A Study of the Influence of Afro-American Culture on Anglo-American Fiction

Abstract

In the making of American literature, "race" is a crucial factor. Among various racial elements contributing to American literary independence, blackness is a vital one. The paper aims to analyze how Afro-American culture and language interacts with Anglo-American fiction, respectively exploring the impact of three main black cultures on the white text, namely blackface minstrelsy, black English and jazz. In the literary world, whiteness and blackness are not entirely divorced from each other but closely interrelated. The overwhelming presence of black characters and black culture in the Anglo-American fiction cannot and should not be denied.