The impact of absent fathers on sons in the black community has been a subject for cultural critics and sociologists who often deal in anonymous data. Yet many of those sons have themselves addressed the issue in autobiographical works that form the core of African American literature.
A Fatherless Child examines the impact of fatherlessness on racial and gender identity formation as seen in black men’s autobiographies and in other constructions of black fatherhood in fiction. Through these works, Tara T. Green investigates what comes of abandonment by a father and loss of a role model by probing a son’s understanding of his father’s struggles to define himself and the role of community in forming the son’s quest for self-definition in his father’s absence.
Closely examining four works—Langston Hughes’s The Big Sea , Richard Wright’s Black Boy , Malcolm X’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X , and Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father —Green portrays the intersecting experiences of generations of black men during the twentieth century both before and after the Civil Rights movement. These four men recall feeling the pressure and responsibility of caring for their mothers, resisting public displays of care, and desiring a loving, noncontentious relationship with their fathers. Feeling vulnerable to forces they may have identified as detrimental to their status as black men, they use autobiography as a tool for healing, a way to confront that vulnerability and to claim a lost power associated with their lost fathers.
Through her analysis, Green emphasizes the role of community as a father-substitute in producing successful black men, the impact of fatherlessness on self-perceptions and relationships with women, and black men’s engagement with healing the pain of abandonment. She also looks at why these four men visited Africa to reclaim a cultural history and identity, showing how each developed a clearer understanding of himself as an American man of African descent.
A Fatherless Child conveys important lessons relevant to current debates regarding the status of African American families in the twenty-first century. By showing us four black men of different eras, Green asks readers to consider how much any child can heal from fatherlessness to construct a positive self-image—and shows that, contrary to popular perceptions, fatherlessness need not lead to certain failure.

lgli/R:\Project-Muse\md5_rep\7C7DB0A855E1AAD756007C8C43E39842.pdf

zlib/no-category/Tara T. Green/A Fatherless Child: Autobiographical Perspectives of African American Men_28572259.pdf

A fatherless child : autobiographical perspectives on African American men

Project MUSE (https://muse.jhu.edu/)

Tara T. Green

University of Missouri Press, Columbia, 2009

United States, United States of America

First, First Edition, PS, 2009

Columbia, Missouri, 2009

Columbia ; London, ©2009

Columbia ; London, c2009

producers:
Muse-DL/1.1.0

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover 1
Title Page, Copyright, Dedication 2
Contents 8
Acknowledgments 10
Introduction: Where Are the Black Fathers? 14
Chapter One. The Meaning of Langston Hughes¬タルs Father-and-Son Relationships 30
Chapter Two. Richard Wright¬タルs Fathers and Sons 56
Chapter Three. Malcolm X¬タルs Declaration of Independence from His Fathers 88
Chapter Four. Barack Obama¬タルs Dreams 116
Chapter Five. The Sons Return to Africa 146
Conclusion: Contemporary African American Fathers and Communities 174
Works Cited 178
Index 184
Publisher:University of Missouri Press,Published:2009,ISBN:9780826266545,Related ISBN:9780826218216,Language:English,OCLC:607934735
The impact of absent fathers on sons in the black community has been a subject for cultural critics and sociologists who often deal in anonymous data. Yet many of those sons have themselves addressed the issue in autobiographical works that form the core of African American literature. A Fatherless Child examines the impact of fatherlessness on racial and gender identity formation as seen in black men’s autobiographies and in other constructions of black fatherhood in fiction. Through these works, Tara T. Green investigates what comes of abandonment by a father and loss of a role model by probing a son’s understanding of his father’s struggles to define himself and the role of community in forming the son’s quest for self-definition in his father’s absence. Closely examining four works—Langston Hughes’s The Big Sea, Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Malcolm X’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father—Green portrays the intersecting experiences of generations of black men during the twentieth century both before and after the Civil Rights movement. These four men recall feeling the pressure and responsibility of caring for their mothers, resisting public displays of care, and desiring a loving, noncontentious relationship with their fathers. Feeling vulnerable to forces they may have identified as detrimental to their status as black men, they use autobiography as a tool for healing, a way to confront that vulnerability and to claim a lost power associated with their lost fathers. Through her analysis, Green emphasizes the role of community as a father-substitute in producing successful black men, the impact of fatherlessness on self-perceptions and relationships with women, and black men’s engagement with healing the pain of abandonment. She also looks at why these four men visited Africa to reclaim a cultural history and identity, showing how each developed a clearer understanding of himself as an American man of African descent.A Fatherless Child conveys important lessons relevant to current debates regarding the status of African American families in the twenty-first century. By showing us four black men of different eras, Green asks readers to consider how much any child can heal from fatherlessness to construct a positive self-image—and shows that, contrary to popular perceptions, fatherlessness need not lead to certain failure.

<p>The impact of absent fathers on sons in the black community has been a subject for cultural critics and sociologists who often deal in anonymous data. Yet many of those sons have themselves addressed the issue in autobiographical works that form the core of African American literature.<br> A Fatherless Child examines the impact of fatherlessness on racial and gender identity formation as seen in black men's autobiographies and in other constructions of black fatherhood in fiction. Through these works, Tara T. Green investigates what comes of abandonment by a father and loss of a role model by probing a son's understanding of his father's struggles to define himself and the role of community in forming the son's quest for self-definition in his father's absence.<br> Closely examining four works—Langston Hughes's The Big Sea, Richard Wright's Black Boy, Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father —Green portrays the intersecting experiences of generations of black men during the twentieth century both before and after the Civil Rights movement. These four men recall feeling the pressure and responsibility of caring for their mothers, resisting public displays of care, and desiring a loving, noncontentious relationship with their fathers. Feeling vulnerable to forces they may have identified as detrimental to their status as black men, they use autobiography as a tool for healing, a way to confront that vulnerability and to claim a lost power associated with their lost fathers.<br> Through her analysis, Green emphasizes the role of community as a father-substitute in producing successful black men, the impact of fatherlessness on self-perceptions and relationships with women, and black men's engagement with healing the pain of abandonment. She also looks at why these four men visited Africa to reclaim a cultural history and identity, showing how each developed a clearer understanding of himself as an American man of African descent.<br> A Fatherless Child conveys important lessons relevant to current debates regarding the status of African American families in the twenty-first century. By showing us four black men of different eras, Green asks readers to consider how much any child can heal from fatherlessness to construct a positive self-image—and shows that, contrary to popular perceptions, fatherlessness need not lead to certain failure.<br></p>

"Examining the works of Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Malcolm X, and Barack Obama, Green portrays the intersecting experiences of generations of black men during the twentieth century both before and after the civil rights movement, revealing the impact of fatherlessness on racial and gender identity formation"--Provided by publisher.

2022-03-08