African American literature has always been characterized by its strong religious traditions, which date back to the times of discovery and early interaction. It is impossible to overstate the significance of religion and theology in the development of Black American literature; therefore, it makes sense that literary history and criticism have placed a strong emphasis on religious topics, with some adopting an informed by religion approach. While the majority of colonies were established in one way or another as havens for specific religious groups, concern for the indigenous population’s religious practices represented one level of religious literature from the first expedition narratives. Throughout all periods in African American writings, there were specific themes which were defining the literature (Goatley, 2021). These themes include bondage and freedom; enslavement; religion and spirituality; and gender, among others. This article will focus on religion and how it played a vital role in the contribution of African American literature.
Through bringing together ideas, cultural identities, and worldviews, religion helps mankind ascend to a higher plane of existence. Through myths, symbols, and religious beliefs, religion attempts to explain the purpose of life and the meaning of human existence. The way individuals live, their choices in lifestyle, and their boundaries have become a primary emphasis of religions from their inception. Due to the fact that religious stories made up the majority of the earliest written writings, religion has been a prominent theme in literary works from antiquity. Early American literature gave a lot of attention to the function of religion. Religious concepts and ideologies are included in the writings of several authors from various historical periods. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards were two authors from various eras who achieved this. Bradstreet was a Puritan, and like all other Puritans of her time, she often probed her conscience. They believed God’s creations and powers should always make them ashamed. “Contemplations” is one poem in which she articulates the principles and ideals of her religion (Goatley, 2021). The poem outlines the evolution of human thought on the relationship between God and people. Because the poem’s hopeful initial stanzas are followed by more somber and pessimistic last stanzas, the author effectively highlights mood swings through the use of consistent stanzas.
It is clear that African American literature has been greatly influenced by religion, faith, and spirituality throughout history. Depending on the author, religion and faith in African American literature can take many different shapes, but in general, this theme tends to link to the yearning for freedom. Authors frequently wrote in the form of prayers, pleading with God to help them endure their suffering or to help them endure life as enslaved people. Among these authors is James Weldon Johnson, who wrote a prayer, Listen Lord. This is a good example of how religion contributed to African American Literature (Goatley, 2021). It is a prayer of commitment to God, which enslaved people prayed to seek God’s help and enable them to move out of slavery.
African Americans used religion to keep going in life even when it appeared like there was no hope left and no sense in continuing to exist. Prayers gave them a massive hope of pressing on with the hard life. G.I. Townsel wrote the way out is to pray out. This is an encouraging piece of African American literature that insists that Jesus can enable people to overcome all trials as well as rescue them from a bad situations. He stated that “God will help you bear your burden and guide you to overcome the challenges.” Townsel offers consolation to others by reminding them that, despite feeling alone, if they stick with Jesus, He will take care of them (Weisenfeld, 2017). Several Black Americans who were enslaved were saved by this. Also, it aimed to build a bridge between whites and African Americans by providing a point of connection and a relevant experience that may otherwise keep the two groups apart.
The other role of religion in African American literature was to address the needs of the Africans. Black American writers also utilized religion to express to white people how unfairly they were treated; they made it clear that some people who considered themselves Christians were torturing and degrading them in a horrific way. For example, in her poem On being brought from Africa to America, Phillis Wheatley wanted to expose the hypocrisy of Christians who treated African Americans as inferiors. In this poem, she states that she was captured from Africa as a young girl, then brought to the United States, where she was sold as a domestic slave. She used to work for a wealthy family in Boston. Unusually, her owner taught her how to read and write despite being a slave (Weisenfeld, 2017). From her perspective, she viewed her owner as a hypocrite because she wanted the best for her, but on the other hand, she held her as a slave. This did not only happen to her but also to other young girls; therefore, she wrote this poem to express what most young African girls were going through as slaves.
The church played a key role in the African American way of life and made great contributions to the Black community by bringing people of color together for support in their spiritual lives and by helping them to survive appalling living conditions. Throughout the 19th century, numerous Christian denominations in the United States disagreed on the subject of slavery, and Christian missionaries and pastors created strong justifications for slavery based on Christian scripture and pro-slavery theology. The most fervent abolitionists were African Christians who were either enslaved or free, and they cited scripture to bolster their antislavery and abolitionist positions (van Aaken, 2020). While there has been much discussion about whether Christian churches were pro- or antislavery, some of the most fascinating studies on the church and slavery have focused on why slaves became Christians and how they utilized the institutional structures of the church to fight for their liberties and defend their communities. To a greater extent, most religious authors developed articles condemning slavery among African American in the United States because it was against biblical laws.
The other role of religion is that they serve as an inspiration source. By giving authors subjects and subject matter to examine, religion acts as a source of inspiration in literature. The stories and lessons found in many religious scriptures, like the Quran and the Bible, have influenced literature and society for many generations. These books frequently address issues like faith, sin, atonement, and the character of God, all of which have served as inspiration for writers throughout history. Therefore, African Americans who were held as captives and enslaved people by the Americans could read these books and get inspired and motivated that one day they would get out of slavery and gain freedom. Lastly, religion acted as a literary masterpiece. Authors used literature to express their concerns as well as issues that they needed to address (van Aaken, 2020). For example, Phillis Wheatley expressed her thoughts through her poem, which enabled many religious organizations to determine what she was going through. Through the poem, religious leaders were able to rescue her, and many other African Americans were held captive from slavery. In other words, religion was against slavery since it aimed to abolish the captivities of Black Americans.
In conclusion, this paper has elaborated in detail on religion and how it played a vital role in African American literature. Authors and poets wrote religious articles and poems explaining the suffering people of color were going through during slavery. Among the major contribution of religion towards African American literature include; inspiration, slavery abolishment, and giving slaves hope that they were to be freed or rescued one day.
Reference
Goatley, D. E. (2021). Were You There?: Godforsakenness in Slave Religion (Vol. 11). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
van Aaken, D., & Buchner, F. (2020). Religion and CSR: a systematic literature review. Journal of Business Economics, 90(5-6), 917-945.
Weisenfeld, J. (2017). Religion in African American history. In Oxford research encyclopedia of American History.
write