Lapenson, Bruce. “Race and Existential Commitment in James 

Baldwin.” Philosophy and Literature, 37.1 (2013): 199-209.

Print.

This articles looks at James Baldwin’s work through an existential lense, relating him to such existentialists as Sartre and Camus.  Lapenson states that Baldwin’s writing is about the need for social equality, his style assuming a “sermonesque tone.”  Connecting Baldwin to existentialism was his rejection of religious belief, which could not put an end to the struggle of African Americans in the United States.  However, Baldwin was not an advocate for political inaction, and he sought to confront the racial issues in America in his writing.  Part of Baldwin’s connection to existentialist thought, too, is his idea that “all of us are products of our shared history,” and he stressed the notion of individual responsibility for oneself and society. Lapenson concludes with Baldwin’s advocacy for love, noting that Baldwin’s writing demonstrated that fear of love fueled the race problem in America.

Armengol, Josep M. “In the Dark Room: Homosexuality and/as 

Blackness in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room.” Signs, 37.3 

(2012): 671-693. Print.

Armengol begins his articles by discussing the controversy of Baldwin’s second novel, Giovanni’s Room, due to its “explicit homosexual content.”  He argues that Baldwin deflects race on sexuality, which results in whiteness being associated with heterosexuality and blackness being associated with homosexuality.  However, Baldwin exposes the relationship between whiteness and heterosexuality as “unstable, multiple, fractured, and even incoherent,” evidenced in the relationship between David and Giovanni in the novel.  Armengol concludes that Baldwin’s examination of the interconnectedness between homosexuality and heterosexuality and whiteness and blackness in effect reveals the constructedness of such categories and divisions.  

Hughes, James M. “Black City Lights: Baldwin’s City of the Just.”

Journal of Black Studies, 18.2(1987): 230-241. Print.

This article looks at the importance of cities in Baldwin’s writing, and the ways in which Baldwin drew from Walt Whitman and Henry James to express his affection for city life and culture. Baldwin adopted Whitman’s awareness of “urban wandering” and James’ “self-conscious cosmopolitanism” in his writing, combining their “contrasting lights” with his “special sense of his blackness.”  Hughes mentions that Baldwin held onto the notion of the city as a refuge, using the bridge and subway as images to “map his concern with opening out.”  Subways express the idea that individuals are on the “same track regardless of direction” and bridges connect separate parts of urban environments into one whole.  Hughes concludes that Baldwin further demonstrated his similarity to Whitman and James in his willingness to confront reality.

Tomlinson, Robert. “‘Payin’ One’s Dues’: Expatriation as Personal

Experience and Paradigm in the Works of James Baldwin.”

African American Review, 33.1 (1999): 135-148. Print.

Tomlinson begins by mentioning the importance of Baldwin’s experience living in Europe to his personal and creative life. Living in Paris helped Baldwin realize his American past and African American “sense of alienation.”  He recognized a “double alienation” being an American in Europe and person of African descent in the United States, a problem he meditated on in his final novel, Just Above My Head.  Tomlinson notes that this novel shows Baldwin’s consciousness to the fact that “we are never free from history.”  He concludes that Baldwin’s writings about his personal experiences with expatriation reflected the “post-colonial dilemma.”

Lee, Dorothy H. “The Bridge of Suffering.” Callaloo, 18 (1983): 

92-99. Print.

Lee claims Baldwin’s work is rooted in suffering.  He creates characters defined by their “capacity for pain,” revealing Baldwin’s opinion that personal suffering is a bridge to awareness.  Lee goes on to use the metaphor of a bridge as a way to describe Baldwin’s theme of connecting characters through their “otherness.”  She notes that the blues offers his characters “momentary triumph over loneliness,” bridging the gap between “artist and audience, races, brothers, and lovers.” Baldwin made use of biblical allusions in his naming of characters, although his work became more secular over time.  Lee concludes with a focus on Baldwin’s meditation on the idea that “love is liberating,” and the act of loving another bridges the gap of otherness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VxcLx4zmlA

The Schomburg Center, dir. “James Baldwin’s Global Imagination.” 

