Chapter 21 - Life Writing for Black Children and Youth

Summary

This chapter considers African American life writing in the United States, designed for, but also about and by, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the nineteenth century, the genre included materials intended for adult readers as well as youths: the literacy forbidden to many enslaved subjects was spread through religion and church schools, as well as with popular culture narratives like Nat Love’s “Deadwood Dick” adventures. More recently, the distinction between “child-” and “adult-” intended readerships continues to be murky with respect to graphic life narratives and autobiographical persona poetry. By exploring both widely available texts and more unconventional materials not meant for public consumption, such as the letters and diaries of adolescents, Anatol reflects on ways notions of “truth” and the “usefulness” of traditionally conceived autobiographical narratives can be challenged, perhaps to undermine the elitist and Eurocentric paradigms of earlier times.