Date of Award
5-1-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
University or Center
Clark Atlanta University(CAU)
School
School of Arts and Sciences
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Susan Wright
Second Advisor
Dr. Viktor Osinubi
Abstract
Historically, and in literature, the concept of black masculinity is often viewed from a Euro-American perspective. This perspective makes the stages of progression to manhood problematic for black males. Since slavery, African American men have been hampered in their progress toward manhood based on the oppressors’ expedient notion that black males are incapable of self-actualization, a concept that was utilized to ensure that black males were always “boys” and, thus, more manageable. Recently, revisionist history, along with black authored literature, has resulted in a different perspective of black masculinity and black manhood. This thesis illustrates that Earnest Gaines’s A Gathering ofOld Men and Daniel Black’s They Tell Me ofA Home offer a new paradigm for black masculinity and manhood through the perspective of their black male characters. In Gaines and Black’s novels, black males redefine their own concepts of manhood by engaging in self-innovation through spirituality and by resisting racial oppression.
Recommended Citation
Keith, Ravon D., "Constructing the Concept of Masculinity in black American men" (2011). ETD Collection for Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center. Paper 234.
http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/234