White Writers, Race Matters

Fictions of Racial Liberalism from Stowe to Stockett

Gregory S. Jay

Oxford Studies in American Literary History

Theorizes and examines the genre of white liberal race fiction from the 18th century to the present
Places recognizably important novels such as Uncle Tom's Cabin, Huckleberry Finn, and To Kill a Mockingbird in a new light by linking them together in the effort to create racial liberalism through fiction
Mixes history, biography, close reading, cultural analysis, and literary theory in prose that is lively and accessible

White Writers, Race Matters

Fictions of Racial Liberalism from Stowe to Stockett

Gregory S. Jay

Oxford Studies in American Literary History

Description

What explains the enduring popularity of white-authored protest fiction about racism in America? How have such books spoken to the racial crises of their time, and why do they remain important in our own era? White Writers, Race Matters explores these questions and the controversies they raise by tracking this tradition in American literary history. Dating back to Uncle Tom's Cabin, the genre includes widely-read and taught works such as Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird along with period best-sellers now sometimes forgotten. This history also takes us to Hollywood, which regularly adapted them into blockbusters that spread their cultural influence further as well as incited debates over their politics. These novels strive to move readers emotionally toward ethical transformation and practical action. Their literary forms, styles and plots derive from the cultural work they intend to do in educating the minds and hearts of those who, in James Baldwin's words, "think they are white"--indeed, in making the social construction of that whiteness readable and thus more susceptible to reform. Each chapter provides a case study combining biography, historical analysis, close reading, and literary theory to map the significance of this genre and its ongoing relevance. This tradition remains vital because every generation must relearn the lessons of antiracism and formulate effective cultural narratives for transmitting intellectual and affective tools useful in fighting injustice.

White Writers, Race Matters

Fictions of Racial Liberalism from Stowe to Stockett

Gregory S. Jay

Oxford Studies in American Literary History

Introduction

Chapter 1: Sympathy in Action: Stowe, Twain, and the Origins of Liberal Race Fiction
Chapter 2: How It Feels to be a Trade-mark: Fannie Hurst's Imitation of Life
Chapter 3: Jew Like Me: Empathy and Antisemitism in Laura Zametkin Hobson's Gentleman's Agreement
Chapter 4: Desegregating Liberalism: Radical Identifications in Lillian Smith's Strange Fruit and Killers of the Dream
Chapter 5: Queer Children and Representative Men: Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
Chapter 6: Speaking of Abjection: White Writing and Black Resistance in Kathryn Stockett's The Help

Afterword
Endnotes
Works Cited

White Writers, Race Matters

Fictions of Racial Liberalism from Stowe to Stockett

Gregory S. Jay

Oxford Studies in American Literary History

Author Information

Gregory S. Jay is Professor of English, University Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

White Writers, Race Matters

Fictions of Racial Liberalism from Stowe to Stockett

Gregory S. Jay

Oxford Studies in American Literary History

Reviews and Awards

"[An] interesting and valuable text: a philological landmark in the transition from the early antiquarian interest in the vernacular to the comparative etymological approach that announces the development of modern linguistics. Also praiseworthy is the choice of Javier Ruano- García as the scholar in charge of this neat, careful and well-informed edition: an outstanding contribution to the study of English regional lexicography." -- J. Camilo Conde-Silvestre, Nexus

"Jay's painstaking research into the spectrum of racial liberalism and the transformational possibility of white awareness proffers productive lines of enquiry for resistance studies." -- Regis Marlene Fox , Modern Langauge Review

"Though not excusing their flaws, Jay exposes how these novels challenge whiteness, create empathetic and sympathetic identifications that unsettle white privilege, and disrupt normative versions of gender and sexuality. ... An engaging resource for scholars in African American studies and American studies. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." -- Choice

"Erudite, nuanced, accessible, and passionate, White Writers, Race Matters makes a strong case for attending to these attempts to 'awaken outrage' by bringing to light their complexity, courage and vigor, as well as their limitations. At a time when a lot more awakened outrage directed at American racism would be very good for us, Jay shows the way to taking a new kind of interest in the lives and works of these writers who tried to do just that." --Mitchell Breitwieser, University of California, Berkeley

"Extensively researched, theoretically informed and well-written, Gregory S. Jay's White Writers, Race Matters is a significant contribution to the literature of U.S. racial liberalism, one that should appeal to a broad educated audience as well as scholars and advanced students." --Fred Hobson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill