Jenkins makes a remarkably ambitious attempt to connect three disparate historical, cultural, and literary movements spanning three centuries, beginning with the start of the Haitian Revolution (1791) and circling back to what she labels "Caribbean négritude" in the 20th century. Examining obscure and often-ignored texts, she identifies similarities of racial identity that loosely link these independent movements. For Jenkins, the culture, values, and heritage of a Black consciousness remain consistent across the African diaspora. The first chapter posits her thesis, the next three meticulously examine the cultural and artistic expressions of each literary movement, and the last valiantly ties together the threads that create a unified narrative of freedom and identity. This work's value is its in-depth analyses of primary texts that enlighten each cultural and artistic period and in the global definition of the "New Negro," a social and cultural identify that overlaps the three distinctive periods…. For novice students of cultural history, this book provides a basis to explore Black identity and cultural expressions in diaspora… Recommended. Undergraduates and graduate students.

Choice Reviews