Roger Rosenblatt's book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rather than sociopo
litical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by most previous studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as a pretext for illustrating Black history. Addison Gayle's recent work, for instance, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according to the notions of Black identity that it propounds.
Although fiction assuredly springs from political circumstances, its authors react to those circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology avoids cleverly much of the fictional enterprise. Rosenblatt's literary analysis discloses ties and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.
Writing acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, assumes beforehand giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions. First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the racial identity of the authors？ Second, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous？ Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct body of writing that has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. Looking at novels written by blacks over the last eighty years, he discovers recurring concerns and designs independent of the order of time. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from the central fact that the Black characters in these novels exist in predominantly white culture, whether they try to conform. to that culture or rebel against it.
Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt's thematic analyses permits considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works yet his reluctance seems to be put in the wrong palce, especially since an attempt to evaluate might have led to interesting results. For instance, some of the novels appear to be structurally diffuse. Is this a defect, or are the authors working out of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic？ In addition, the style. of some black novels, like Jean Toomer's Cane, verges on expressionism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the late against which black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expression？
In spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes for an clever and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, and its straightforward, clear style. shows clear-minded and penetrating criticism.
The author of the passage objects to criticism of Black Fiction like that by Addison Gayle because it ______.
A．emphasizes purely literary aspect of such fiction
B．misinterprets the ideological content of such fiction
C．misunderstands the notions of Black identity contained in such fiction
D．substitutes political for literary criteria in evaluating such fiction
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