Graduation Date
Spring 2023
Document Type
Project
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in English, emphasis in Literary & Cultural Studies
Committee Chair Name
Christina Hsu Accomando
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Ramona Bell
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Subject Categories
English
Abstract
In his hard-hitting novel The Spook Who Sat by the Door Sam Greenlee aims to help his target African American audience to succeed and thrive as their true selves with the novel functioning as a guide to resisting the ever-present physical and spiritual threat faced daily. On the one hand the novel functions as a manual for civil uprising, but underneath that surface, Greenlee argues that true African American resistance comes through nurturing self-determination, self-love, and self-esteem. This project also argues that Spook ought to be located closer to the center of the African American literary canon and provides comparisons to widely read and valued African American literature. This project argues for the canonization of The Spook Who Sat by the Door. This project claims that Greenlee views self-determination as a path to resistance and success for African Americans.
Citation Style
MLA
Recommended Citation
Rainey, Kenneth L. III, "A black Prometheus among the gods: illuminating African American literary tradition in Sam Greenlee's The Spook Who Sat by the Door" (2023). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 652.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/652
Included in
American Literature Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons, Other English Language and Literature Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons