Cultural Contexts for Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

The collection of primary documents in this volume recapitulates the course of African American life during the first half of the 20th century, while it provides a context for reading an important literary work. Keyed to events in the novel, the documents include selections by African American leaders (Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du bois, and Marcus Garvey); selections by leading African American writers (Langston Hughes and Richard Wright); songs, folktales, and other examples of...
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The collection of primary documents in this volume recapitulates the course of African American life during the first half of the 20th century, while it provides a context for reading an important literary work. Keyed to events in the novel, the documents include selections by African American leaders (Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du bois, and Marcus Garvey); selections by leading African American writers (Langston Hughes and Richard Wright); songs, folktales, and other examples of black vernacular culture; and readings on African American migration, black labour in the industrial North, the role of communism in African American politics, and the end of legal segregation in the United States.