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
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2929-8
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
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to read the Table of Contents of Double-Take.