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The Resource Was Huck Black? : Mark Twain and African-American voices, Shelley Fisher Fishkin

Was Huck Black? : Mark Twain and African-American voices, Shelley Fisher Fishkin

Creator
Summary
Published in 1884, Huckberry Finn has become one of the most widely taught novels in American curricula. But where did it come from, and what made it so distinctive? Shelly Fisher Fishkin suggests that in Huckleberry Finn, more than in any other work, Mark Twain let African-American voices, language, and rhetorical traditions play a major role in the creation of his art. In Was Huck Black?, Fishkin combines close readings of published and unpublished writing by Twain with intensive biographical and historical research and insights gleaned from linguistics, literary theory, and folklore to shed new light on the role African-American voices played in the genesis of Huckleberry Finn. Given that book's importance in American culture, her analysis illuminates, as well, how African-American voices have shaped our sense of what is distinctively "American" about American literature. Fishkin shows that Mark Twain was surrounded, throughout his life, by richly talented African-American speakers whose rhetorical gifts Twain admired candidly and profusely. A black child named Jimmy whom Twain called "the most art-less, sociable, and exhaustless talker I ever came across" helped Twain understand the potential of a vernacular narrator in the years before he began writing Huckberry Finn, and served as a model for the voice with which Twain would transform American literature. A slave named Jerry whom Twain referred to as an "impudent and satirical and delightful young black man" taught Twain about "signifying"--Satire in an African-American vein - when Twain was a teenager (later Twain would recall that he thought him "the greatest man in the United States" at the time). Other African-American voices left their mark on Twain's imagination as well - but their role in the creation of his art has never been recognized. Was Huck Black? adds a new dimension to current debates over multiculturalism and the canon. American literary historians have told a largely segregated story: white writers come from white literary ancestors, black writers from black ones. The truth is more complicated and more interesting. While African-American culture shaped Huckleberry Finn, that novel, in turn, helped shape African-American writing in the twentieth century. As Ralph Ellison commented in an interview with Fishkin, Twain "made it possible for many of us to find our own voices." Was Huck Black? dramatizes the crucial role of black voices in Twain's art, and takes the first steps beyond traditional cultural boundaries to unveil an American literary heritage that is infinitely richer and more complex than we had thought
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Was Huck Black? : Mark Twain and African-American voices
Title
Was Huck Black?
Title remainder
Mark Twain and African-American voices
Statement of responsibility
Shelley Fisher Fishkin
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
Published in 1884, Huckberry Finn has become one of the most widely taught novels in American curricula. But where did it come from, and what made it so distinctive? Shelly Fisher Fishkin suggests that in Huckleberry Finn, more than in any other work, Mark Twain let African-American voices, language, and rhetorical traditions play a major role in the creation of his art. In Was Huck Black?, Fishkin combines close readings of published and unpublished writing by Twain with intensive biographical and historical research and insights gleaned from linguistics, literary theory, and folklore to shed new light on the role African-American voices played in the genesis of Huckleberry Finn. Given that book's importance in American culture, her analysis illuminates, as well, how African-American voices have shaped our sense of what is distinctively "American" about American literature. Fishkin shows that Mark Twain was surrounded, throughout his life, by richly talented African-American speakers whose rhetorical gifts Twain admired candidly and profusely. A black child named Jimmy whom Twain called "the most art-less, sociable, and exhaustless talker I ever came across" helped Twain understand the potential of a vernacular narrator in the years before he began writing Huckberry Finn, and served as a model for the voice with which Twain would transform American literature. A slave named Jerry whom Twain referred to as an "impudent and satirical and delightful young black man" taught Twain about "signifying"--Satire in an African-American vein - when Twain was a teenager (later Twain would recall that he thought him "the greatest man in the United States" at the time). Other African-American voices left their mark on Twain's imagination as well - but their role in the creation of his art has never been recognized. Was Huck Black? adds a new dimension to current debates over multiculturalism and the canon. American literary historians have told a largely segregated story: white writers come from white literary ancestors, black writers from black ones. The truth is more complicated and more interesting. While African-American culture shaped Huckleberry Finn, that novel, in turn, helped shape African-American writing in the twentieth century. As Ralph Ellison commented in an interview with Fishkin, Twain "made it possible for many of us to find our own voices." Was Huck Black? dramatizes the crucial role of black voices in Twain's art, and takes the first steps beyond traditional cultural boundaries to unveil an American literary heritage that is infinitely richer and more complex than we had thought
Biography type
contains biographical information
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Fishkin, Shelley Fisher
Dewey number
813/.4
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
PS1305
LC item number
.F57 1993
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Finn, Huckleberry
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark (1835-1910)
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Twain, Mark
  • Authors, American
  • African Americans in literature
  • African Americans
  • Authors, American
  • African Americans
  • Écrivains américains
  • Noirs américains dans la littérature
  • Noirs américains
  • African Americans
  • African Americans in literature
  • Authors, American
  • Finn, Huckleberry (Fictitious character)
  • Friendship
  • Negers
  • Letterkunde
  • Engels
  • The adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain)
  • Noirs américains
  • Noirs
  • Schwarze
  • Schwarze (Motiv)
  • Schwarze (Motiv)
  • Schwarze
Label
Was Huck Black? : Mark Twain and African-American voices, Shelley Fisher Fishkin
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-247) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • Jimmy
  • Jerry
  • Jim
  • Breakdancing in the drawing room
Control code
ocm26724043
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
xiv, 270 p.
Isbn
9780195089141
Lccn
92031228
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
Other physical details
ill.
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o26724043
  • (OCoLC)26724043
Label
Was Huck Black? : Mark Twain and African-American voices, Shelley Fisher Fishkin
Link
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-247) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • Jimmy
  • Jerry
  • Jim
  • Breakdancing in the drawing room
Control code
ocm26724043
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
xiv, 270 p.
Isbn
9780195089141
Lccn
92031228
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
Other physical details
ill.
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o26724043
  • (OCoLC)26724043

Subject

Genre

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