{"product_id":"the-hammers-of-creation-eric-j-sundquist-9780820327945","title":"The Hammers of Creation: Folk Culture in Modern African-American Fiction","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Hammers of Creation\u003c\/i\u003e, Eric J. Sundquist analyzes the powerful role played by folk culture in three major African-American novels of the early twentieth century: James Weldon Johnson's \u003ci\u003eThe Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man\u003c\/i\u003e, Zora Neale Hurston's \u003ci\u003eJonah's Gourd Vine\u003c\/i\u003e, and Arna Bontemps's \u003ci\u003eBlack Thunder\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSundquist explains how the survival of cultural traditions originating in Africa and in slavery became a means of historical reflection and artistic creation for modern writers. He goes on to illustrate and compare how the three representative novels use aspects of African-American culture, including the folklore of slavery, black music from spirituals to jazz, black worship and sermonic form, and African-American resistance to slavery and segregation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Hammers of Creation\u003c\/i\u003e focuses on the unique narrative form of each of the three novels--Johnson's fictive autobiography, Hurston's ethnographic commentary combined with personal narrative, and Bontemps's historical fiction based on Gabriel's slave rebellion--to illustrate the range of fictional strategies black writers have employed. Through their attempts to gain cultural integrity, Sundquist explains, these writers were able to recover and preserve vital aspects of African-American history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSundquist argues that by incorporating vernacular culture and the oral tradition into their works, Johnson, Hurston, and Bontemps challenge the primacy of written narrative while creating an African-American literary tradition that links the world of African ancestors and antebellum culture to the world of contemporary letters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Eric J. Sundquist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0820327948\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780820327945\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 03\/01\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 168\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.39d","brand":"Eric J. Sundquist","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46110649155839,"sku":"9780820327945","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8e074aec-1a2c-4550-b022-91702b623421.jpg?v=1725469381","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-hammers-of-creation-eric-j-sundquist-9780820327945","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}