Four Jackson State University English scholars are contributors to the new book, Constructing the Literary Self: Race and Gender in Twentieth-Century Literature.
The book, which was edited by JSU English professor Patsy J. Daniels, was published in April by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newscastle upon Tyne, U.K. Drs. Daniels, Preselfannie McDaniels, Candis Pizzetta, and Everett Neasman each contributed an essay.
Here’s part of the overview the publishing house’s website gives for the book: “Construction or definition of the self was once available only to the elite, and the freedom of some to define their identity was sacrificed so that others could make their own self-definitions; this practice can be found throughout much of
history. This volume is about that kind of oppression and various strategies of escaping from oppression as depicted in serious literature.”
The book’s 13 essays are divided into five categories: race, gender, and the self; assimilation and the self; black males and the self; female sexuality and the self; and the family and the self.
Daniels said the book “is about oppression and accomodating oppression in literature.”
