Dark Language

In Dark Language, Loren Qualls discusses how the post-rebellion genre of fiction takes a critical examination of African Americans after the Civil Rights Movement, when African Americans crossed the color barrier into every aspect of American culture. Yet the question remains: Who did the slave become? The middle class. This neo-African American is born with liberties that their predecessor was not afforded. The post-rebellion genre of African American literature comes from the freedom in knowing choice, but this genre expresses the consistent anxiety, paranoia and struggle for an identity and way of expression. A characteristic that differentiates this genre from other periods in African American history is its detachment from traditional icons and ideologies of African American culture. The generation that perpetuates this characteristic does not exhibit the same rudiment in religious sacrament or a common commitment to ideals of equality. Although African Americans have been bound by the goal of liberty of the individual, they fail in attempts at establishing group identification through any other mass movement or politics. The genre examines the African American being exploited and exploiting themselves and exploiting others all based on the concept of race.