No Cover Image

E-Thesis 532 views 1270 downloads

Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed. / Wendy Hayes-Jones

Swansea University Author: Wendy Hayes-Jones

Abstract

This thesis examines the social and cultural thought of the acclaimed and controversial African American author Ishmael Reed. It explores the ideas that have informed Reed's essays and novels since the 1960s, placing his works within the American social and cultural contexts to which he respond...

Full description

Published: 2013
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42498
first_indexed 2018-08-02T18:54:51Z
last_indexed 2019-10-21T16:47:56Z
id cronfa42498
recordtype RisThesis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2018-08-15T10:00:41.8111538</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>42498</id><entry>2018-08-02</entry><title>Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>ba92c543af2fad3a950233cecafc5420</sid><ORCID>NULL</ORCID><firstname>Wendy</firstname><surname>Hayes-Jones</surname><name>Wendy Hayes-Jones</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>true</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2018-08-02</date><abstract>This thesis examines the social and cultural thought of the acclaimed and controversial African American author Ishmael Reed. It explores the ideas that have informed Reed's essays and novels since the 1960s, placing his works within the American social and cultural contexts to which he responded. Reed often envisions himself as a prize-fighter, taking on the hypocrisy and racism which he detects within mainstream American journalism and in academia. But Reed is a pragmatic prize-fighter in the sense that he consistently varies his punches according to the contexts in which he finds himself, and in reaction to the different antagonists which are the targets of his critiques. By exploring how Reed grounds his work in controversy and paradox my study aims to reveal a complex cross fertilisation and synergy between Reed's novels and essays. To this end I consider the contrast between Reed's emphasis on the vitality of African and American oral and literary traditions, and his simultaneous declaration of war on the persistence of race and black and white stereotyping in the USA. He sets American cultural and political ideals in opposition to Afncan American realities, thus allowing his writings to function as counter-narratives that foreground the racial tensions still inherent in American society. My focus is on some of the central contradictions in Ishmael Reed's writings. This thesis is divided into three main sections which have allowed to me to analyse, within Reed's complex and interpenetrating prose works, some of the main thematic areas of his fiction and some of the key arguments developed in his essays. The first section explores the role of the intellectual and Reed's conception of his own vocation as a writer. The second engages with issues of race, ethnicity and multiculturalism, while the final section explores Reed's interventions in debates around gender. Rather than seeking to establish a single position that can be associated with Reed, I draw attention to the ambivalences and paradoxes within his thought and writings. Reed presents himself as the committed radical engaging enthusiastically with the complex relationships between ethnic groups, whilst simultaneously championing the Black community. Yet this self-image conflicts with the conservative and misogynist strains in his work. This thesis aims to explore, explain and understand such paradoxes and thus to shed a new light on one of the most fascinating writers of the last fifty years.</abstract><type>E-Thesis</type><journal/><journalNumber></journalNumber><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords>American literature.</keywords><publishedDay>31</publishedDay><publishedMonth>12</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2013</publishedYear><publishedDate>2013-12-31</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>English Literature and Creative Writing</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><degreelevel>Doctoral</degreelevel><degreename>Ph.D</degreename><apcterm/><lastEdited>2018-08-15T10:00:41.8111538</lastEdited><Created>2018-08-02T16:24:29.4625964</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Wendy</firstname><surname>Hayes-Jones</surname><orcid>NULL</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>0042498-02082018162459.pdf</filename><originalFilename>10801728.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2018-08-02T16:24:59.2430000</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>11682391</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>E-Thesis</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><embargoDate>2018-08-02T16:24:59.2430000</embargoDate><copyrightCorrect>false</copyrightCorrect></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2018-08-15T10:00:41.8111538 v2 42498 2018-08-02 Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed. ba92c543af2fad3a950233cecafc5420 NULL Wendy Hayes-Jones Wendy Hayes-Jones true true 2018-08-02 This thesis examines the social and cultural thought of the acclaimed and controversial African American author Ishmael Reed. It explores the ideas that have informed Reed's essays and novels since the 1960s, placing his works within the American social and cultural contexts to which he responded. Reed often envisions himself as a prize-fighter, taking on the hypocrisy and racism which he detects within mainstream American journalism and in academia. But Reed is a pragmatic prize-fighter in the sense that he consistently varies his punches according to the contexts in which he finds himself, and