Discusses how the color white represents disaster for Richard Wright's hero, Bigger Thomas, in Native Son." (SW)

Reviews John Wideman's three novels--'A Glance Away; 'Hurry Home', and 'The Lynchers' noting that although there are distinctly realistic elements in them the preponderant formal qualities are lyrical, surrealistic and expressionistic--including experimentation with journals and letters. (Author/JM)

Argues that it is white America that has made 'Roots' a best seller because it is comforting to most white Americans. The book doesn't make most of them feel quilty. It is consistently upbeat and optimistic. It contains much of the old dialect that depicts Blacks as being not-too-bright. It seems to say while some mistakes were made everything has…

Explains the appeal and value of studying Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," particularly for the Black female college student. Traces the themes of order and disorder, the establishing and crossing of boundaries, and the ways in which characters' self-images reflect their experience of society. (DM)

This study was performed to answer the specific question: To what extent do junior novels (works of fiction written for the adolescent reader) with major Negro characters possess recognized literary qualities? Since the established purpose of the junior novel is to interest adolescents in reading and literature, those junior novels with major…

In Toni Morrison's fiction, codes, values, and standards are the polar opposite of those set forth and accepted by the dominant (white) culture. The work must be approached from an anthropological perspective, a holistic approach. (LHW)

Analyzes the novel "Not Without Laughter" and suggests the image of the home to be a unifying theme. (AM)

Highlights religious themes in Alice Walker's "The Color Purple," especially Celie's struggle with traditional Christianity, which here serves to reinforce oppression. Her journey toward spiritual independence reflects much of the actual religious experience of Black women in America. (DM)

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

Examines two novels as illustrations of the Black anti-utopia: George S. Schuyler's "Black No More" and William Melvin Kelly's "A Different Drummer." (GW)

Discusses the novels and prose writings in English of South African authors. (DS)

Discusses white criticism of Negro writing in response to criticism of the author's review of Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice; reprinted from "New Republic (April 13, 1968) and from Gilman's "Confusion of Arms (Random House, 1969). (Editor/SW)

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)