HTH 1002 History of Thought II Spring 2017

1. Baldwin
HTH 1002 History of Thought II
Kara Heitz

2. James Baldwin (1924-1987)
• American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet,
and social critic
• Writings explore dynamics of race, class, and
sexuality in America
• Spent much of his life living abroad
• Major literary voice of the civil rights movement
• Major works:
• Go Tell It On The Mountain (1953, novel)
• The Amen Corner (1954, play)
• Notes Of A Native Son (1955, essays)
• Giovanni’s Room (1956, novel)
• Nobody Knows My Name (1961, essays)
• Another Country (1962, novel)
• The Fire Next Time (1963, essays)
• Blues for Mister Charlie (1964, play)
• Going To Meet The Man (1965, short stories)
• No Name In The Street (1972, essays)
• The Devil Finds Work (1976, essays)
• Just Above My Head (1979, novel)
• The Price of the Ticket (1985, essays)

3. Baldwin & Postcolonialism?
• Is Baldwin a postcolonial thinker?
• Is the African American experience part of part
of the postcolonial experience?
• Generalities of systems of Western domination
v. specificity of particular histories
• How does Baldwin speak to this?

4. Discussion: “Stranger in the Village” (1955)
• Villagers’ reactions to Baldwin
• “… there is a great difference between being the
first white man to be seen by Africans and being
the first black man to be seen by whites”
• “… It is one of the ironies of black-white relations
that, by means of what the white man imagines
the black man to be, the black man is enabled to
know who the white man is.”
• What is different about the black experience in
America?
• Generality of systems of white supremacy in West
• Ending: moving forward?
Leukerbad, Switzerland