What too many literary historians have overlooked is that Richard Wright continued to produce important works long after his departure for Paris, especially in the genre of nonfiction. My purpose is to show that the last half of his career stands up to the passage of time and to any comparison to his earlier work, of which it is a culmination. / I have chosen a chronological progression for this study, beginning with a biographical sketch in Chapter One and proceeding in subsequent chapters through his successive books after he went to Paris. Near the end of his life Wright advocated a militarization of society, whereby undeveloped countries could "project immediately into the twentieth century." I develop this perspective through a critical analysis of the following books: Black Power, Pagan Spain, The Color Curtain, and White Man, Listen!. I show how each book stands as a separate artistic entity. This material constitutes chapters two through five. / In Chapter Six I analyze Wright's last novel, The Long Dream, and show that because the critics rejected his nonfiction, Wright felt compelled to return to the fiction that had made him famous. I also argue, however, that in this last novel, Wright re-analyzes the major idea he had introduced in his nonfiction. / To limit Wright's achievements to two or three books is a grave disservice to academic scholarship as well as to Wright and Afro-American culture. Therefore I argue that we must study Wright's later works as well as his political activism in Paris if we are to gain a complete understanding of such a complex and fascinating writer. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-06, Section: A, page: 1455. / Major Professor: William T. Lhamon, Jr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76294 |
| Contributors | Dick, Bruce Allen., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 263 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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