Re-Membering and Surviving: African American Fiction of the Vietnam War
Zoomicon-zoom-in
Re-Membering and Surviving: African American Fiction of the Vietnam War

Re-Membering and Surviving: African American Fiction of the Vietnam War

By
Shirley A. James Hanshaw (Author)  

Paperback

Available / dispatched within 1 - 4 weeks

Quantity
The first book-length critical study of the black experience in the Vietnam War and its aftermath, this text interrogates the meaning of heroism based on models from African and African American expressive culture. It focuses on four novels: Captain Blackman (1972) by John A. Williams, Tragic Magic (1978) by Wesley Brown, Coming Home (1971) by George Davis, and De Mojo Blues (1985) by A. R. Flowers. Discussions of the novels are framed within the historical context of all wars prior to Vietnam in which Black Americans fought. The success or failure of the hero on his identity quest is predicated upon the extent to which he can reconnect with African or African American cultural memory. He is engaged therefore in "re-membering", a term laden with the specificity of race that implies a cultural history comprised of African retentions and an interdependent relationship with the community for survival. The reader will find that a common history of racism and exploitation that African Americans and Vietnamese share sometimes results in the hero's empathy with and compassion for the so-called enemy, a unique contribution of the black novelist to American war literature.
Shirley A. James Hanshaw is Professor Emerita in the English Department at Mississippi State University where she was instrumental in establishing the first African American Studies Program. She is the recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, a Danforth Associateship for Outstanding Teaching in the Sciences and Humanities, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.
  • Contributor: Shirley A. James Hanshaw
  • Imprint: Michigan State University Press
  • ISBN13: 9781611863710
  • Number of Pages: 323
  • Packaged Dimensions: 152x229mm
  • Packaged Weight: 425
  • Format: Paperback
  • Publisher: Michigan State University Press
  • Release Date: 2021-03-30
  • Binding: Paperback / softback
  • Biography: Shirley A. James Hanshaw is Professor Emerita in the English Department at Mississippi State University where she was instrumental in establishing the first African American Studies Program. She is the recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, a Danforth Associateship for Outstanding Teaching in the Sciences and Humanities, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.

Delivery Options

Home Delivery

Store Delivery

Free Returns

We hope you are delighted with everything you buy from us. However, if you are not, we will refund or replace your order up to 30 days after purchase. Terms and exclusions apply; find out more from our Returns and Refunds Policy.