Charles Waddell Chesnutt’s Oeuvre

Description

This dissertation re-contextualizes and updates the racial issues in the works of Charles Waddell Chesnutt, a mixed race African American writer of 19th century and pioneer of social realist literature. It shows the usefulness of creative literature and its impact on society. Chesnutt’s novel which bases on racial prejudices characterizes a portrayal of his society. In light of literary semiotics, New-historicism, and the theory of reception and reading, this analysis has revealed that Chesnutt’s language and style in the construction of justice disconcert the (all-powerful) Whites. In addition, the strategies of defamiliarization and irony implemented by the author allowed him to craft thought provoking literariness. Finally, this work has shown that contrary to a bogus idea about the inability of literature to provide solutions to real-life problems, the weaknesses of black American characters have been metamorphosed into a force which counterbalanced that of Whites to create justice.