Authorial Ideology and the Redefinition of Blackness

In this work entitled: “Authorial Ideology and the Redefinition of Blackness,” Jeannot DJASSENE focuses on black identity in selected works of Mark Twain, Richard Wright and Toni Morrison. He advocates a comparative approach to analyze the texts under study. This work of fiction illustrates how Twain’s, Wright’s, Morrison’s and other writers’ ideas of racial rejection are related to the problem of skin color. This work attempts to demonstrate, using the characters of the four novels that there is at least one character whose desire to come back to his/her roots (Africa) is not easy to achieve. It shows the process of uprooting influenced the main characters as it led to alienation, frustration and marginalization. From this perspective, the study of American history, that is, the politics of race and black identity helps one to understand the main focus concerning “Black identity”.