Redefining and Canonizing African American Literature: An Interview with Professor Jerry Ward on The Cambridge History of African American Literature

Professor Jerry Ward, a distinguished professor of Dillard University, is one of the most important scholars in the field of African American literary studies. He is an expert in the study of Richard Wright's writings, African American poetry and the trauma theories. He is the co-editor of the forthcoming book The Cambridge History of African American Literature. In this interview, Professor Ward makes clear how the different grounding theories and the different understanding of literature shape the structure of different anthologies and histories of African American literature. Different from the well-known anthologists Henry Louis Gates and Nellie McKay who compiled The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Professor Ward understands African American literature broadly as the writing of a people which includes essays and popular literary genres such as erotic novels, romance novels and street life novels. He believes that African American literature, originated from the black oral tradition, musical tradition and church tradition, should still take the writings from popular culture as its important part. His redefining of Afro-American literature broadens our vision of African American literature.