Description

Lynching in American Literature and Journalism consists of twelve essays investigating the history and development of writing about lynching as an American tragedy and the ugliest element of national character. According to the Tuskegee Institute, 4,743 people were lynched between 1882 and 1968 in the United States, including 3,446 African Americans and 1,297 European Americans. More than 73 percent of the lynchings in the Civil War period occurred in the Southern states. The Lynchings increased dramatically in the aftermath of the Reconstruction, after slavery had been abolished and free men gained the right to vote. The peak of lynching occurred in 1882, after Southern white Democrats had regained control of the state legislators. This book is a collection of historical and critical discussions of lynching in America that reflects the shameful, unmoral policies, and explores the topic of lynching within American history, literature, and journalism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One: The 'Girl-Reporter' Confronts the Lynch Mob: Miriam Michaelson's A Yellow Journalist
Debbie Lelekis
Chapter Two: Theodore Dreiser's 'Nigger Jeff': The Development of an Aesthetic
Donald Pizer
Chapter Three: Theodore Dreiser's 'Nigger Jeff,' “Richard Wright's 'Big Boy Leaves Home,' and Lynching
Michael Sanders
Chapter Four: Lynching as an American Tragedy in Theodore Dreiser's Literary Works
Kiyohiko Murayama
Chapter Five: Faulkner on Lynching
Neil R. McMillen and Noel Polk
Chapter Six: Lynching in Richard Wright's 'Big Boy Leaves Home”
Toru Kiuchi
Chapter Seven: “Lynching in Modern American Short Stories and Sexual Crime in Classic Myth”
Yoshinobu Hakutani
Chapter Eight: The Southern Ritual of Lynching in Faulkner's Light in August and Ellison's Three Days before the Shooting
Robert Butler
Chapter Nine: The Electric Execution of Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright's Native Son
Yoshinobu Hakutani
Chapter Ten: Lynching as Surrealism: Leon Forrest's “The

Product details

Published 12 Aug 2022
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 200
ISBN 9781666909074
Imprint Lexington Books
Dimensions 239 x 157 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Yoshinobu Hakutani

Contributor

Robert Butler

Contributor

Keith Byerman

Contributor

Toru Kiuchi

Contributor

Debbie Lelekis

Contributor

Donald Pizer

Contributor

Noel Polk

Contributor

Michael Sanders

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