Subtitle: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology
Author: Edited by Venetria K. Patton and Maureen Honey
Subject: African American Studies/Literary Studies/American Studies
Paper ISBN 0-8135-2930-1
Pages: 544 pp., 30 b&w illus.
Description: An anthology of fiction, poetry, drama, song lyrics, illustrations, and essays from one of the most exciting eras in U.S. and African American culture.
In this important new anthology, Venetria K. Patton and Maureen Honey bring together a comprehensive selection of texts from the Harlem Renaissancea key period in the literary and cultural history of the United States. The collection revolutionizes our way of viewing this era, since it redresses the ongoing emphasis on the male writers of this time. Double-Take offers a unique, balanced collection of writersmen and women, gay and straight, familiar and obscure. Arranged by author, rather than by genre, this anthology includes works from major Harlem Renaissance figures as well as often-overlooked essayists, poets, dramatists, and artists.
The editors have included works from a wide variety of genrespoetry, short stories, drama, and essaysallowing readers to understand the true interdisciplinary quality of this cultural movement. Biographical sketches of the authors are provided and most of the pieces are included in their entirety. Double-Take also includes artwork and illustrations, many of which are from original journals and have never before been reprinted. Significantly, Double-Take is the first Harlem Renaissance title to include song lyrics to illustrate the interrelation of various art forms.
Venetria Patton is an associate professor of English and African American and African studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is the author of Women in Chains: The Legacy of Slavery in Black Womens Fiction. Maureen Honey is professor of English and womens studies, also at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is the editor of Shadowed Dreams: Womens Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance and coeditor of the forthcoming title "Madame Butterfly" and "A Japanese Nightingale": Two Orientalist Texts by John Luther Long and Winnifred Eaton (both by Rutgers University Press).
Praise for Double-Take
"The balanced selection of women and men is similar to that found in Henry Louis Gatess Norton Anthology of African American Literature, but the inclusion of lesser-known figures and works is aimed at focusing on the ideology of the renaissance, gay and lesbian themes, and differences in gender-based issues. . . . Necessary for all academic libraries."Library Journal (starred review)
"Long overdue. . . . [The books] primary goal is to redress the perpetual lack of recognition of the central role of women in the Harlem Renaissance, and the consequent gender imbalance in previous anthologies of the period. . . . An invaluable volume, immensely informative and satisfying in both breadth and quality, that should set a standard for similar anthologies for many years. Recommended for all levels."Choice
"Double-Take is a thick, rich stew of an anthology. It will compel a reevaluation of our most common assumptions about the Harlem Renaissance."Deborah McDowell, University of Virginia
"Double-Take truly is a revisionist anthologywith attention to scores of minor figures, especially women. The essays and illustrations, juxtaposed with poems and short fiction, will allow the student to appreciate the Harlem Renaissance in its multiple dimensions."Amritjit Singh, author of The Novels of the Harlem Renaissance
Click here to read the Table of Contents of Double-Take.
