Tradition and the Signification of Texts:The Perspective of Henry Gates'Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism
In view of the special experience of black people in the United States,it would be controversial to focus the perspective of Afro-American literary criticism on either side of the tradition or the text,while Henry Gates'critical theory always revolves around both.On the one hand,he traces back to the vernacular tradition and establishes the relationship between Afro-American texts and the African tradition;on the other hand,based on the relation between black"Signification"and English"Signification",he names the Afro-American literary theory and tries to eliminate the opposition between Afro-American texts and the Western tradition.At the same time,in the name of"protecting the integrity of tradition",Gates overcomes the one-sided practice of isolating Afro-American texts from contemporary critical theories.The emphasis on tradition,the Signification of texts and the relationship between them shows that Gates'Afro-American literary criticism is characterized by both historical criticism and aesthetic criticism.
traditionthe Signification of textsHenry Louis Gates Jr.Afro-American literary criticism
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