|
Louis Parascandola
Academic Specialties & Research Interests
My research interests have always focused on authors whom
I felt were unduly neglected. When I was pursuing my Ph.D.
in the 1980s, I specialized in 19th century British literature,
particularly the Victorians. A special interest of mine was
the view of America (especially New York City) by Victorian
travel writers. This interest led to my dissertation on novelist
Captain Frederick Marryat and his ambivalent feelings on the
fledgling American government, the Royal Navy, the British
social class structure, and racial groups. The revised dissertation
was published as Puzzled Which to Choose (Peter Lang
1997. My work on Marryat has also led to my editing of three
of Marrryat's novels, Peter Simple, Mr Midshipman
Easy, and Percival Keene for Henry Holt.
Over time, my interests expanded to include writers of color,
especially Caribbean writers of the Harlem Renaissance. My
first book on the subject "Winds Can Wake Up The Dead":
An Eric Walrond Reader (Wayne State UP, 1998) focused
on Walrond, a short story writer/journalist, born in British
Guiana (now Guyana) and living in New York during the Harlem
Renaissance. His best-known work, Tropic Death (1926)
is a collection of short stories set among peasant life in
the Caribbean and largely written in Caribbean Creole. My
anthology, with a lengthy introduction, bibliography of Walrond's
writings, and a glossary of Creole words, has helped lead
to a renewal of interest in this neglected author.
My book, "Look for Me All Around You": Anglophone
Caribbean Immigrants in the Harlem Renaissance (Wayne
State UP 2005), is a collection of political, social, and
literary writings by 15 Caribbean immigrants, including Marcus
Garvey, Amy Jacques Garvey, Claude McKay, Eric Walrond, Eulalie
Spence, Hubert Harrison, J.A. Rogers, Cyril Briggs, and Arthur
Schomburg. In addition to my book, my research on the period
has led to the publication of two journal articles, "In
Search of Asylum: Eric Walrond's Roundway Review Writings,
1952-1957" (co-authored with Carl Wade) Journal of
Caribbean Studies (Fall 2004-2005) and "Cyril Briggs
and the African Blood Brotherhood" Afro-Americans
in New York Life and History (January 2006). In addition,
in June 2005, my article "Love and Sex in a Totalitarian
Society: An Exploration of Ha Jin and George Orwell"
appeared in the journal Studies in the Humanities.
More recent publications:
Book
In Search of Asylum: The Later Writings of Eric Walrond
(University Press of Florida, Forthcoming 2010).
Articles
"'What Are We Blackmen Who Are Called French:' The Dilemma
of Identity in Oyono's 'Une vie de boy' and Sembene's 'La
Noire de...'" Comparative Literature Studies vol.
46 (2009).
"An Ellis Island of the Soul: Eric Walrond and the Turbulent
Passage from Garveyite to New Negro" Afro-Americans
in New York Life and History (Forthcoming 2010).
back to Louis Parascandola
|
