CHAPTER ONEBACKGROUND TO THE STUDYLiterature is considered a very important and powerful tool used to reflect, replicate and mirror the ills of the society. Roshni Duhan in his journal: The Relationship between Literature and Society (vol. 15:4, April 2015) sees literature as a “reflection of the society which has been widely acknowledged”. Literature indeed is a reflection of the society, its good values and its ills. In his corrective functions, literature mirrors the ills of the society with a view to making the society realize its mistake and make amend.Literature is also seen as an imitation of human action; often, it presents a picture of human life and action through some characters who by their words, action and reactions, convey certain messages for the purpose of education, information and entertainment. The literary writer therefore is a product of his society and his art is the product of his own reaction to life. He, through a microscopic lens reimagines and examines the various happenings in his society, taking into consideration the social, political, educational and the economic aspect of human experiences as well as suggesting possible solutions to salvage the situation. Throughout American history, African Americans have been discriminated against and subject to racist attitudes. This experience inspired some Black writers like Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land, an autobiographical novel which is a typical reflection of the experiences of the Black Americans in a white dominated milieu (Harlem), their ordeals and struggle to freedom through some revolutionary movement like the Black Muslim Movement (1955). The novel in the actual sense, mirrors or reflects vividly the issues of racism and discrimination of the Blacks in North America (Harlem) and the lasting effect it had on the psyche of the Black negro.African American literature as one of the sub-category of American literature has become an important part of American literature and culture produced in United States by writers of African descent and directly pertains to the experiences and viewpoints of African Americans. Terry W. Ward sr., in his work: To Shatter Innocence: Teaching African Poetry in M. Graham, Teaching African American (Routlege, 146) opines that African American literature is a body of literature written by Americans of African descent produced in the United States which began with the works of such writers of the late 18th century like Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching high points with slave narratives and the Harlem Renaissance, and continuing today with authors such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and Walter Mosley (). African American literature is also a representation of the American society, analyzing the problems of racial discrimination and protestation. This kind of literature carefully examines the problems of racial discrimination in all its philosophical extential and epistemological aspects. Among the intriguing themes and issues explored in African American literatures are the role of African Americans within the larger American society, African American culture, racism, slavery and equality (Katherine Dicscoll, 1998).The most essential themes of the African American literature is the focus on the experiences of Black people in United States. It elucidates the very issues of freedom and equality which were long denied to Black people in the United States. African American writing has also tendered to incorporate oral forms such as spirituals, gospel music, sermon, blues and rap. African American literature, most especially written poetry and prose has a strong tradition of incorporating all these forms of oral poetry (Henry Louis Gates, 1998).As African Americans’ place in the American society has changed over the centuries, so, too have the African American literature, which had evolved from mid 18th century with slave narratives to the current times with all its socio-literary exuberance, initiating cultural transformation in the fabric of American society. In the middle of the 19th century, slave narratives, a subgenre of African American literature emerged. At this time, the controversy over slavery led to impassioned literature on both sides of the issues, with books like Harriot Beecher’s Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), a representation of the abolitionist view of the evils of slavery (man inhumanity to man). This slave narratives were therefore memoirs which give a succinct representation of the African American slavery by people who had generally escaped slavery, their journey to freedom and the way they reclaimed their lives. Such writers like Harriet Jacob, Frederick Douglass, Phillis Wheatley amongst others. Though the African presence in North American literature began with the oral performance with which slaves relieved, when possible, the physical and psychological horrors of their lives. Written literature did not emerge until the 18th century. From the 19th century, a succession of novelist and playwrights like Rich and Wright, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Claude Brown and so on, forced painfully a literary tradition that unveils the experience from a recognition of their African heritage and their American identity. The institutionalization of slavery with the American society required an intellectual justification for the mistreatment of millions of African men, women and children. Slavery required racism, and was the proximate cause of it, where the Europeans were at the top of the scale and the Africans were below without recognition.New attention was therefore directed to African American literature during the Harlem Renaissance from 1920 – 1940. Harlem renaissance emerged with great flowering in literature, arts, the social thought and culture of that time, which was the social both influenced by both writers who came North in the Great Migration and those who were immigrants from Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands. The Harlem Renaissance marked a turning point for African American literature. Prior to this time, books by African American were primarily read by Black people, with the renaissance though, African American literature as well as Black fine art and performance art began to be absorbed into the mainstream of American culture (Jerry Ward, 1998).

1. 1. This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research work
2. 2. As a source for additional understanding of the subject.
3. 3. As a source for ideas for your own research work (if properly referenced).
4. 4. For PROPER paraphrasing (see your university definition of plagiarism and acceptable paraphrase)
5. 5. Direct citing (if referenced properly)
Thank you so much for your respect to the authors copyright.