Books, Works & Articles

“Drawing upon James’s observations of his own life as revealed to interviewers and close friends, this volume provides an examination of James’s childhood and early years as colonial literature and his massive contribution to West Indian political-cultural understanding. Moving beyond previous biographical interpretations, the contributors here take up the problem of reading James’s texts in light of poststructuralist criticism, the implications of his texts for Marxist discourse, and for problems of Caribbean development.”

Reviews:

“These penetrating studies throw much-needed light both on C. L. R. James and the Caribbean worlds about which he cared so much. . . . Required reading for all who would like to understand James’s varied work.”–David Barry Gaspar, author of Bondmen and Rebels

“This volume is a provocative and powerful introduction to the political and literary writings of C. L. R. James, one of the twentieth century’s greatest intellectuals of the left. This creative collection explores new dimensions of James’s thought and is essential reading for those interested in the black intellectual tradition of the Caribbean in literature, politics, and history.”—Manning Marable, University of Colorado at Boulder

Chapters

Preface

Part I. Portraits and Self-Portraits

C. L. R. James: A Portrait, By Stuart Hall
C. L. R. James on the Caribbean: Three Letters, By C. L. R. James
C. L. R. James: West Indian

Part II. The Early Trinidadian Years

The Audacity of It All: C. L. R. James’s Trinidadian Background, By Selwyn Cudjoe
The Making of a Literary Life: C. L. R. James interviewed by Paul Buhle, By Paul Buhle

Part III. Textual Explorations

Beyond the Categories of the Master Conception: The Counterdoctrine of the Jamesian Poiesis, By Sylvia Wynter
Cricket and National Culture in the Writings of C. L. R. James, By Neil Lazarus
Caliban as Deconstructionist: C. L. R. James and Post-Colonial Discourse, By Paget Henry;Paul Buhle

Part IV. Praxis

C. L. R. James and the Caribbean Economic Tradition, By Paget Henry
C. L. R. James and Trinidadian Nationalism, By Walton Look Lai
The Question of the Canon: C. L. R. James and Modern Politics, By Kent Worcester
C. L. R. James and the Antiguan Left, By Paget Henry

Appendix: Excerpts from The Life of Captain Cipriani

Paget Henry is Professor of Africana Studies and Sociology and Interim Chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. His books include Peripheral Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Antigua.

Paul Buhle is a retired lecturer at Brown University and biographer of CLR James. He is author of C.L.R. James: The Artist as Revolutionary (1988). His latest work includes a collaboration with the cartoonist Milton Knight bringing James to life in comic strip form.

The book can be purchased here.