Together with Amiri Baraka, Reed is probably the most creative and controversial African American writer who started his career in the 1960s. Praised for his irreverence and his postmodern experimentation early on in his career, he was later criticized as a misogynist for some of his opinions (”blacklisted by the feminist establishment”) and as a bourgeois apologist for his praise of a black middle-class work ethic and his satirical exposure of empty radical rhetoric (Baraka implied that he should “get iced”). Nowadays Ishmael Reed is well respected by the scholarly establishment and his literary achievements are unquestioned. He is best known for his literary theory called the “Neo-HooDoo Aesthetic”, which deconstructs Judeo-Christian models through Voodoo forms, and for his…
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Citation: Ludwig, Samuel. "Ishmael Reed". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3731, accessed 21 November 2024.]
