How does Edward P Jones extend the parameters of African American Literature?
Specific parameters do not dictate African American Literature.
Instead this literary canon has overarching literary devices and themes, but Kenneth Warren set a limit to AAL by marking the end of this canon with the end of the Jim Crow Laws. Edward P. Jones extends this parameter set by Kenneth Warren, by continuing to encompass the overarching theme of slavery and social inequality. So what is the significance of arguing that Edward P. Jones extends the parameters of AAL? It allows us to compare him to N.W.A, and more recently, to Jay Z, in order to illustrate the evolution of AAL, not only past Jim Crow laws, but also into modern day rap.
Instead this literary canon has overarching literary devices and themes, but Kenneth Warren set a limit to AAL by marking the end of this canon with the end of the Jim Crow Laws. Edward P. Jones extends this parameter set by Kenneth Warren, by continuing to encompass the overarching theme of slavery and social inequality. So what is the significance of arguing that Edward P. Jones extends the parameters of AAL? It allows us to compare him to N.W.A, and more recently, to Jay Z, in order to illustrate the evolution of AAL, not only past Jim Crow laws, but also into modern day rap.
Is Slavery Dead?
African American Literature (AAL) has evolved and expanded, including such authors as; Harriet Ann Jacobs, Zora Neale Hurston, and Edward P. Jones. Jacobs wrote to inform others about slavery and the oppression these groups’ experienced, even humanizing them to white audiences through narratives such as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). Hurston on the other hand focused on intraracial aspects of black people, more specifically their culture and celebrated it at a time when most black scholars were focusing in interracial aspects of society. Contemporary writer Edward P. Jones addresses more recent conflicts that affects the black community today. In his story “Old Boys, Old Girls” (2004), the narrator takes the reader into the thoughts of a black inmate named Cesar. Through a solemn perspective, the readers see the inmates take what they want with no consequences; the prisoners live through the routines of killing other prisoners, raping other men, making other men their possessions, and fighting one another for a state of dominance. Their safety is not in the protection of the government, but rather in their own strength.
"They let everyone know that Caesar was good people, 'a protected body,' with no danger of having his biscuits or his butt taken."
-Edward P. Jones, “Old Boys, Old Girls” (2004)
Although slavery was abolished in 1865, figure 1 & 2 illustrate another reality.
Figure 1
Out of these males incarcerated, the majority are African Americans.Approximately 12–13% of the American population is African-American, but they make up 35% of jail inmates, and 37% of prison inmates of the 2.2 million male inmates as of 2014 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014)
Figure 2
The total population of the US in 1860 was 31,183,582. The slavery population accounted for more than 10% of the entire population.
Social Inequality
We see Caesar’s day to day struggles in, “Young lions” and we’re shown that theft became a way of life due to insufficient living situations.
"I’m just slaving away my life."
Then, there is an obvious aversion to authority depicted in the lyrics of N.W.A’s “F the Police” because of the day to day struggles young black men must conquer.
"A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
they have the authority to kill a minority."
-N.W.A
Figure 3
Later, Edward P. Jones depicts the consequential lifestyle by which the black man must live in prison in “Old Boys, Old Girls” (2004).
“Listen, man, even if you like the top bunk, you fuck him up for the bottom just cause you gotta let him know who rules. You let him know that you will stab him through his motherfuckin heart and then turn around and eat your supper, cludin the dessert.”
-“Old Boys, Old Girls” (2004)
More recently Jay Z also derives from Edward P. Jones as he also talk about how growing up in the Marcy Projects changed him.
"See I'm influenced by the ghetto you ruined
That same dude you gave nothing."
-Jay Z - "Renegade"
Therefore, Edward P. Jones not only breaks the AAL parameters set by Kenneth Warren, but also helps to influence modern rap music to reflective stages of a young black male’s life.