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Shadow Archives: The Lifecycles of African American Literature
Winner of the MLA's Matei Calinescu Prize for a distinguished work of scholarship in twentieth or twenty-first century literature and thought (Modern Language Association) Winner of the MSA First Book Prize (Modernist Studies Association) Winner of the Waldo Gifford Leland Award from the Society of American Archivists Shortlisted for the ASAP Book Prize (Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present)
Recasting the history of African American literature, Shadow Archives brings to life a slew of newly discovered texts―including Claude McKay's Amiable with Big Teeth―to tell the stories of black special collections and their struggle for institutional recognition. Jean-Christophe Cloutier offers revelatory readings of major African American writers, including McKay, Richard Wright, Ann Petry, and Ralph Ellison, and provides a nuanced view of how archival methodology, access, and the power dynamics of acquisitions shape literary history.
Shadow Archives argues that the notion of the archive is crucial to our understanding of postwar African American literary history. Cloutier combines his own experiences as a researcher and archivist with a theoretically rich account of the archive to offer a pioneering study of the importance of African American authors' archival practices and how these shaped their writing. Given the lack of institutions dedicated to the black experience, the novel became an alternative site of historical preservation, a means to ensure both individual legacy and group survival. Such archivism manifests in the work of these authors through evolving lifecycles where documents undergo repurposing, revision, insertion, falsification, transformation, and fictionalization, sometimes across decades. An innovative interdisciplinary consideration of literary papers, Shadow Archives proposes new ways for literary scholars to engage with the archive.
Recasting the history of African American literature, Shadow Archives brings to life a slew of newly discovered texts―including Claude McKay's Amiable with Big Teeth―to tell the stories of black special collections and their struggle for institutional recognition. Jean-Christophe Cloutier offers revelatory readings of major African American writers, including McKay, Richard Wright, Ann Petry, and Ralph Ellison, and provides a nuanced view of how archival methodology, access, and the power dynamics of acquisitions shape literary history.
Shadow Archives argues that the notion of the archive is crucial to our understanding of postwar African American literary history. Cloutier combines his own experiences as a researcher and archivist with a theoretically rich account of the archive to offer a pioneering study of the importance of African American authors' archival practices and how these shaped their writing. Given the lack of institutions dedicated to the black experience, the novel became an alternative site of historical preservation, a means to ensure both individual legacy and group survival. Such archivism manifests in the work of these authors through evolving lifecycles where documents undergo repurposing, revision, insertion, falsification, transformation, and fictionalization, sometimes across decades. An innovative interdisciplinary consideration of literary papers, Shadow Archives proposes new ways for literary scholars to engage with the archive.
- GenresNonfiction
408 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 17, 2023
A recommendation from one of my diss committee members that makes me feel so seen. A gem that also has me slightly fuming because I could literally never write such a beautiful and lucid description of archival politics that encapsulates a scientific (i.e. archival/library sciences) AND humanist approach!!! But alas, this gives me some solid comfort in knowing that 1) I’m not crazy in pursuing the project I’m pursuing, and 2) there are many more projects beyond my current one that are now stewing in the back of my head….
May 23, 2024
Cloutier digs into the archives of Black American authors like Ralph Ellison and Ann Petry - not just to shed light on their work but to critically reflect on how archival practices shape our understanding of these writers and the context of their work. This work has some brilliant methodological insights and some important critiques for archivists. Beware of the backlog and know thy provenance.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews