James Baldwin, Amen Corner

Magdalena J. Zaborowska (University of Michigan)

Ed. by Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1955

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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The Amen Corner

(1955), a three-act play about Harlem churches, was James Baldwin's first attempt at theater, which followed

Go Tell It on the Mountain

and focused on the conflicts between art and religion, love of others and love of the Lord, as well as parents and children and men and women in the black church. The action takes place at a storefront place of worship, which is attached to and in fact dominates a modest apartment of its Pentecostal minister, Sister Margaret. She lives with her eighteen-year old son, David, who plays the piano in the church, and her unmarried sister, Odessa. The action takes place over a week and is bracketed by Sunday worships.

Act 1 begins with the church chorus singing, the elders testifying, and Sister Margaret preaching on obedience and morality. She

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1258 words

Citation: Zaborowska, Magdalena J.. "Amen Corner". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6742, accessed 21 November 2024.]

James Baldwin, Amen Corner

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