On Multicultural Consciousness Of Ishmael Reed’s The Last Day Of Louisiana Red

As one of the most pronounced practitioners of postmodernist fiction, Ishmael Reed has remained the most studied African American male writer in American literary scene. This thesis explores the multicultural perspective by reading Ishmael Reed’s fourth novel The Last day of Louisiana Red. It discusses Reed’s multicultural consciousness by examining within this novel Reed’s critique of radical black feminism, black nationalism as well as the Euro-centric cultural mononism.The first issue addressed in this essay is Reed’s critique on black feminism. Reed’s pejorative portrayal of black woman in his novel has earned him the title of misogynist, but as our analysis indicates, his real intention is to critique the radical black feminism whose development Reed believes has unwittingly trampled on the image and dignity of black males. What Reed concerned most is a mutual beneficial gender relationship where the harmonious coexistence between black man and black woman can be experienced.The second issue analyzed in this essay is Reed’s critique on radical black nationalism. For all his insistence on black traditional cultural heritage, Reed rejects the black nationalism and black supremacy, which interprets the world in stark black essentialism, a move that violates Reed’s vision of multiculturalism.The third issue discussed in the novel is Reed’s critique on Atonism, namely Eurocentrism. Reed satirizes the Judeo-Christian viewpoint which is described as a means to jeopardizes the survival of marginalized culture. Amidst the prevalent threat of Atonism, Reed initiates the Neo-Hoodoo Aesthetics (one full of African American heritage and wisdom) to challenge the orthodoxy Judeo-Christian tradition.Examining the objects of critique in Reed’s novel, this thesis argues that Reed is true multiculturalist and any form of monism would not escape the scrape of Reed’s harsh criticism. One who fails to understand this will easily launch undeserved castigations to Reed and misread Reed’s text.