The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism: Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism

The Signifying Monkey is a groundbreaking study that explores the relationship between African and African-American vernacular traditions and black literature.

This book provides a new critical approach located within this tradition, allowing the black voice to speak for itself.

The author uncovers a unique system for interpretation and a powerful vernacular tradition that black slaves brought with them to the New World.

The critical framework relies heavily on the Signifying Monkey, a popular figure in African-American folklore, and signification and Signifyin(g).

The book examines several major works of African-American literature, including Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo, revealing how these works signify on the black tradition and on each other.

This second volume in an enterprising trilogy on African-American literature makes an important contribution to literary theory, African-American literature, folklore, and literary history.