Black African-American Autobiographies: Const...

Black African-American Autobiographies: Constructing ‘Self’

Author Name : Dr. Madhav Radhakisan Yeshwant

ABSTRACT

Autobiography, a political act, historically investigates the protagonist’s ethnicity, language, gender, religion, class and caste. It underlines author’s urgeto construct ‘self’.  The Black African-Americans invented racism and its various aspects to construct their ‘self’ which is reflected in autobiographies of Malcom X, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Maya Angelou. The White Americans have brought the Black Africans to America in the 17^th century. They were sold and purchased as slaves to exploit their physical strength. They were detached from their identity. Subsequently, the Black people gathered at Harlem, Chicago, California and New York and established ‘The Black Panther Movement’. The Black people revolt against religious hegemony, law, social structure suitable for the White Americans only. Thus, they assert their ‘self’. These four autobiographies are the representative examples of Black people’s social trajectory in America. The Black literature was studied and idealised by the Dalit scholars in Maharashtra in 1970s.

Key Words: Autobiography, slave, Blacks, Africa, America, identity, self