The Representation Of African-American Culture In Southern Song By Margaret Walker

African-American literature can be defined as writings by people of African descent living in the United States of America. The African-American literary tradition began with the oral culture long before any of the materials in it were written on. Throughout their American history, African-Americans have used the oral culture as a natural part of black expressive culture. They are very powerful voices that give fuller meanings to words on a page. The America South is an important landscape in African-American literature. The South was a primary port of entry for slaving vessels. Most black slaves remained in the Southern states. The South was an important place for the African-American literature because the South was served as the site of
But the Southern landscape is more than just the “scene of the crime” in African-American literature. It has multiple personalities that demand multiple treatments. Many 20th-century African-American writers, whether born and raised in the South or not, have used the southern landscape in their works to explore the complex relationships African-American communities have with the South. In her poem “Southern Song,” Margaret Walker (1915 – 1998) sings a praise song to the southern suns and southern land despite the “mobs” and “a nightmare full of oil and flame."

Southern Song

I want my body bathed again by southern suns, my soul reclaimed again from southern land. I want to rest again in southern fields, in grass and hay and clover bloom; to lay my hand again upon the clay baked by a southern sun, to touch the rain-soaked earth and smell the smell of soil.

I want my rest unbroken in the fields of southern earth; freedom to watch the corn wave silver in the sun and mark the splashing of a brook, a pond with ducks and frogs and count the