內容簡介
《傳統的精髓》（The Marrow of Tradition）是非裔美國作家查爾斯・W・切斯納特（Charles W. Chesnutt）於1901年發表的重要小說，故事根據1898年北卡羅來納州威明頓種族暴動的真實事件改編。小說以多位白人與非裔角色的交錯視角，揭露美國南方在重建時代後的種族衝突、社會不平等與制度性暴力。
故事圍繞兩個家庭，一白一黑，因命運與歷史緊密交織。當地的種族緊張局勢逐步升高，最終爆發致命衝突，成為對當時美國社會現實的強烈控訴。作者透過冷靜與深刻的筆觸，用故事紀錄文明與傳統背後的種族偏見與壓迫。
《傳統的精髓》是美國文學史上最早直接處理種族屠殺與白人至上主義的作品之一。切斯納特以文學為武器，以筆紀錄真相，是理解美國種族問題發展脈絡的重要經典。
The Norton Library edition of The Marrow of Tradition features the original 1901 text of the work. A sweeping introduction by Autumn Womack highlights the work’s historical contexts, literary achievements, and groundbreaking critique of white supremacy.
The Norton Library is a growing collection of high-quality texts and translations―influential works of literature and philosophy―introduced and edited by leading scholars. Norton Library editions prepare readers for their first encounter with the works that they’ll re-read over a lifetime.
- Inviting introductions highlight the work’s significance and influence, providing the historical and literary context students need to dive in with confidence.
- Endnotes and an easy-to-read design deliver an uninterrupted reading experience, encouraging students to read the text first and refer to endnotes for more information as needed.
- An affordable price (most $10 or less) encourages students to buy the book and to come to class with the assigned edition.
作者介紹
Charles W. Chesnutt was born in 1858 in Cleveland, Ohio. At the end of the Civil War, his parents returned to their native Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Charles attended a school run by the Freedmen’s Bureau. After serving as principal of the State Colored Normal School from 1880 to 1883, he abandoned both his teaching career and a South that was increasingly hostile to African Americans. Moving back to Cleveland, he practiced law, established a successful legal stenography firm, and began pursuing a career as a writer. His first story, “Uncle Peter’s House,” about a newly emancipated Black family whose home is burned down by the Ku Klux Klan, appeared in 1885. It introduced the themes of folk life, racial injustice, and social reform that he would explore in dozens of short stories, essays, and three novels. By the time he died in 1932, Chesnutt was widely recognized as the dean of African American fiction writers.
Autumn Womack is an Assistant Professor in the departments of African American Studies and English at Princeton University, where she specializes in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century African American literary culture. She is the author of The Matter of Black Living: The Aesthetic Experiment of Racial Data, 1880–1930 (2022).
