Margaret Walker, Jubilee

Patrick Chura (University of Akron)

Ed. by Patrick Chura, University of Akron
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1966

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Since its publication in 1966, Margaret Walker’s

Jubilee

has never been out of print, but it has also never found the audience it deserves or been adequately celebrated for its ground-breaking cultural influence. The likely reason for its exclusion from the canon has to do with the perceived dissonance between aesthetics and politics. During the period of the novel’s reception, most reviewers praised Walker’s depictions of vivid central characters, especially her spirited female heroine, while expressing misgivings about the novel’s historically revisionist purposes.

Wilma Dykeman’s September 1966 review of Jubilee in The New York Times is a case in point. According to Dykeman, Walker’s novel “succeeds beautifully” when it portrays individuals but “encounters the hazards

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3136 words

Citation: Chura, Patrick. "Jubilee". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 May 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14856, accessed 02 June 2024.]

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