WALKING THE DIVIDING LINE: DELINEATING SOCIAL IDENTITY
AND RACE IN JAMES BALDWIN’S GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN AND
THE FIRE NEXT TIME
SUIVRE LA LIGNE DE DEMARCATION. DEFINIR L’IDENTITE SOCIALE
ET LA RACE DANS GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN ET THE FIRE NEXT
TIME DE JAMES BALDWIN
MERGAND PE LINIA DE DEMARCARE: CONTURAND IDENTITATEA
SOCIALA SI RASA IN OPERELE LUI JAMES BALDWIN „GO TELL IT ON
THE MOUNTAIN” SI „THE FIRE NEXT TIME”
Abstract
Race understood as a social and ideological construction has been the subject of much debate in American literature and literary theory. The present article endeavors to analyze James Baldwin’s “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and “The Fire Next Time” by focusing on the concept of race as a cultural and social construction provided by an American history shaped by slavery, segregation and on-going racial discord and incongruity.
Résumé
La race en tant que construction sociale et idéologique a fait l’objet de nombreux débats dans la littérature et la théorie littéraire américaines. Le présent article se propose d’analyser “Go Tell It on the Mountain” et “The Fire Next Time” de James Baldwin en accordant une attention particulière au concept de race entendu comme une construction culturelle et sociale issue d’une histoire américaine façonnée par l’esclavage, la ségrégation ainsi que par la discorde et la disparité raciales perpétuelles.
Rezumat
Rasa înteleasă ca un construct social şi ideologic a fost subiectul multor dezbateri în literatura şi teoria literară americană. Articolul de faţă îşi propune să analizeze operele lui James Baldwin „Go Tell It on the Mountain” şi „The Fire Next Time”concentrându-se pe conceptul de rasă văzut ca un construct cultural şi social dat de o istorie americană influenţată puternic de sclavagism, segregare şi o continuă discordie şi distonanţă rasială.
Keywords: race, ideological/cultural construction, social rift, double consciousness.
Mots clés: race, construction idéologique et culturelle, rupture sociale, double conscience.
Cuvinte cheie:rasă, construct ideologic şi cultural, ruptură socială, conştiinţă dublă.