W.W. Cook, J. Tatum, African American Writers and Classical Tradition - Comparative and World Literature

French Literature Reviews - 2026

W.W. Cook, J. Tatum, African American Writers and Classical Tradition
Comparative and World Literature

William W. Cook, James Tatum, African American Writers and Classical Tradition. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Pp. 454.

  • ISBN 9780226789965.
  • $45.00.

Reviewed by Edmund Richardson (Princeton University) in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.08.63.

Excerpts online on Google Books and Amazon.com.

Publisher's Overview:

Constraints on freedom, education, and individual dignity have always been fundamental in determining who is able to write, when, and where. Taking the singular instance of the African American writer to heart, William W. Cook and James Tatum here argue that African American literature did not develop apart from canonical Western literary traditions but instead grew out of those literatures, even as it adapted and transformed the cultural traditions and religions of Africa and the African diaspora along the way.

Tracing the interaction between African American writers and the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome, from the time of slavery and its aftermath through the civil rights era to the present, the authors offer a sustained and lively discussion of the life and work of Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, and Rita Dove, among other highly acclaimed poets, novelists, and scholars. Assembling this brilliant and diverse group of African American writers at a moment when our reception of classical literature is ripe for change, the authors paint an unforgettable portrait of our own reception of “classic” writing, especially as it was inflected by American racial politics.

William W. Cook is professor emeritus of English and African and African American studies at Dartmouth. James Tatum is professor emeritus of classics at Dartmouth.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Chapter One. The Leisure Moments of Phillis Wheatley

Chapter Two. Frederick Douglass and The Columbian Orator

Chapter Three. The Making of the Talented Tenth

Chapter Four. Genteel Classicism

Chapter Five. Invisible Odyssey

Chapter Six. The Pindar of Harlem

Chapter Seven. It Is Impossible Not to Write Satire

Chapter Eight. Rita Dove and the Greeks

Notes

Bibliography

Index

The volume explores the complex ways in which canonical Western literature intersected with African American writing from the era of slavery through the civil rights movement to the present. By examining figures such as Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, and Rita Dove, the authors trace a continuous dialogue between classical antiquity and African American letters. The discussion situates these diverse writers within broader literary histories, considering how racial politics in the United States shaped both the production and the reception of classical texts across generations.

Readers interested in the intersections of classical antiquity, American racial politics, and canonical literature may find this work relevant to their inquiries. The study draws attention to the structural constraints of freedom and education that historically governed who could write and read, offering a sustained perspective on how prominent poets, novelists, and scholars engaged with ancient Greek and Roman traditions while maintaining their distinct cultural heritages.