| Review of: | A Spectacular Secret: Lynching in American Life and Literature by Jacqueline Goldsby |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Julius E. Thompson |
| Reviewed in: | Peace & Change |
| Date accepted online: | 14/01/2008 |
| Published in print: | Volume 32, Issue 04, Pages 590-612 |
Book Reviews
Jacqueline Goldsby, a Professor of English at the University of Chicago, has written a very powerful book, which explores the national dimensions of the lynching phenomenon in the United States in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Goldsby notes not only the national nature of the lynching problem but "the cultural logic" and pivotal role of this violent era within the national consciousness of America. She also relates the issue of lynching to broader themes of industrialization, urbanization, and the development of monopoly capitalism.
The scholar traces the historical nature of American lynching, and juxtaposes a selection of four literary works by major American writers, which reflect on the problems of American lynching. These works include: the antilynching books (1890s) of Ida B. Wells;
Goldsby's work places lynching within the political, economic, social, and cultural contexts of American modernity. Lynching affected every facet of modern America. Each generation of African Americans between Reconstruction and the modern civil rights movement period was challenged by the legacy of this problem, and thousands of blacks were murdered by white mobs over historical time.
From Goldsby's perspective, the disciplines of American literature and history should aid our understanding of this massive period of terror in our history. One central problem that remains for contemporary peoples is: what have we learned from the lynching phenomenon-and has our state of consciousness been increased with our current knowledge of lynching, oppression, and the deaths of so many black people across so many decades? What, in the final analysis, is the modern regard for the lives of African Americans in American society? Such questions and challenges remain before the American public. Goldsby helps scholars, students, and the general public to see these issues in historical and literary perspective. Her study is well researched, and will find an active audience of readers in the years ahead.