Witness and Testament: Two Contemporary Classics

Berthoff, Warner

doi:10.2307/468605

Cited by 21 publications

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“…"In the full Aristotelean meaning he was a rhetorician, who to be such, knew m ore than rhetoric: ethics, logic, gram m ar, psychology, law, history, politics, and his best speeches might be texts for students o f that comprehensive science and art." 39 Both the liberal superstructure and the practical atm osphere which Cooke suggests characterize The Autobiography can be observed as a genuine part of its narrative structure as, "certain figures [and] organizations with Malcolm's journey and pilgrimage [which] are transform ed into foils [and] against which we begin to see his strength and determ ination. "40 Initially, when his public cause is stripped from him and he is reduced to the status o f an invisible man, the 'X' comes to symbolize his unknow n private self.…”

Section: Malcolm Could Talk For An Hour and A Half At A Meeting And mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Public, Spiritual, and Humanistic Odyssey of Malcolm X: A Critical Bibliographical Debate

Henry¹

1983

Iowa Journal of Literary Studies

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T h e A u t o b i o g r a p h y O f M a l c o lm X is a socially compelling work which not only describes one m an 's pursuit o f dignity, but also that o f a people's quest to build a m ore hum an culture. In this respect, The Autobiography presents a powerful set of cultural and literary experiences. While depicting a cultural dram a weighted in social, economic, and political significance, The Autobiography also employs artistic collaboration, as Alex Haley helps Mal colm not only to recreate each stage o f his life, but also to discuss such m atters as women, trust, and the past in general with a deep sense o f integrity and moral sensitivity. As the autobiographical reel is slowly run backward, one observes that Malcolm was m uch m ore than the sensation alized image o f black hate, which Mike Wallace dramatized in the CBS television docum entary, "The Hate T hat Hate Produced." Although he was similar to Ellison's Ras, "The D estroyer," Malcolm was m ore like Ras, "The E xhorter" channeling his anger into 'the w ord' which provided him a much m ore effective weapon, not only for his public prophesies o f doom (Mal colm 's classic indictm ent o f America), but also for his prophesies o f hope. Malcolm talked shit, and talking shit is the iron in a young nigger's blood. Malcolm mastered language and used it as a sword to slash his way through the veil o f lies that for four hundred years gave the white man the power o f the word.As he ham m ered and chiseled away tow ard a singular identity, he im m ersed him self in a public role and in a cause which, over time, could be described as anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and certainly pan-humanist (advocating hu m an rights). Although once labeled as mascot, hustler, and controversialist, Malcolm became primarily a teacher whose speeches and life com m itm ent im ported much force because o f their, "substantive fullness, their penetra tion and honesty, as well as their closeness to reality." 1 This study will attem pt to illuminate this strain in Malcolm, the social-religious leader who attem pted to expose the hegemonic forms o f American social oppression which not only contradicted the American creed, but also short-circuited the American dream for so m any Afro-Americans. 77

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Section: Malcolm Could Talk For An Hour and A Half At A Meeting And mentioning

confidence: 99%