Impermanent Blackness: The Making and Unmaking of Interracial Literary Culture in Modern America

by Korey Garibaldi

Revisiting an almost-forgotten American interracial literary culture that advanced racial pluralism in the decades before the 1960s

In Impermanent Blackness , Korey Garibaldi explores interracial collaborations in American commercial publishing―authors, agents, and publishers who forged partnerships across racial lines―from the 1910s to the 1960s. Garibaldi shows how aspiring and established Black authors and editors worked closely with white interlocutors to achieve publishing success, often challenging stereotypes and advancing racial pluralism in the process.

Impermanent Blackness explores the complex nature of this almost-forgotten period of interracial publishing by examining key developments, including the mainstream success of African American authors in the 1930s and 1940s, the emergence of multiracial children’s literature, postwar tensions between supporters of racial cosmopolitanism and of “Negro literature,” and the impact of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements on the legacy of interracial literary culture.

By the end of the 1960s, some literary figures once celebrated for pushing the boundaries of what Black writing could be, including the anthologist W. S. Braithwaite, the bestselling novelist Frank Yerby, the memoirist Juanita Harrison, and others, were forgotten or criticized as too white. And yet, Garibaldi argues, these figures―at once dreamers and pragmatists―have much to teach us about building an inclusive society. Revisiting their work from a contemporary perspective, Garibaldi breaks new ground in the cultural history of race in the United States.

Genres: History

288 pages, Hardcover

Published February 14, 2023

Reviews

[John Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many exciting discoveries in this one- some surprising, some inspiring, some heartbreaking (like the racist conspiracy by Poetry magazine, Carl Sandburg (!!), and Ezra Pound to destroy WS Braithwaite, the most powerful black literary critic of his time). Not just the familiar Harlem Renaissance/Black Arts Movement figures, either. Garibaldi introduces lots of black authors/artists who were incredibly influential in their lifetimes, some of whom have been written out of black literary history for being perceived as 'too white' (hence the title of the book). The core figures in the book, black and white, are those who believed in and fought for a racially inclusive vision of American letters. The flawed publishing world we have today was never inevitable; more beautiful and equitable visions for it have sprung up many times before. Read Impermanent Blackness to appreciate the fascinating and inspiring story of interracial literary culture, and how close, at times, we have come to achieving it.

[University of Chicago Magazine]

From our Summer/23 issue:

Viewed by many as a means to publishing success, artistic innovation, and racial pluralism in the first half of the 20th century, literary partnerships across racial lines came under fire in the 1960s. With the rise of the civil rights and Black power movements, authors, critics, publishers, and agents once celebrated for pushing the boundaries of Black literature through interracial collaborations were condemned as too White. Korey Garibaldi studies archival sources to recall this complex interracial era in American publishing and asks what its architects can teach us about building an inclusive society today.

https://mag.uchicago.edu/university-n...

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really outstanding book that illuminates interracial partnerships in the publishing world from the 1910s to the 1970s. Certainly changed my perspective on several things, including the Harlem Renaissance, children's books, and the challenges of being a Black author in this period. I also learned new names I hadn't heard of before, including Frank Yerby who was one of the bestselling American authors, regardless of race, in the 20th century.

Great image selection too.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend this book if you want to learn about some lesser-known Black writers of the 20th century! This is a work of academic literary history, but Garibaldi's prose is not particularly dense, and he includes plenty of interesting anecdotes, quotations, and pictures. My favorite chapters were "Integration and Its Discontents" (on writers of the 30s and 40s) and "Challenging Little Black Sambo" (on Black representation and authorship in children's literature).