African American Literature Tradition

The African ‘American’ tradition in literature began before the Revolutionary War period. As the name of the tradition suggests it involved African-American writers who created writings that were not only creative and expressive but also offer social insight into the time period and shine light on American history and the people involved in it using the perspective of a culture who was persecuted and considered a lessor part of the human species at the time. This makes the African-American tradition similar to that of the Ancient Attica tradition which also provides us with social insight as to what was happening at the time it was written and is considered to be of the highest quality.

“I believe it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to escape the imputation of vanity” (Equiano 49) is probably one of the most notable first sentences I have read in an autobiography. It has a very subtle tone of philosophical truth, similar to what you would find in writings by the Ancient Greeks and also sets a tone for the rest of the book. Here in fact is a man, who tells the story of himself and is from a time where the general stigma around African-Americans was that they were uneducated and did not think the same as other races. Yet right from the beginning of his book he demonstrates quite the opposite. Later in the autobiography Equiano speaks of how his life had changed after being kidnapped and being put to work as a slave on a ship in England. “That fear, however, which was the effect of my ignorance, wore away as I began to know them.” (Equiano 94) he states in reference to how his master had treated him well and his time at sea had kept him sheltered from the acts of Europeans towards his people. Throughout the book I found many passages like this, moments of deep reflection wrapped inside historical facts about how the world was at this time.

Phillis Wheatley is well known for her poems on religion and morality. Her work is simplistic and uses a version of simplified English that is similar to the Ancient Attica tradition in simplifying Greek. Wheatley also uses simplicity to paint a complicated image and allows the mind to fill in the rest of the story, causing the reader to think about what she is saying and again demonstrating a very philosophical context. She writes “Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (Wheatley). In this passage we can see that the English has been simplified and the context of her words can be taken straight forward or for having a deeper meaning.

There are also instances of a darker image being painted in the poetry of the African-American Tradition but there is still a continuation of the use of simplified English. The first published African-America poet, Jupiter Hammon even incorporated versus from the bible into her work. “Little children they may die, Turn to their native dust, Their souls shall leap beyond the skies, And live among the just” (Hammon).

The African ‘American’ tradition in literature started just before the Revolutionary War period in the United States. Some of the greatest African-American writers created writings at this time and are renowned around the world for their works. They were creative and expressive and offered social insight into the times they lived while giving a unique perspective on the people and events from that era of American history. The African-American tradition shares similarities to the Ancient Attica tradition because they both provides us with a view of society from a specific point in the worlds history and are considered to be the highest quality of writings.

Sources

Equiano, Olaudah. The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. New-York: W. Durell, 1791.

Hammon, Jupiter. A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death. Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52561/a-poem-for-children-with-thoughts-on-death.

Wheatley, Phillis. On Being Brought from Africa to America. Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45465/on-being-brought-from-africa-to-america.