Graduate Program
English
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
2010
Thesis Director
Michael Loudon
Thesis Committee Member
Ann Boswell
Thesis Committee Member
Dana Ringuette
Abstract
This essay seeks to identify the injurious and hedonistic patterns that emerge from contemporary black urban fiction, reinforcing negative stereotypes. This essay comments on codes that establish a sense of authenticity as well as trends of isolationism and essentialist narratives published as the unsuccessful progeny of didactic novels written to highlight conditions in underrepresented minority communities. Through a critical examination of earlier literary movements, this essay proposes that contemporary black urban literature grows less culturally conscious and less aesthetically aware in its pursuit of commercial success than the African American canonical texts that grounded cultural realism and literary experimentation.
Recommended Citation
Talley, Erin A., "You're Not Really Black Unless You've Been Shot-- Or So Says Black Urban Fiction" (2010). Masters Theses. 314.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/314
