Abstract
Persistent questioning and rejection of the social categorization of human beings lies at the very heart of James Baldwin’s writing. His work challenges the essentialist notions of race, sexuality, and gender, in particular, and calls attention to the ways in which they are used as instruments of oppression in order to establish and maintain disproportionate power hierarchies in society.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abdur-Rahman, A. I. (2012). Against the closet: Black political longing and the erotics of race. Durham, NC: Duke UP.
Avedon, R. & Baldwin, J. (1964). Nothing personal. New York, NY: Dell.
Baldwin, J. (1964). The fire next time. London: Penguin. (Original work published 1963)
Baldwin, J. (1994). Tell me how long the train’s been gone. London: Penguin. (Original work published 1968)
Baldwin, J. (1995). Notes of a native son. London: Penguin. (Original work published 1955)
Baldwin, J. (1998). Freaks and the American ideal of manhood. In J. Baldwin, Collected essays (pp. 814–829). New York, NY: Library of America. (Original work published 1985)
Baldwin, J. (2000). Just above my head. New York, NY: Delta. (Original work published 1979)
Balfour, L. (2001). The evidence of things not said: James Baldwin and the promise of American democracy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP.
Benjamin, W. (1973). Theses on the philosophy of history. In W. Benjamin, Illuminations (pp. 255–266). London: Collins. (Original work published 1940)
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex.” New York, NY: Routledge.
Caputo, J. D. (1997). The prayers and tears of Jacques Derrida: Religion without religion. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP.
Collins, P. H. (2005). Black sexual politics: African Americans, gender, and the new racism. New York, NY: Routledge.
Dievler, J. A. (1999). Sexual exiles: James Baldwin and Another Country. In D. A. McBride (Ed.), James Baldwin now (pp. 161–183). New York, NY: New York UP.
Gates, H. L., Jr. (1989). The signifying monkey: A theory of African-American literary criticism. New York, NY: Oxford UP.
Girard, R. (1988). Deceit, desire, and the novel: Self and other in literary structure. Trans. Yvonne Freccero. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP. (Original work published 1961)
Jameson, F. (1971). Marxism and form: Twentieth-century dialectical theories of literature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
Jameson, F. (1981). The political unconscious: Narrative as a socially symbolic act. New York, NY: Cornell UP.
Jameson, F. (1996). Late Marxism: Adorno, or, the persistence of the dialectic. London: Verso. (Original work published 1990)
Jameson, F. (1999). Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke UP.
Jameson, F. (2005). Archaeologies of the future: The desire called utopia and other science fictions. London: Verso.
Kumar, K. (1991). Utopianism. Milton Keynes: Open UP.
Levitas, R. (1990). The concept of utopia. New York, NY: Philip Allan.
Roberts, A. (2000). Fredric Jameson. London: Routledge.
Scott, L. O. (2002). James Baldwin’s later fiction: Witness to the journey. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State UP.
Sedgwick, E. K. (1985). Between men: English literature and male homosocial desire. New York, NY: Columbia UP.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Sense Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kilpeläinen, P. (2014). James Baldwin’s Gospel of Postcategorical Love. In: Henderson, A.S., Thomas, P.L. (eds) James Baldwin. Critical Literacy Teaching Series. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-619-6_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-619-6_13
Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam
Online ISBN: 978-94-6209-619-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)