African American communicative identity: A postmodern perspective in black literature

This dissertation examines the various expressions and issues of communicated African American identity of black literature through a postmodern perspective. This study is developed in a sequential system in order to establish the foundation for cultural identity being a process of postmodernism. The foundation is built on the following stages. African American identity emerges through a process of social dynamics and that it can also be considered a postmodern identity.;This paper asserts that the modern self is stable and objective and that the postmodern self rejects the limitations and definitions of modernity. The connection is that African Americans through a postmodern perspective seek to define their own culture and history. The traditional Euro-centric views are rejected and challenged. Evidence of such cases of communicative African American identity is found in Black literature. The rhetorical methodology, fantasy theme analysis, is utilized to bring to light the emergent cultural identity themes and issues.