Midterm (2) Flashcards
Does Fuller believe that the road toward a black aesthetic can survive/thrive off of literary mainstreams? Why or why not?
Few critics will look to the movement with sympathy
They’ll label it as reverse racism (essentially calling the writers racist)
What reasoning does Fuller give for mentioning that white critics will only label the black artists “reverse racist?”
He says that the white people said that since the blacks are essentially retaliating after years of being abused by white people
How does Fuller explain violence in regards to race?
Black people are deemed as violent, yet they live in a system that is made for violence against them
What does Fuller mention about the black people being “safe” for the other side?
The “safe” black people self identify with the aggressor ( A.K.A self- hatred)
If the “safe” black peoples were to avoid identifying with the aggressor, wha does Charles A De Leon believe would happen? (Fuller)
The blacks will have to identify, fraction out, and reject the absurdities of the conscious and unconscious white racism
What does Louis Simpson day about Black people and their writing? (Fuller)
They can’t write without making people aware that they are black and that if the story is about being black, and that’s the whole point/subject, then it’s not important (
What else does Simpson say that is annoying as fuck? What are the implications of it? (Fuller)
“Writing must have universal values, universal implications; it cannot deal only with black people problems”
He has unconscious racism— due to lack of clarity
What happened to Jonathan Kozol? (Fuller)
He was a young teacher who tried to teach Langston Hughes, thus white right wing people were infuriated.
A school official said that “no poem by a black authors can be considered permissible if it involves suffering.
What connects the line between the school officials rejection of black poetry and Mr. Simpson’s dismissal for writing about black people “only”
The facts of negro life accuse white people
In order for a white person to look at black life without feeling personally attacked, they must relegate those to the subhuman(to justify racism) or the white has to confront the imputation of guilt against him.
Why does Fuller claim that black writing has not been favored by a “double standard”?
3 reasons:
Why would a critic be any more generous to a black person than they are with black people?
There’s no evidence that generosity is the rule
Black peoples works are picked apart word by word, (also to eliminate themes of suffering), while white peoples mediocre work is published without too heavy criticism
According to Fuller, what is the center of the problem between the black writer and the white critic?
The truth of American life… they are from separate naturally antagonistic worlds
They have huge thick dividing walls that hate and history have erected.
The breaking down of those barriers might be a goal, but that reality still remains
The world of the black outsider threatens the world of insiders because the outsider feeds off of its own sources. Logical bias
What has the black artist spent too much time on? Why? (Fuller)
They waste time denying a propensity every rule of human dignity demands that he possesses
This happens because black Americans are colonized in their native land
What does Fuller say about the black rebellion?
That it’s black peoples breaking off the shackles of white america, finding beauty in themselves.
—the idea of affirmation
Does a Fuller support using Shakespeare to create the “frame of reference” for black poetry?
Abso-fucking-lutely NOT.
Since Fuller does not support using Shakespeare as a frame of reference for black poets, what is he (quoted from Frantz Fanon) saying that black people do/should do?
Search for the black aesthetic— a system of isolating and evaluating the artistic works of black people which reflect the black experience
What leads the road to solidarity and strength according to Fuller?
Reclamation and indoctrination of black art and culture
What is the goal is the Organization of Black American Culture (Fuller)?
Black critics who will be able to articulate and expound the new aesthetic and set in motion the long overdue assault against the restrictive assumptions of white critics
Why can’t white critics and readers be expected to recognize and empathize the subtleties and significance of black style and technique?
Black critics have the responsibility of approaching black works with the qualities of black peoples to be present.
White readers and critics cannot automatically connect with that
What holiday did Karrenga create?
Kwanza!
What must black art do, according to Karrenga?
Respond positively to the reality of revolution
What plays a role in black survival? Why should black art be important (Karrenga)
Art
Because art should not be bogged down by the meaningless madness of the Western world
What do black artists need? (Karrenga)
A black aesthetic, that is a criteria for judging the validity and/or the beauty of a work of art
