Skip Navigation


Literature and Theology Advance Access originally published online on August 27, 2009
Literature and Theology 2009 23(4):421-441; doi:10.1093/litthe/frp030
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/4/421    most recent
frp030v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by May, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press 2009; all rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Genesis of Eden: Scriptural (Re) Translations and the (Un) Making of an Academic Eden in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

Claudia May

University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

c.may{at}bham.ac.uk


  Abstract

In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's central protagonist likens the Southern historically black college he attends to Eden. Such a comparison launches my discussion of how Ellison's academic Eden departs from, corresponds with and/or (re)envisions its scriptural counterpart. All in all, Invisible Man provides a platform from which to question whether a version of Eden within the realm of higher education can offer an escape from racism or avoid racialised ideologies. How appropriating this region in its primeval, pre and post ‘Fall’ state is tied to utopianesque depictions of American democracy drives Ellison's tussle with the (re)imagination of America as a raceless Eden even as race dominates its history and economic/political profile. To this end, Ellison's (un)making of Eden critiques those who align this biblical place with historical accounts that describe the origins of America as a nation birthed from a pristine history. As far as Ellison is concerned, the allure of America as an Eden-like promised land is dependent on the notion that its historical evolution is unaffected by racism and uninformed by race. Taking issue with this position, Ellison dissects the fallacy of this viewpoint in his writings. Altogether, this essay engages Ellison's penchant for wrestling with complex and seemingly un-resolvable concepts in his works. Probing the alluring yet somewhat perplexing paradoxes underlying Eden shapes this analysis of Invisible Man.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.