in reaction to the different antagonists which are the targets of his critiques. By exploring how Reed grounds his work in controversy and paradox my study aims to reveal a complex cross fertilisation and synergy between Reed's novels and essays. To this end I consider the contrast between Reed's emphasis on the vitality of African and American oral and literary traditions, and his simultaneous declaration of war on the persistence of race and black and white stereotyping in the USA. He sets American cultural and political ideals in opposition to Afncan American realities, thus allowing his writings to function as counter-narratives that foreground the racial tensions still inherent in American society. My focus is on some of the central contradictions in Ishmael Reed's writings. This thesis is divided into three main sections which have allowed to me to analyse, within Reed's complex and interpenetrating prose works, some of the main thematic areas of his fiction and some of the key arguments developed in his essays. The first section explores the role of the intellectual and Reed's conception of his own vocation as a writer. The second engages with issues of race, ethnicity and multiculturalism, while the final section explores Reed's interventions in debates around gender. Rather than seeking to establish a single position that can be associated with Reed, I draw attention to the ambivalences and paradoxes within his thought and writings. Reed presents himself as the committed radical engaging enthusiastically with the complex relationships between ethnic groups, whilst simultaneously championing the Black community. Yet this self-image conflicts with the conservative and misogynist strains in his work. This thesis aims to explore, explain and understand such paradoxes and thus to shed a new light on one of the most fascinating writers of the last fifty years. E-Thesis American literature. 31 12 2013 2013-12-31 COLLEGE NANME English Literature and Creative Writing COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Doctoral Ph.D 2018-08-15T10:00:41.8111538 2018-08-02T16:24:29.4625964 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing Wendy Hayes-Jones NULL 1 0042498-02082018162459.pdf 10801728.pdf 2018-08-02T16:24:59.2430000 Output 11682391 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2018-08-02T16:24:59.2430000 false
title Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
spellingShingle Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
Wendy Hayes-Jones
title_short Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
title_full Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
title_fullStr Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
title_full_unstemmed Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
title_sort Pragmatic pugilist: The social and cultural thought of Ishmael Reed.
author_id_str_mv ba92c543af2fad3a950233cecafc5420
author_id_fullname_str_mv ba92c543af2fad3a950233cecafc5420_***_Wendy Hayes-Jones
author Wendy Hayes-Jones
author2 Wendy Hayes-Jones
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2013
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This thesis examines the social and cultural thought of the acclaimed and controversial African American author Ishmael Reed. It explores the ideas that have informed Reed's essays and novels since the 1960s, placing his works within the American social and cultural contexts to which he responded. Reed often envisions himself as a prize-fighter, taking on the hypocrisy and racism which he detects within mainstream American journalism and in academia. But Reed is a pragmatic prize-fighter in the sense that he consistently varies his punches according to the contexts in which he finds himself, and in reaction to the different antagonists which are the targets of his critiques. By exploring how Reed grounds his work in controversy and paradox my study aims to reveal a complex cross fertilisation and synergy between Reed's novels and essays. To this end I consider the contrast between Reed's emphasis on the vitality of African and American oral and literary traditions, and his simultaneous declaration of war on the persistence of race and black and white stereotyping in the USA. He sets American cultural and political ideals in opposition to Afncan American realities, thus allowing his writings to function as counter-narratives that foreground the racial tensions still inherent in American society. My focus is on some of the central contradictions in Ishmael Reed's writings. This thesis is divided into three main sections which have allowed to me to analyse, within Reed's complex and interpenetrating prose works, some of the main thematic areas of his fiction and some of the key arguments developed in his essays. The first section explores the role of the intellectual and Reed's conception of his own vocation as a writer. The second engages with issues of race, ethnicity and multiculturalism, while the final section explores Reed's interventions in debates around gender. Rather than seeking to establish a single position that can be associated with Reed, I draw attention to the ambivalences and paradoxes within his thought and writings. Reed presents himself as the committed radical engaging enthusiastically with the complex relationships between ethnic groups, whilst simultaneously championing the Black community. Yet this self-image conflicts with the conservative and misogynist strains in his work. This thesis aims to explore, explain and understand such paradoxes and thus to shed a new light on one of the most fascinating writers of the last fifty years.
published_date 2013-12-31T07:19:19Z
_version_ 1826643676517892096
score 11.05436

Similar Items