literally to save their lives. "Oppression" in that time period wasn't inner-city schools or sitting in the back of the bus, it was total segregation, not being allowed to vote, and lynching. So it's hardly surprising that oppression shows up as a common theme in the literature of the period: a lot of people made it to Harlem about three jumps ahead of a hanging. You might want to compare it to the period of the Japanese occupation of Korea to get more of a perspective.

To Johnny R...although you make some good points, the period we're talking about doesn't fall into the "post-modern" era; and while I can't swear that Hemingway didn't shoot himself during those years (given his personality), if he did, it wasn't fatal.

Answer 7

That is a very prejudiced statement. There are plenty of white authors putting out junk, and Asians too. You cannot judge literature on the color of the author. You have to take each book by its own merit. There are some excellent authors who "happen" to be black -- Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and many others. The way you word your question, you are asking if white people write better than black people and that is a very dangerously prejudiced and unfair statement. Pax - C

Answer 8

As an English grad, I've asked myself the same question. I understand your complaint. The themes seem to be very repetitive, all of them reaching the same comclusions from the same beginning information. While I found Their Eyes Were Watching God to be a much better work than others I've read, I found it to be a rarity.

But then again, I've found the same problem with most post-modern work. White, black, mexican, handicaped... everyone is much more concerned nowadays with getting their voice out there, being heard, proclaiming themselves, rather than attempting to discuss more complex themes.

Don't get me wrong. Identity is a very VERY complex theme, but most modern writers do not question conventions enough, or at least go to as great lengths to justify them, as authors in the past. White people are just as, perhaps more, guilty of such things, comfortably accepting their culture and beliefs without so much as batting an eye.

I haven't seen many good black writers because I haven't seen may good modern writers, period. And blacks haven't been allowed to have a voice until recently. Sad, but true. It's unfortunate that most minorities have been unable to express their ideas and thoughts until we've reached an artisticly decrepid age.

The problem isn't that you're reading "black literaure." The problem is that you're reading anything written since Hemmingway shot himself.

On a side note, here are three writers that I have felt have excelled in their writing, despite being a modern-day "minority:"
Zora Neale Hurston (black)
David Sedaris (gay)
Sherman Alexi (Native American)

Most good Hispanic writers write in Spanish, and the same can be said for other minority groups. Someone said that there are great Korean writers out there, and I'd agree. But most of them write in Korean, not English. And there are just too many great women writers to name them as a minority anymore, in my opinion (gender studies are a different story).

If you haven't enjoyed reading anything else, enjoy reading Their Eyes.

Answer 9

So do you think your teacher is forcing you to read something because he or she is black? Since when are Asians and "whites" on the "same level" above black people?

Some of the greatest American literature has come from black authors. Langston Hughes (one of the most mentioned authors in these answers) is possibly my favorite poet ever. I don't read the rest of the authors mentioned regularly, but I have read works by some of them and yes, they are wonderful.

"Black" literature is WONDERFUL because of its soul. That probably reeks of the stereotypical bluesy, soul-singing black artist, but it's the truth. A lot of literature I have read by black authors is, as a whole, earthy and beautiful.

In my opinion, largely, you're just an uncultured kid, but you are in danger of becoming a complete a r s e .

Answer 10

Are you serious? the skin colour of any authors literature need not be taken into consideration for ones personal judgement, view and interpretation of the text or questioned in comparison for merit with writers of any other race colour or creed.

Answer 11

Literature is Literature it takes no color or form. But theres tons of great black litrature. My favorite is Purple Hibiscus