James Baldwin

This article is about the American writer. For other people with the same name, see James Baldwin (disambiguation).

James Baldwin
Baldwin in 1969
Baldwin in 1969
BornJames Arthur Jones
(1924-08-02)August 2, 1924
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 1, 1987(1987-12-01) (aged 63)
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Resting placeFerncliff Cemetery, Westchester County, New York
Occupation
  • Writer
  • activist
EducationDeWitt Clinton High School
Genre
Years active1947–1985
Notable works

James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an African-American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels.[1] His 1955 essay collection Notes of a Native Son helped establish his reputation as a voice for human equality.[2] Baldwin was an influential public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.[3][4][5]

Baldwin's fiction posed fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create intricate narratives that influenced both the civil rights movement and the gay liberation movement in mid-twentieth century America. Baldwin's protagonists are often, but not exclusively African-American; gay and bisexual men feature prominently in his work (as in his 1956 novel Giovanni's Room). His characters typically face internal and external obstacles in their search for self- and social acceptance.[6]

Baldwin's work continues to influence artists and writers. His unfinished manuscript Remember This House was expanded and adapted as the 2016 documentary film I Am Not Your Negro, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary. His 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name, which earned widespread praise.

  1. ^ "All-Time 100 Novels". Time. October 16, 2005. Archived from the original on October 21, 2005.
  2. ^ "About the Author". Take This Hammer (American Masters). US: Channel Thirteen-PBS. November 29, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Held, Marcy (August 19, 2011). "James Baldwin: The Writer and the Witness". npg.si.edu. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  4. ^ "James Baldwin". Poetry Foundation. January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  5. ^ Natividad|, Ivan (June 19, 2020). "The time James Baldwin told UC Berkeley that Black lives matter". Berkeley News. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  6. ^ Gounardoo, Jean-François; Rodgers, Joseph J. (1992). The Racial Problem in the Works of Richard Wright and James Baldwin. Greenwood Press. pp. 158, 148–200.