Ralph Ellison
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Major Issues Major IssuesLiterary historians have looked back to trace the influence of major Modernists, including James Joyce and T. S. Eliot, on Ralph Ellison’s writing, and looked forward to examine the impact of Ralph Ellison’s writing on post-World War II American literature, especially African American literature. Ellison’s innovations include the use of jazz and as a thematic and structural device, and the startling blending of literary forms and modes: Black Folklore with Classical Mythology, for example. Scholars have analyzed the nightmarish qualities of Ellison’s fictional scenarios. Adolescent initiation, the often brutal movement from childhood to adulthood, has been identified as a common motif in Ellison’s fiction. Ellison’s work has engendered some critical controversy; some readers accuse him of celebrating the American "melting pot" at the expense of cultural and ethnic identity and diversity. Author LinksRalph
Ellison Webliography
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