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Article: The Origins of African American Literature, 1680-1865.
- Article from:
- African American Review
- Article date:
- June 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 African American Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dickson D. Bruce. The Origins of African American Literature, 1680-1865. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 2001. 390 pp. $55.00 cloth/$ 9.50 paper.
Dickson D. Bruce's The Origins of African American Literature, 1680-1865, is a throwback--and I mean this as a distinct compliment--to the kind of literary history that once was regarded as foundational to scholarship in virtually any field of literary study. Books like this are rarely attempted anymore, partly because of the explosion of the canon in almost every field. It's very hard these days for a person who aims at some degree of inclusiveness to know what not to write about. If one feels obliged as a literary ...