Patterson, Robert J., 1980-
Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2013.;©2013
Added to CLICnet on 09/08/2015

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Notes:

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-193) and index.
• Introduction: Gendered contexts: civil rights, leadership, exodus politics, and African American literature — Is he the one?: the politics of gender and gender politics: civil rights activism and leadership in Ernest Gaines’ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman — The refusal of Christ to accept crucifixion: bridge leadership refutes the paradoxes of exodus politics in Alice Walker’s Meridian — The important thing is making generations: reconsidering reproduction and blues performances as forms of civil rights leadership in Gayl Jones’ Corregidora — We all killed him the limits of (formal) leadership and civil rights legislation in Charles Johnson’s Dreamer — Epilogue: Is there life after exodus politics?.
• Using the term exodus politics to theorize the valorization of black male leadership in the movement for civil rights, Robert J. Patterson explores the ways in which the political strategies and ideologies of this movement paradoxically undermined the collective enfranchisement of black people. He argues that by narrowly conceptualizing civil rights in only racial terms and relying solely on a male figure, conventional African American leadership, though frequently redemptive, can also erode the very goals of civil rights. The author turns to contemporary African American writers such as Ernest Gaines, Gayl Jones, Alice Walker, and Charles Johnson to show how they challenge the dominant models of civil rights leadership. He draws on a variety of disciplines–including black feminism, civil rights history, cultural studies, and liberation theology–in order to develop a more nuanced formulation of black subjectivity and politics. Patterson’s connection of the concept of racial rights to gender and sexual rights allows him to illuminate the literature’s promotion of more expansive models. By considering the competing and varied political interests of black communities, these writers reimagine the dominant models in a way that can empower communities to be self-sustaining in the absence of a messianic male leader. — Publisher’s description.

Subjects:

• American literature — African American authors — History and criticism.
• Civil rights in literature.
• Leadership in literature.
• American literature — African American authors. fast (OCoLC)fst00807114
• Civil rights. fast (OCoLC)fst00862627
• Leadership. fast (OCoLC)fst00994701
• Literature. fast (OCoLC)fst00999953
• Literatur. (DE-588)4035964-5 gnd
• Schwarze. (DE-588)4116433-7 gnd
• Bürgerrecht. (DE-588)7606412-8 gnd
• Führung. (DE-588)4753875-2 gnd
• USA. (DE-588)4078704-7 gnd
• Criticism, interpretation, etc. fast (OCoLC)fst01411635

Requested by Wanyama, M.