This book studies fictional homespaces in African American literature from those set in the time of slavery to modern urban configurations of the homespace. The author examines the factors that influence homespaces in African American literature and analyzes why African American writers often portray troubling and dysfunctional homespaces.

In Depictions of Home in African American Literature, Trudier Harris analyzes fictional homespaces in African American literature from those set in the time of slavery to modern urban configurations of the homespace. She argues that African American writers often inadvertently create and follow a tradition of portraying dysfunctional and physically or emotionally violent homespaces. Harris explores the roles race and religion play in the creation of homespaces and how geography, space, and character all influence these spaces. Although many characters in African American literature crave safe, happy homespaces and frequently carry such images with them through their mental or physical migrations, few characters experience the formation of healthy homespaces by the end of their journeys. Harris studies the historical, cultural, and literary portrayals of the home in works from well-known authors such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and August Wilson as well as lesser-studied authors such as Daniel Black, A.J. Verdelle, Margaret Walker, and Dorothy West.

Introduction: Home in African American Literature: Difficult to Define, Challenging to Claim

Chapter 1: Movement, Migration, and Homelessness

Margaret Walker’s Jubilee (1966)

Chapter 2: Where I Live is Not Home

James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953); Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970);

Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog (2001)

Chapter 3: Lonely Place, Unwelcoming Space

A. J. Verdelle’s The Good Negress (1995)

Chapter 4: A Mother’s Desire, A Son’s Hell

Daniel Black’s Perfect Peace (2010)

Chapter 5: A Mother’s Domination, A Family’s Submission

Dorothy West’s The Living Is Easy (1940)

Chapter 6: Wrapped in Imagination and Desire

Countee Cullen, “Heritage”; Ann Petry, “Mother Africa”; Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959); Alice Walker, “Everyday Use” (1973); Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977); Phyllis Alesia Perry, Stigmata (1998); Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing (2016); James Weldon Johnson; Sterling A. Brown

Conclusion: While We’re in This Place . . .