http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/african_american-literature Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 04 May 2026 14:32:54 -0400 Mon, 04 May 2026 14:32:54 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1875/the-graphic-novel-as-argument-visual-representation-strategy-in-kyle-bakers-nat-turner By Jacqueline Rodriguez - Traditional slave narratives follow a set of conventions that helped abolitionists recognize them as factual and trustworthy stories. Previously enslaved authors subverted those conventions to take control of their narratives and expose white abolitionists’ selfish motivations. In Kyle Baker’s graphic novel retelling of Nat Turner’s life story, free from the conventions of those traditional narratives, the reader is provided a new perspective on Turner’s story with an emphasis on reader participation. His graphic narrative prioritizes the black story without a white person... Thu, 11 Feb 2021 11:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1875/the-graphic-novel-as-argument-visual-representation-strategy-in-kyle-bakers-nat-turner http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1855/reading-religion-in-literature-toni-morrison-luisah-teish-and-postsecular-theory By Kayla R. Drummond - The postsecular turn of the late 1990’s refers to the emergence of a critical theory which challenges an important modern assumption: that secular ideologies are inherently more valid and truthful than religious ideologies. Other developments in literary theory in the latter half of the 20th century were aimed at disrupting and challenging normative assumptions, and postsecularism was no different. By disrupting the hierarchy of the knowledge/faith binary, postsecular theory provides a range of fresh opportunities for reading religion in literature. This essay examines several important... Mon, 04 Jan 2021 12:13 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1855/reading-religion-in-literature-toni-morrison-luisah-teish-and-postsecular-theory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1704/jazz-is-my-story-a-historical-analysis-of-jazz-and-20th-century-african-american-literature By Anjali J. Misra - The period of time from the Bebop era to the present—mid-1940s onwards—has been an era of great cultural evolution in the United States, and in few groups more so than the African American community. A factor particularly significant in this journey, and one with which jazz music has been closely tied over the past century, is African American literature. This genre, more colloquially called black literature, has only been a formal notion since the Harlem Renaissance (from roughly 1919 to 1939), during which prominent black leaders sought to elevate black culture and status by producing... Wed, 15 Nov 2017 10:26 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1704/jazz-is-my-story-a-historical-analysis-of-jazz-and-20th-century-african-american-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1625/literary-repetition-and-revision-as-healing-harryette-mullen-and-suzan-lori-parkss-collective-solution-to-historical-trauma By Zeena Y. Fuleihan - Music functions as a source of healing in Toni Morrison’s Jazz, both to the bird who is inexplicably sad and for the broken relationship between Violet and Joe, the novel’s two main adult characters. The bird cheers up and regains its appetite once it hears music, and Violet and Joe begin to repair their love after a younger character brings a record player into their home. Borrowing from the musical forms of jazz, and more specifically jazz played by black musicians, Morrison structures her book as a series of solos from various characters, moving forward and backward in time to expand... Tue, 11 Apr 2017 09:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1625/literary-repetition-and-revision-as-healing-harryette-mullen-and-suzan-lori-parkss-collective-solution-to-historical-trauma http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1250/how-ralph-ellisons-invisible-man-retold-the-story-of-the-black-american-experience-for-the-cultural-mainstream By Luke D. Mahoney - People love a good story. A good story can be intriguingly informative, a good story can well up deep emotions and a good story can carry culture, history and tradition. It was through storytelling that many ancient cultures preserved and passed down their understanding of the world, their rites and their rituals. It was, and still is, through stories that children become familiar with cultural and societal norms and mores. Stories are important to people, are one of the most important forms of verbal and written communication. People learn about each other through storytelling, solve problems... Mon, 26 Oct 2015 08:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1250/how-ralph-ellisons-invisible-man-retold-the-story-of-the-black-american-experience-for-the-cultural-mainstream http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/904/naming-and-identity-in-toni-morrisons-beloved-and-song-of-solomon By Sean M. Kirby - As an African American author, Toni Morrison is acutely aware of the pain that is intertwined with the history of her history. She articulates the debilitating physical and psychological strain that slavery, prejudices, and discrimination placed upon countless African Americans with incredible detail. One of her most powerful statements, however, comes in just one sentence near the end of Beloved. It is a truth that all African Americans know, one that was born out of slavery, one that still burns people today: the truth that “anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came... Sun, 22 Jun 2014 10:39 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/904/naming-and-identity-in-toni-morrisons-beloved-and-song-of-solomon http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/588/racial-uplift-acculturation-to-the-dominant-culture-in-contending-forces-by-pauline-e-hopkins By Aisha Rees - Domestic fiction reigned in women’s literature during the nineteenth-century. These narratives defined ”True Womanhood,” where the female exemplified four pillars: piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. They are meant to reject the public sphere for more spiritual gains: true women were the moral compasses of society. Their influence in the home was supposed to project outward into society because of the true woman’s role as a wife, a mother, and a teacher. Amy Kaplan, in her work “Manifest Domesticity,” denotes that the “private feminized space... Thu, 27 Oct 2011 03:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/588/racial-uplift-acculturation-to-the-dominant-culture-in-contending-forces-by-pauline-e-hopkins