The politics of Richard Wright : perspectives on resistance / edited by Jane Anna Gordon and Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh.

Includes bibliographies and index.

A pillar of African American literature, Richard Wright is one of the most celebrated and controversial authors in American history. His work championed intellectual freedom amid social and political chaos. Despite the popular and critical success of books such as Uncle Tom's Children (1938), Black Boy (1945), and Native Son (1941), Wright faced staunch criticism and even censorship throughout his career for the graphic sexuality, intense violence, and communist themes in his work. Yet, many political theorists have ignored his radical ideas.In The Politics of Richard Wright, an interdisciplinary group of scholars embraces the controversies surrounding Wright as a public intellectual and author. Several contributors explore how the writer mixed fact and fiction to capture the empirical and emotional reality of living as a black person in a racist world. Others examine the role of gender in Wright's canonical and lesser-known writing and the implications of black male vulnerability. They also discuss the topics of black subjectivity, internationalism and diaspora, and the legacy of and responses to slavery in America.Wright's contributions to American political thought remain vital and relevant today. The Politics of Richard Wright is an indispensable resource for students of American literature, culture, and politics who strive to interpret this influential writer's life and legacy.

Front cover; Copyright page; Contents; Introduction; 1. I Have Seen Black Hands; 2. Wright's Afromodern Search for Political Freedom; 3. Richard Wright and the Critique of Class Theory; 4. Alternative Readings of Bigger Thomas; 5. Richard Wright's Mission; 6. Richard Wright and Black Women; 7. Masculinity, Misogyny, and the Limits of Racial Community; 8. He's a Rapist, Even When He's Not; 9. Behind the McGee Case; 10. Seizing Freedom with Simone de Beauvoir; 11. Revisiting Richard Wright in Ghana; 12. Psychology and Black Liberation in Richard Wright's Black Power (1954)

13. Blueprint for Negro Writing14. Floating Facts on a Sea of Emotion; 15. Many Dark Mirrors in Richard Wright's 12 Million Black Voices; 16. Richard Wright; 17. Joe Louis Uncovers Dynamite; 18. Notes toward a Poliltical Economy of Life and Death; 19. Reading Richard Wright beyond the Carceral State; 20. Slavery Continued, Freedom Sought; Acknowledgments; Further Reading; Contributors; Index

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