John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman's process of decentering himself from European life and culture and centering himself within African life and culture is the focus of this study. In this critical review of the works of Wideman, Doreatha Drummond Mbalia argues that the author's early writings are characterized by a self-hatred that is shaped by explicit and implicit messages he receives as an African living in a racist, capitalist society. These messages are reinforced by European-style, westernized familial and educational influences. However, Mbalia argues that once Wideman experiences several unfortunate family occurrences, witnesses the growing pride and dignity younger Africans feel in regard to their history, and simply "lives and learns," his perspective shifts from one that is clearly centered in European culture and tradition to one that is at the heart of African culture and tradition. This shift reflects a new way of seeing, thinking, and writing about himself, his family, the African community and its institutions, African people in general, and African women in particular. This shift in point of view is not reflected only in theme, but also in structure. In later works, Wideman's writing style no longer imitates that of such European writers as T. S. Eliot, but imitates that of the African community, with all of its jive, rap, and hokey-pokey nuances. Once Wideman sees himself as one of many Africans all over the world who are exploited and oppressed, his perspective broadens as well. In the later work, the point of view is no longer national in scope, but rather international, tackling such issues as apartheid in South Africa and reflecting the international scope of capitalism.