{"product_id":"south-of-tradition-trudier-harris-9780820324333","title":"South of Tradition: Essays on African American Literature","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith characteristic originality and insight, Trudier Harris-Lopez offers a new and challenging approach to the work of African American writers in these twelve previously unpublished essays. Collectively, the essays show the vibrancy of African American literary creation across several decades of the twentieth century. But Harris-Lopez's readings of the various texts deliberately diverge from traditional ways of viewing traditional topics. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSouth of Tradition\u003c\/i\u003e focuses not only on well-known writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Richard Wright, but also on up-and-coming writers such as Randall Kenan and less-known writers such as Brent Wade and Henry Dumas. Harris-Lopez addresses themes of sexual and racial identity, reconceptualizations of and transcendence of Christianity, analyses of African American folk and cultural traditions, and issues of racial justice. Many of her subjects argue that geography shapes identity, whether that geography is the European territory many blacks escaped to from the oppressive South, or the South itself, where generations of African Americans have had to come to grips with their relationship to the land and its history. For Harris-Lopez, \"south of tradition\" refers both to geography and to readings of texts that are not in keeping with expected responses to the works. She explains her point of departure for the essays as \"a slant, an angle, or a jolt below the line of what would be considered the norm for usual responses to African American literature.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe scope of Harris-Lopez's work is tremendous. From her coverage of noncanonical writers to her analysis of humor in the best-selling \u003ci\u003eThe Color Purple\u003c\/i\u003e, she provides essential material that should inform all future readings of African American literature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Trudier Harris\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0820324337\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780820324333\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Georgia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/18\/2002\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 248\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 6.78w x 0.89d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2003 pg. 1183","brand":"Trudier Harris","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44120341315839,"sku":"9780820324333","price":48.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1e8de5e9-93b4-45da-a652-06077dd3b0cc.jpg?v=1687413799","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/south-of-tradition-trudier-harris-9780820324333","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}