Reconfiguring Language for Resistance: Analysing James Baldwin’s Novels

Abstract

Language is considered as a simple tool for communication where as it has been used a weapon in the protest literature. When the voiceless people scream, the language becomes a medium of resistance and a medium of self assertion. Even though they cry in the wilderness, their language is as sharp a sphere to hit the ears of the so-called upper class society. In particular, James Baldwin, a renowned African American writer, used language in his works to disclose the African American experiences within the racist society of America. He reconfigures English language, which is historically considered as the language of the dominant people into a tool to expose the contradictions of American democracy. Baldwin through his language made the readers to experience the uncomfortable truths about race, power and morality. The research paper, “Reconfiguring English into an Instrument of Critique –A study of James Baldwin's Novels” demonstrates how Baldwin used English as an act of defiance and a catalyst for social transformation.