The Poetic Voice Of The Black American Discourse

This paper studies the poetry of the Afro-American poet Nikki Giovanni. Her poetry touches the panorama of contemporary America, but she always sticks clearly to the Black standpoint. In her poetry there is an explicit voice that protests against the white's evils and proclaims the Black's virtue and strength. This, in a poetic way, articulates the Black American discourse. Since New Historicism concentrates on the relationship among texts, discourse, power and history, the paper adopts its logic as research guideline, mainly its general five-point assumption and Stephen Greenblatt's thought of"improvisation".With the standpoints of New Historicism, the paper explores how Giovanni articulates the Black American discourse when she discloses and criticizes the cruelty and inhumanity of the black slavery and racial discrimination, and the hypocrisy of the underlying white ideology, and when she demonstrates and praises Black power and Black beauty, and the Black people's contribution to America.The paper selects Giovanni's eleven poems concerning history, politics and daily life, and then analyzes her revaluation of the Black history, justification of the Black political movements and praise of the Black lifestyle's vitality. In the process of research, the paper takes both extrinsic and intrinsic ways. It positions the poetic texts in the American historical, political and social background to observe the Black identity, Black power and Black beauty. Meanwhile, it scrutinizes the artistry of the poetic form of Giovanni's poetry, including Black English, conversational style and distinctive rhythm.The paper concentrates on the blackness, i.e. to discover Giovanni's disclosure, critique and accusation of the white as well as her demonstration, praise and glorification of the Black. Nevertheless, it realizes and takes a benign rather than a hostile attitude toward the white, which is, in fact, already embodied in the poetry. So the paper emphasizes Giovanni's appeal to the white's understanding and recognition of the Black and her expectation of betterment rather than insistence on incompatible hatred. Reasonably, this is the essence and target of the Black American discourse.