Invisible Men: Space, Race, and Housing in African American Literature

Rudds, Crystal Thomas

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Description

Title

Invisible Men: Space, Race, and Housing in African American Literature

Author(s)

Rudds, Crystal Thomas

Issue Date

2014-05

Keyword(s)

English

Abstract

My research offers a rereading of spaces and representations of spaces in which African Americans are often stigmatized, especially African American men. Using an interdisciplinary approach, I examine housing photographs and African American fiction in conjunction with participant-observation research in housing activism. I took this photo of the Cabrini Green Rowhouses in Chicago and superimposed the image of a disappearing black male. The narratives I have collected from a set of mulch-generational male activists compelled me to think through black literary criticisms interpretations of fictional depictions of ghetto environments. Because there is such emphasis on women's work in and around the domestic space, critics don't usually associate men with positive constructions of home. Neither are mens stories a large part of the history of housing activism. However, the demolition of low income housing around the nation is a remarkable opportunity to trace the emergence of new male leaders and masculinities organized around race and space. This positive version of masculinity may look differently than we'd expect in the twenty-first century but literature reveals its cultural roots. Ultimately, I hope to learn how this interdisciplinary method might help to interrogate stereotypes of the ghetto and poor black men

Type of Resource

• text
• image

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Copyright 2014 Crystal Thomas Rudds

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