Two months later, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my essay had been accepted and would appear in Duke University Press's The Short Novels of John Steinbeck (1990). It was truly the “opportunity of a lifetime.” I revised and shortened a chapter of my dissertation on Steinbeck's The Pearl and sent it off to California. I was unpublished at the time and was unsure and hesitant about my writing talent, but I realized that I had nothing to lose. Benson, to submit an essay for a book he was working on. In 1985, having just finished my dissertation on John Steinbeck and attained my doctoral degree, I was surprised to receive an invitation from Steinbeck biographer, Jackson J.

Henderson 55 Spatial Dynamics 73 Slavery and Africa in Native Son and Black Power: A Transnationalist Interpretation Babacar M'Baye 75 vi Dialogue: Richard Wright’s Native Son Vortical Blues: Turbulence, Disorder, and the Emplotment of Surplus Meaning in Native Son Herman Beavers 91 A Polyphony of Genres 117 Native Son’s “ideology of form”: The (African) American Jeremiad and American Exceptionalism Ana María Fraile-Marcos 119 Genre in/and Wright’s Native Son Heather Duerre Humann 143 Bigger’s “Rebellious Complaint”: Biblical Imagery in Native Son Carme Manuel 157 Native Son Beyond the From Page to Screen: A Comparative Study of Richard Wright’s Native Son and Its Two Film Adaptations Raphaël Lambert 187 The Hate U Gave (T.H.U.G.): Reflections on the Bigger Figures in Present Day Hip Hop Culture James Braxton Peterson 203 Notes on Contributors 225 Index 229 General Editor’s Preface The original concept for Rodopi's new series entitled Dialogue grew out two very personal experiences of the general editor. ISBN-13: 978-9-3 ©Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007 Printed in the Netherlands For Juan Luis and Andrés, As always Contents General Editor’s Preface vii Introduction xi Richard Wright and the Reception of His Work 1 Richard Wright and His White Audience: How the Author’s Persona Gave Native Son Historical Significance Caleb Corkery 3 From Communism to Black Studies and Beyond: The Reception of Richard Wright's Native Son Philip Goldstein 21 Gendered Textualities 37 Sexual Diversity in Richard Wright’s Characterization of Bigger Thomas: Homo-socialism, Homo-eroticism, and the Feminine Yvonne Robinson Jones 39 Notes from a Native Daughter: The Nature of Black Womanhood in Native Son Carol E. Meyer Richard Wright’s Native Son Edited by Ana María Fraile Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007 Cover Design: Pier Post Cover photo: António, Statue dialogue The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO 9706:1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents Requirements for permanence”. Richard Wright’s Native Son DIALOGUE 2 Edited by Michael J.

Burden of Solace by Richard L. Wright