The Evidence of Things Not Said: James Baldwin and the Promise of American Democracy

Lawrie Balfour

Published by Cornell University Press 2000

The Evidence of Things Not Said

James Baldwin and the Promise of American Democracy

Lawrie Balfour

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501720819

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Evidence of Things Not Said employs the rich essays of James Baldwin to interrogate the politics of race in American democracy. Lawrie Balfour advances the political discussion of Baldwin's work, and regards him as a powerful political thinker...

Author / Editor information

Lawrie Balfour is Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia.

Reviews

Lewis Gordon, Brown University:

Lawrie Balfour's original book carefully explores James Baldwin's contribution to the democratic project as well as the unique challenges Baldwin posed to its understanding. Sure to be a classic in Baldwin studies, The Evidence of Things Not Said is a pleasure to read and an important piece of work.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.:

Lawrie Balfour, a rising young scholar, offers a bright new perspective on an important on-going discussion: James Baldwin's engagement in the interplay of political theory and race. The Evidence of Things Not Said is a remarkable book about America.

David A. Leeming, author of James Baldwin: A Biography:

In The Evidence of Things Not Said, Lawrie Balfour has made a major contribution to Baldwin studies. For the first time, Baldwin's work is considered in the context of political theory and American ideals of democracy. The result is a brilliant explanation of Baldwin's relevance to the post-civil rights era.

Balfour... has written an unusual, complex analysis of novelist and essayist James Baldwin (1924-87) as a political theorist.... Intriguing.

Balfour focuses on Baldwin's essays... with the acknowledged intent of tracing the trajectory of continuity throughout.... The first chapter serves as a lengthy background.... Subsequent chapters... offer new critical insights and approaches to Baldwin's essays, a genre that many critics have labeled his best and most significant writing.

Vanessa Bush:

A worthy reexamination of the works of a powerful writer.

This sensitive, superbly written book teaches that social criticism must make people face their deepest fears and renounce comfort and security as selfish illusions.

This examination of James Baldwin's essays explores his contribution to political theory.... The book concludes with a discussion of Baldwin's complicated relation with language and a consideration of his significance in the political landscape of the 21st century.

Priscilla Wald:

In asking political theorists and literary critics alike to read Baldwin as a political analyst, The Evidence of Things Not Said usefully holds a mirror to our methodologies and to their relation to racial injustice itself.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
CHAPTER ONE. Speaking of Race Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER TWO. “A Most Disagreeable Mirror” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
CHAPTER THREE. Blessed Are the Victims? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
CHAPTER FOUR. Presumptions of Innocence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
CHAPTER FIVE. The Living Word Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
AFTERWORD. Baldwin and the Search for a Majority Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187

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