BLACK LIVES HAVE ALWAYS MATTERED! TWO PROTEST NOVELS OF VIOLENCE, INEQUALITY, AND OPPRESSION: NATIVE SON AND GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

Abstract

Due to the secondary position given to the persons of African descent throughout their history, it could reasonably be argued that violence, inequality, and oppression have been deeply rooted in the United States of America for centuries. Thus, for many literary critics such as Trudier Harris (2019), all writings of Black people in one way or another have been different forms of protest against the racial prejudices of the dominant white community. Accordingly, the intention of protest literature has always been to point out inequalities and oppression among different socio-economic groups and to call for reform. This study seeks to explore how, although written a generation apart, Richard Wright’s Native Son (1940) and James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) are two canonical protest novels which vocalize the racial issues that the black community had to face in the mid-20th century in the United States of America in similar ways.

Keywords

• American Protest Literature
• Violence
• Inequality
• Racial Prejudices
• Systematic Racism

SİYAH HAYATLAR HER ZAMAN ÖNEMLİ OLMUŞTUR! ŞİDDET, EŞİTSİZLİK VE BASKI İÇERİKLİ İKİ PROTEST ROMAN: NATIVE SON VE GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

Abstract

Afrika kökenli insanlara tarih boyunca verdikleri ikincil konum nedeniyle, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nde yüzyıllarca şiddet, eşitsizlik ve baskının derinden kök saldığı haklı olarak iddia edilebilir. Bu nedenle, Trudier Harris (2019) gibi birçok edebiyat eleştirmeni için, siyah halkın tüm yazdıkları bir şekilde baskın beyaz toplumun ırksal önyargılarına karşı farklı protesto biçimleridir. Buna uygun olarak da protest edebiyatının amacı her zaman farklı sosyo-ekonomik gruplar arasındaki eşitsizlik ve baskılara işaret etmek ve reform çağrısı yapmak olmuştur. Bu çalışma, Richard Wright'ın Native Son (1940) ve James Baldwin'in Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) isimli eserlerinin, her ne kadar bir nesil zaman farkı ile yazılmış olsalar da iki kanonik protest roman olarak 20. yüzyılın ortalarında siyahi toplumun karşılaştığı ırkçı meseleleri nasıl benzer şekillerde dile getirdiklerini keşfetmeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Amerikan Protest Edebiyatı
• Şiddet
• Eşitsizlik
• Irksal Önyargılar
• Siste-matik Irkçılık

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