Amiri Baraka

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  • Andrews, W. D. E., "The Marxist Theater of Amiri Baraka," Comparative Drama 18, No. 2 (Summer 1984): 137-61. (Examines how Baraka's Marxist ideology is reflected in his plays. Concludes that Baraka's Marxist plays are his least effective dramas.)
  • Benston, Kimberly W., ed., Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones): A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978, 195 p. (A collection of essays by noted critics, including overviews of Baraka's career, a biographical essay, music criticism, and articles focusing on Baraka's prose, his poetry, and his drama.)
  • Bigsby, C. W. E., "LeRoi Jones," in Confrontation and Commitment, A Study of Contemporary American Drama: 1959-66, pp. 138-55. Kansas City: University of Missouri Press, 1967. (Covers Baraka's early career up to 1967 and calls him talented though lacking in discipline.)
  • Bone, Robert, "Action and Reaction," New York Times Book Review (8 May 1966): 3. (A negative assessment of Home: Social Essays.)
  • Brown, Lloyd W., Amiri Baraka. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980, 180 p. (Study of Baraka's poetry, prose, and drama.)
  • Casimer, Louis J., Jr., "Dutchman: The Price of Culture Is a Lie," in The Binding of Proteus, edited by Marjorie W. McCune, Tucker Orbison, and Philip M. Withim, pp. 298-310. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1980. (Studies the treatment of myth and ritual in Dutchman.)
  • Coles, Robert, "More Exiles," in Times of Surrender: Selected Essays, pp. 151-53. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1988. (A mixed assessment of Blues People.)
  • Dieke, Ikenna, "Sadeanism: Baraka, Sexuality, and The Perverse Imagination in The System of Dante's Hell," Black American Literature Forum 19, No. 4 (Winter 1985): 163-66. (Explores the influence of the works of the Marquis de Sade on Baraka's works.)
  • Hudson, Theodore R., From LeRoi Jones to Amiri Baraka: The Literary Works. Durham: Duke University Press, 1973, 222 p. (Biographical and critical study of Baraka and his work.)
  • Islam, Syed Manzoorul, "The Ritual Plays of Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)," Indian Journal of American Studies 14, No. 1 (January 1984): 43-55. (Describes ritualistic use of cruelty "with a graphic exactness that borders on repulsion," especially in the plays "Slave Ship," "The Slave," and "Dutchman.")
  • Levesque, George A., "LeRoi Jones' 'Dutchman': Myth and Allegory," Obsidian: Black Literature in Review V, No. 3 (1979): 33-40. (The criticism of "Dutchman" is analyzed, supporting some of it and disagreeing with other conclusions.)
  • Marranca, Bonnie, "Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka)," in American Playwrights: A Critical Survey, edited by Bonnie Marranca and Gautam Dasgupta, pp. 121-33. New York: Drama Book Specialists, 1981. (Outlines the prevailing themes of Baraka's plays.)
  • Reilly, Charlie, Conversations with Amiri Baraka. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1994, 271 p. (Collection of twenty-five interviews covering Baraka's life and career.)
  • Sarma, M. Nagabhushana, "Revolt and Ritual in the Plays of LeRoi Jones," Osmania Journal of English Studies XI, No. 1 (1974-75): 1-9. (Discusses "Revolutionary Theatre" and Baraka's place in it.)
  • Sollors, Werner, Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones: The Quest for a "Populist Modernism". New York: Columbia University Press, 1978, 299 p. (Sollors traces the development of Baraka's work through the four major political and aesthetic phases of his life.)
  • Van Duyn, Mona, "The Poet as Novelist," Poetry 109, No. 5 (February 1967): 338-39. (Illustrates the lyrical aspects in The System of Dante's Hell.)
  • Weisgram, Dianne H., "LeRoi Jones' 'Dutchman': Inter-racial Ritual of Sexual Violence," American Imago 29, No. 3 (Fall 1972): 215-32. (Explores, in depth, the sexual roles of the lead characters in Baraka's famous play.)
  • Werner, Craig, "Brer Rabbit Meets the Underground Man: Simplification of the Consciousness in Baraka's 'Dutchman' and 'Slave Ship,'" Obsidian: Black Literature in Review 5, No. 1 & 2 (1979): 35-40. (Werner identifies a continuum in Baraka's drama in which "Dutchman" represents the failure of "obsessive contemplations of contradictions and consciousness" as a reaction to stereotyping and white oppression. This failure necessitates a simplified reaction—"a clearly defined vision of the threat to black survival posed by a genocidal white world"—which is presented in "Slave Ship.")
  • Wilson, John, "The New Jazzmen," New York Times Book Review (17 March 1968): 46. (A positive review of Black Music.)

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Baraka, Imamu Amiri (Vol. 14)

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