The Anticipation of the Black Aesthetic in Richard Wright’s Work

ABSTRACT This essay investigates the relationship between Richard Wright and the Black Arts Movement (BAM), arguing that Wright’s literary work anticipates the Black aesthetic of the BAM well before the advent of the BAM itself in 1965. This essay argues that Wright’s oeuvre contains five characteristics which are more readily associated with the Black aesthetic: (1) the affirmation of a black writer that speaks directly to a black audience; (2) the rejection of Western ideology; (3) the embracing of African American musical styles and folk culture; (4) the emphasis on art that serves a social and political function at the expense of art for art’s sake; and (5) the expression of a call for revolution (Page, 36). I examine these themes through an analysis of Wright’s essay, ‘Blueprint for Negro Writing’, (1937); his novel, Native Son (1940); and his memoir, Black Boy (1945).