Representation And Counter-Representation:the Study Of James W.Johnson’s Works

James W.Johnson(1871-1938)was among the most important African American writers,critics of culture and leaders in the twentieth century.He was both a founder and major writer of Harlem Renaissance,and an outstanding contributor to the construction of African American literary tradition.In Johnson’s innovation in African American novel,autobiography and the language of poetry,and his"excavation" of African American culture is couched in his incisive language philosophy and cultural-artistic thought.This research makes a systematic study of Johnson’s works,which are of great value but have long been under-explored.With the analysis of the representation and counter-representation of his works in the three dimensions of race,language and culture,this research tries to have a deep understanding of the writer’s literary and cultural thought.Based on a literature review on the study of James W.Johnson at home and abroad,the introductory chapter introduces the significance,questions and methods of this research,the significance of the study of Johnson’s works to the research of African American literature and Africana thought,and clarifies the meaning of the concept "counter-representation" in this research.Firstly,this research analyzes the representation and counter-representation of Johnson ’s works in the dimension of race.Johnson ’s novel,poetry,plays and autobiography deconstruct the rationality of the concept of racial superiority and the justice of race prejudice.By breaking with the binary oppositions in racial discourse,his works interrogate the false and rigid system of race representation in the American society,and revise the over-representation and racial misreading that African Americans often suffer.Johnson’s discussion on the African American author’s dilemma and the relation between his race consciousness and literary writing stimulates us to ponder on literature’s agency in breaking the stereotyped images.Secondly,this research discusses representation and counter-representation of Johnson’s works in the dimension of language,and quests Johnson’s reflection on the subjectivity construction of the African American’s black self and his literature.In Johnson’s literary writing language concerns human’s existence,it makes people meet with ethical paradoxes,shapes and revises an individual’s and an ethnic group’s cultural image,and more importantly is the foundation of the black people’s art.It is the intricate ties between language and human’s existence that stimulates Johnson’s creative innovation in language of poetry.He advocates and practices counter-representation in language of poetry to try to advance the subjectivity construction of the African American’s Black self and his literature.Chapter Three surveys representation and counter-representation of Johnson’s works in the dimension of culture,focusing on his writing of the African American intelligentsia’s cultural psychology,his affirmation on the beauty of the black people and black culture,and his interpretation of black music and American culture.The first of the three is a rebuttal to the racial ideology’s denial of the black people’s humanity and intellectuality,while the second is a harbinger of the American Arts Movement.Johnson encourages the black people to be proud of their skin color and culture,and the black artists to draw from black folk culture.Chapter Four explores Johnson’s contribution to modern African American literature.He stresses the political,cultural and artistic significance of African American literature.In outlining the landscape of African American literature at the late 19th century and the early 20th century,he points out African American literature’s marginal status and limited artistry,appeals to the black author to surpass his blind imitation of the Euro-American classics and create authentic black literature.For its"modernization",African American literature needs to integrate with world literature and develop its original literature.Finally,this research analyzes Johnson’s thought of racial integration and multiculturalism stance by taking its basis on the dialogism implicit in representation and counter-representation of Johnson’s works.First,his interpretation of American racial relations transcends race while based itself on race.He believes in racial integration and reveals the African American’s blackness while affirming the beautiful side of humanity.Second,his multiculturalism stance is built on his reflection on African American culture’s relation with American culture and world culture.The coexistence equal basis among diverse cultures is an important premise for interracial dialogue.