Youtube. The Schomburg Center, 18 Feb 2011. Web. 9 Dec 2013.

This short video features speakers who honor the legacy of James Baldwin.  One of the speakers notes the theme of terror in Baldwin’s writing, referencing Baldwin’s courage for visiting the South as a homosexual black man during the Civil Rights Movement. Another speaker compares reading Baldwin’s words to going to a fountain to replenish oneself.  He also wonders if calling Baldwin a globalist is accurate, posing that the late author was more of an internationalist.  The last speaker talks about France’s influence on Baldwin’s work, and he mentions his personal relationship to Baldwin.

Toibin, Colm. “The Henry James of Harlem: James Baldwin’s 

struggles.” The Guardian. The Guardian, 14 Sept 2001. Web.

9 Dec 2013.

This articles examines the legacy of James Baldwin.  Toibin discusses the duality of Baldwin’s personality and writing.  He used “Jamesian techniques and cadences” to engage with controversial subjects in his prose.  Baldwin’s childhood in Harlem informed his early writing.  Later in his career, however, his homosexuality and his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement slowed the success of his literary career.  Toibin attributes this partly to his refusal to write a “parable of race relations.”  Baldwin used his popularity as a writer to contribute to the Civil Rights Movement with stories exposing white racism and through his journalism.  Toibin mentions the influence of Baldwin’s familial position as eldest sibling to his prose about loving sibling relationships.  He concludes that Baldwin’s writing expressed his interest in the “soul’s dark intimate places.”  Baldwin was willing to explore possible “hidden” truths about himself through his fictional characters.

vanden Heuvel, Katrina. “This Week in ‘Nation’ History: James

Baldwin’s Four Decades of Prophecy, Confession, Emotion and 

Style.” The Nation. The Nation, 10 Aug 2013. Web. 9 Dec 

2013.

This articles celebrates Baldwin’s life and literary career and analyzes his contributions to The Nation and racial politics in the United States.  Heuvel mentions that Baldwin developed his critique on the dominant “Marxist analysis” of racial issues throughout his literary career.  She goes on to point out that Baldwin was ahead of his time concerning his opinions on racism. In her conclusion, Heuvel discusses critics to Baldwin’s writing, stating his essays were regarded more highly than his fiction in The Nation.

Anderson, Michael. “Trapped Inside James Baldwin.” New York 

Times. New York Times, 29 Mar 1998. Web. 9 Dec 2013.

This articles examines the many influences to James Baldwin’s literary work.  Anderson begins by mentioning Baldwin’s ability to express the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement in his writing.  His talent for capturing “interior drama” and translating his personal and cultural experiences into beautiful prose earned Baldwin a wide readership of loving fans.  Part of his appeal to a wide audience was his technique of making politics personal.  Anderson includes some biographical information about Baldwin’s upbringing with his abusive stepfather to articulate the importance of Baldwin’s personal history to his writing style.  Anderson goes on to assert that Baldwin’s fictional characters do not develop and that the author himself largely “avoided self-interrogation.”  Despite such a claim, he compares Baldwin’s artistic prose to that of Henry James, stating both authors “thought with his feelings.” Anderson concludes that Baldwin had the distinct ability to articulate the complexity of society and consciousness.

Page, Clarence. “James Baldwin: Bearing Witness To The Truth.” 

Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune, 16 Dec 1987. Web. 9 Dec 

2013.

Page chronicles the life of James Baldwin shortly after his death in 1987.  He first comments on the late author’s giant eyes. Page compares them to those of an “inquisitive child” who is trying to makes sense of the world, just like his writing.  He moves on to mention Baldwin’s time spent living in Paris due to his inability to endure the racial terrorism of the 1940s in the United States.  Later in his life, Baldwin moved between the States and France.  Page mentions some of the criticism Baldwin received from whites and blacks since he both refused to stop articulating black Americans’ struggle and refused to accept “militant nationalism.”  He concludes by saying that Baldwin cannot simply be remembered as a great black or gay writer, but he must be celebrated for eloquently exposing the “unfairness by which people debase others.”