Written Communication Oct 1994

The Literate and the Literary

ELIZABETH McHENRY ; SHIRLEY BRICE HEATH

Abstract

Orality has been a feature repeatedly offered to typify African American language habits. Through anthropological studies of contemporary communities as well as literary portrayals and celebrations of cultural heroes such as preachers and political orators, the strong oral traditions of African Americans have figured prominently in discussions of the contexts of their literary works. This article argues for a balance of this image by laying out historical evidence on the literate values and habits of African Americans since the early 1800s. Literary journals, the Black press, literary writers, and literary societies, especially those of women, between 1830 and 1940 highly valued joint reading groups, creative writing efforts, and the role of literature in the lives of African Americans. Considerable work remains to restore accuracy and cross-class representation of African Americans in English studies, so as to resist tendencies to deny variation in the language habits and values of groups included in multicultural literature.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
1994-10-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088394011004001
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality multilingual writers creative writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Stornaiuolo et al. (2023)
    Pocket Writing: How Adolescents’ Self-Sponsored Writing Circulates in School
    Written Communication
  2. Duffy (2007)
    Recalling the Letter: The Uses of Oral Testimony in Historical Studies of Literacy
    Written Communication
  3. Fisher (2004)
    “The Song Is Unfinished”
    Written Communication
  4. Bacon et al. (2000)
    Reinventing the master's tools: Nineteenth‐century African‐American literary so…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 10 works outside this index ↓
  1. Andrews, W. L.
    Sisters of the spirit: Three Black women's autobiographies of the nineteenth century
     ↗
  2. 10.2307/3042082
     ↗
  3. Frazier E. F.
    Black bourgeoisie: The rise of a new middle class
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/2713238
     ↗
  5. Gaines, K.
    Uplifting the race: Black middle class ideology and leadership in the United States since 1890
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/j.ctt1v2xt8d
     ↗
  7. Mitchell, H. H.
    Black preaching
     ↗
  8. 10.1093/alh/5.1.89
     ↗
  9. 10.2307/310626
     ↗
  10. 10.2307/2292029
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 19 View in citation network →

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