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"Born in a Mighty Bad Land": The Violent Man in African American Folklore and Fiction. By Jerry H. Bryant. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. Pp. ix + 237, acknowledgments, introduction, appendix, notes, index.)
In "Born in a Mighty Bad Land," Jerry Bryant describes the African American badman archetypes reflected in various genres of fiction and folklore, including toasts, rap, ballads, and literature. Bryant analyzes how significant historic events affect society (particularly African American society) and, in turn, the badman archetype. The basic premise of this book suggests that the badman character is reflective of society's values-evolving and changing as society does.
There are "good badmen" who refuse to abide by white man's law and control, and whose actions are a model for civil disobedience in African American society. Then there is the "bad nigger," described as "the id to the more genteel black superego, a man who lived on the margins, who was familiar with violence and death, and who reacted impulsively to any perceived personal injury, from friend or foe, man or woman" (p. 10). The violent badman archetype did not emerge until after the Civil War, when...