No other contemporary novel received the volume and intensity of
criticism and curiosity that greeted Nigger Heaven upon its
publication in 1926. Carl Van Vechten's novel generated a storm of
controversy because of its scandalous title and fed an insatiable
hunger on the part of the reading public for material relating to
the black culture of Harlem's jazz clubs, cabarets, and social
events. "The book and not the title is the thing," James Weldon
Johnson insisted with regard to Nigger Heaven, and the book is
indeed a nuanced and vibrant portrait of "the great black walled
city" of Harlem. Opening on a scene of tawdry sensationalism,
Nigger Heaven shifts decisively to a world of black middle-class
respectability, defined by intellectual values, professional
ambition, and an acute consciousness of class and racial identity.
Here is a Harlem where upper-class elites discuss art in
well-appointed drawing rooms; rowdy and lascivious drunks spend
long nights in jazz clubs and speakeasies; and politically
conscious young intellectuals drink coffee and debate "the race
problem" in walk-up apartments. At the center of the story, two
young people--a quiet, serious librarian and a volatile aspiring
writer--struggle to love each other as their dreams are slowly
suffocated by racism. This reissue is based on the seventh
printing, which included poetry composed by Langston Hughes
especially for the book. Kathleen Pfeiffer's astute introduction
investigates the controversy surrounding the shocking title and
shows how the novel functioned in its time as a site to contest
racial violence. She also signals questions of racial authenticity
and racial identity raised by a novel about black culture written
by a white admirer of that culture.
General
Imprint: |
University of Illinois Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
December 1999 |
First published: |
December 1999 |
Authors: |
Carl Van Vechten
|
Dimensions: |
192 x 133 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
286 |
Edition: |
New Ed |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-252-06860-7 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
0-252-06860-2 |
Barcode: |
9780252068607 |
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