Identity studies in African-American literature, ov er time, have depicted the interaction betwee... more Identity studies in African-American literature, ov er time, have depicted the interaction between black and white Americans and t he connectedness of black Americans to their root. This study has explored th e t eme of identity as influenced by the milieu to represent the place of African-Americ ans within the larger American society in relation to racism, segregation, culture, migrat ion and social equality. However, most of the analyses of the theme of identity in African -American studies have examined identity either in relation to racism or as a recon nection to the African root. This study analyzes identity from another dimension. It explor es identity as an inevitable imposition, an obligation made on the individual by forces, soc ietal or supernatural, which are beyond their control and from which they have no power of escape, thus, making the individual a pharmakos of a destined self. In analyzing Isidore Okpewho’s Call Me By My Rightful Name and Richard Wright’s Native So...
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2017
Richard Wright’s Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglecting... more Richard Wright’s Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglecting its existence as a literary construct. Such readings gear towards identifying the text with such societal ills as racism and environmental impact on the individual, as if these are the only business of the text.In this paper, however, attention shifts from such external referents to the text itself, deconstructing the meaning of blindness already ascribed to the text as well as the meaning of silence as it is denotatively known. The uncovering of the textual meaning of each of these concepts will also serve either to compliment a character or to disparage same, and then the interweave of both concepts will result in reading the text as a tragedy. This study will be anchored on the provisions of Derrida’s deconstructive criticism.
Richard Wright's Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglec... more Richard Wright's Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglecting its existence as a literary construct. Such readings gear towards identifying the text with such societal ills as racism and environmental impact on the individual, as if these are the only business of the text.In this paper, however, attention shifts from such external referents to the text itself, deconstructing the meaning of blindness already ascribed to the text as well as the meaning of silence as it is denotatively known. The uncovering of the textual meaning of each of these concepts will also serve either to compliment a character or to disparage same, and then the interweave of both concepts will result in reading the text as a tragedy. This study will be anchored on the provisions of Derrida's deconstructive criticism.
Identity studies in African-American literature, ov er time, have depicted the interaction betwee... more Identity studies in African-American literature, ov er time, have depicted the interaction between black and white Americans and t he connectedness of black Americans to their root. This study has explored th e t eme of identity as influenced by the milieu to represent the place of African-Americ ans within the larger American society in relation to racism, segregation, culture, migrat ion and social equality. However, most of the analyses of the theme of identity in African -American studies have examined identity either in relation to racism or as a recon nection to the African root. This study analyzes identity from another dimension. It explor es identity as an inevitable imposition, an obligation made on the individual by forces, soc ietal or supernatural, which are beyond their control and from which they have no power of escape, thus, making the individual a pharmakos of a destined self. In analyzing Isidore Okpewho’s Call Me By My Rightful Name and Richard Wright’s Native So...
International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2017
Richard Wright’s Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglecting... more Richard Wright’s Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglecting its existence as a literary construct. Such readings gear towards identifying the text with such societal ills as racism and environmental impact on the individual, as if these are the only business of the text.In this paper, however, attention shifts from such external referents to the text itself, deconstructing the meaning of blindness already ascribed to the text as well as the meaning of silence as it is denotatively known. The uncovering of the textual meaning of each of these concepts will also serve either to compliment a character or to disparage same, and then the interweave of both concepts will result in reading the text as a tragedy. This study will be anchored on the provisions of Derrida’s deconstructive criticism.
Richard Wright's Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglec... more Richard Wright's Native Son has often been read as a socially-oriented text, seemingly neglecting its existence as a literary construct. Such readings gear towards identifying the text with such societal ills as racism and environmental impact on the individual, as if these are the only business of the text.In this paper, however, attention shifts from such external referents to the text itself, deconstructing the meaning of blindness already ascribed to the text as well as the meaning of silence as it is denotatively known. The uncovering of the textual meaning of each of these concepts will also serve either to compliment a character or to disparage same, and then the interweave of both concepts will result in reading the text as a tragedy. This study will be anchored on the provisions of Derrida's deconstructive criticism.
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