Human Rights in Twentieth-Century African American Literature

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370303
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: TAKEUCHI Mikako 慶應義塾大学, 商学部, 教授 (00227000)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: アフリカ系アメリカ文学 / アメリカン・ルネサンス / リチャード・ライト / ラルフ・エリスン / ハーマン・メルヴィル / 公民権運動 / 脱植民地化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project explores how twentieth-century African American literature has inspired the pursuit of civil liberties and human rights. This research examines the social characteristics of literary works by conducting (1)an intertextual analysis of the literature of the American Renaissance and African American modernism and (2)an interpretation of African American writings against the historical background of the period from the Great Depression to the Cold War. Based on close reading of works from the socio-political viewpoint, this study portrays African American literature as the main motivating factor for the Civil Rights Movement and decolonization.

Free Research Field

アメリカ文学