In this first book-length study of Charles Johnson's work,
Jonathan Little offers an engaging account of the artistic growth
of one of the most important contemporary African American writers.
From his beginnings as a political cartoonist through his receipt
of the National Book Award for "Middle Passage, " Johnson's
imagination has become increasingly spiritual. Little draws upon a
wide array of sources, including short stories, interviews,
reviews, articles, and cartoons, as he traces the brilliant
achievement of this provocative artist who is very much at the
height of his career.
"Charles Johnson's Spiritual Imagination" begins with an
analysis of Johnson's political cartoons from the late sixties and
early seventies, when he was immersed in the Black Power Movement.
Little shows that in these early cartoons one can already see
Johnson's comic genius and his quest for unconstrained artistic
freedom even when dealing with the highly charged issues of racial
politics.
By examining how Johnson incorporates the influences of
phenomenology, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Romanticism into
a strikingly original perspective on individual and social
identity, Little chronicles Johnson's development. The book
illuminates the progression of Johnson's aesthetics as he deals
with the at times disturbing contrast between the hope offered by
art and spirituality and the harsh realities of African American
existence.
As he situates Johnson within the tradition of African American
literature, Little pairs each of his novels with a major precursor,
including novels by Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, and such
far-ranging sources as Hermann Hesse's "Siddhartha" and the "Ten
Oxherding Pictures." These comparisons help to show Johnson's
innovations within the African American literary tradition and
include discussions of naturalism, realism, and modernism. This
book will appeal to anyone interested in African American
literature, spirituality, aesthetics, and the culture wars.
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