![]() In fashioning his theory of an autonomously produced tradition of African American literature, one that does not gather its validity by measuring itself against the yardstick of white, Eurocentric standards of literary value (although he does acknowledge the relationships between these traditions), Gates is suggesting (while not always directly stating) several critical/conceptual moves:ġ. Gates offers a culturally distinctive “theory of reading,” one that might “allow the black tradition to speak for itself about its nature and various functions” (340). The book attempts to identify a theory of criticism that is inscribed within the black vernacular tradition and that in turn informs the shape of the Afro-American literary tradition. The Signifying Monkey explores the relation of the black vernacular tradition to the Afro-American literary tradition. ![]() ![]() This opening selection from Gates’ 1988 book of African American literary criticism, The Signifying Monkey, establishes the idea of black vernacular as a framework through which to measure, analyze, explore, and perhaps most importantly, read, African American literature. ![]()
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