Bigger: A Literary Life (Black Lives)

By: Trudier Harris

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Synopsis: A biography of Native Son&’s Bigger Thomas that examines his continued relevance in debates over Black men and the violence of racism Bigger Thomas, the central figure in Richard Wright&’s novel Native Son (1940), eludes easy categorization. A violent and troubled character who rejects the rules of society, Bigger is both victim and perpetrator, damaged by racism and segregation on the South Side of Chicago, seemingly raping and killing without regrets. His story has electrified readers for more than eight decades, and it continues to galvanize debates around representation, respectability, social justice, and racism in American life. In this book, distinguished scholar Trudier Harris examines the literary life of Bigger Thomas from his birth to the current day. Harris explores the debates between Black critics and Communist artists in the 1930s and 1940s over the &“political novel,&” the censorship of Native Son by white publishers, and the work&’s initial reception—as well as interpretations from Black feminists and Black Power activists in the decades that followed, up to the novel&’s resonance with the Black Lives Matter movement today. Bigger, Harris argues, represents the knotted heart of American racism, damning and unsettling, and still very much with us.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 200 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780300277333
Related ISBNs:: 9780300269321
Publisher:: Yale University Press
Date of Addition:: 06/18/24
Copyrighted By:: Trudier Harris.
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.