Characterization and Related Representational Issues in the African-American Novel

This essay gives a brief account of the major representational issues involved incharacterization in the african american novel from its early years of appearance inthe pre-civil war era until the last decades of the twentieth century. it specificallyfocuses on the correlation between the gradual progress in the african americansense of selfhood and the progressive changes in the types of characters blacknovelists create in each era. as black people sense of selfhood is formed andstrengthened in their acts of struggle and resistance against white people'sdehumanizing treatment, their representations in different cultural products,including novels, reflect this progressive change minutely and fortify it.