The background to this story by Wright is given, together with a discussion of the way Wright developed the themes of loneliness and anonymity in a materialistic, unfeeling society. (Author/AM)

Analyzes "Mission to Kala", a novel in which the journey motif (physical and metaphorical) shapes the novelistic form. (Author/AM)

Discusses Ellison's unique understanding and use of the blues and his relationship to a mainstream western philosophy, which he comes to through the blues; existentialism. (Author/AM)

Contends that "disillusionment novels" are characterized by a circumscribed vision of the world which itself is a function of limits set upon the authors by the historical situation of their position in society. Analyzes two Nigerian classic examples of the genre, Chinua Achebe's "A Man of the People" and Wole Soyinka's…

James Baldwin's special sense of his blackness enables him to combine Walt Whitman's awareness of urban wandering and Henry James' self-conscious cosmopolitanism in his books, particularly "Go Tell It on the Mountain." (BJV)

N. J. Loftis's poem, Black Anima, is considered as a problem in aesthetics. (Author/AM)

Charts Cyprian Ekwensi's development of the force of the city in three of the major novels. (Author/AM)

Discusses how the aesthetic concerns of African Americans are reflected in the writing of Black women and introduces the characteristics of African culture as they relate to African-American culture. Emphasizes the intuitive musical quality of Black language as expressed in poetry and fiction. (FMW)

Explores literary universe of Caribbean women writers, discusses contributions as reflective of their self-image, and examines Caribbean literature as collective identity of region. Author explains use of writing as means of linking events that reveal experiences of Caribbean women through more detailed analysis of two novels: "Moi, Tituba…

Reviews three folktales and a children's novella, "Chike and the River," by the Nigerian author and compares them to his adult short stories. Observes that, aside from differences in scale or degree, the style of his children's stories is basically the same as that of his adult works. (FMW)

Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" portrays Black women's oppression as the result of patriarchy, and proposes the acceptance of middle-class values--home ownership and entrepreneurship--as the solution to exploitation. She relies on stereotypes to characterize Black men and women, and depicts an ideology of submission. (BJV)