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Medievalism and Gwendolyn Brooks' The Anniad
- Author(s):
- Candace Barrington (see profile)
- Date:
- 2016
- Group(s):
- CLCS Medieval, LLC 20th- and 21st-Century American, TC Race and Ethnicity Studies
- Subject(s):
- African Americans--Social life and customs, American literature--African American authors
- Item Type:
- Conference paper
- Conf. Title:
- MLA International
- Conf. Loc.:
- Düsseldorf
- Conf. Date:
- 25 June 2016
- Tag(s):
- #MLASymposium16, medievalism, Gwendolyn Brooks, Anniad, African American culture, African American literature
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6QC8G
- Abstract:
- In this brief paper, I first introduce Gwendolyn Brook's "The Anniad," a 43-stanza ballad at the center of her 1949 Pulitzer-prize winning collection, Annie Allen. Next, I make a case that "The Anniad" is informed by a medievalism combining Brooks' girlhood reading and the physical environment of Bronzeville, her Chicago neighborhood. Finally, I argue that with this medievalism, Brooks rewrites English literary history. Although "The Anniad" eventually became significant in literary history because Brooks was the first black author to win a Pulitzer prize, "The Anniad" anticipates its historical significance by situating itself at the founding moment of English belles lettres.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Status:
- Published
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
- Share this:
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brooks.anniad.mla_.062516.docx