Master Players in a Fixed Game

Book excerpt: The literary expression of Afro-Americans has been scrutinized and criticized in exhaustive detail, yet historically perceived by many American and English literary scholars are qualitatively and quantitatively underdeveloped. This was the view held by many literary scholars until the late 1960s when Afro-American literary scholars and black students argued forcefully and convincingly in favor of the plays, short stories, poetry and novels written by Afro-Americans. Despite such noteworthy efforts, however, few scholars have investigated the uneven and sporadic appearance of publications, or the absence of publications, by black writers in any comprehensive fashion. Thus, the dissertation examines the various extra-literary problems faced by Afro-American writers which have contributed to either many--or few--of their works emerging in print in any era.