"From Native Son to Notes of a Native Son: The Fraught Relationship Between Richard Wright and James Baldwin"

This essay explores the fraught relationship between Richard Wright and James Baldwin. It traces Baldwin’s essays on Wright, which reject the notion that literature’s primary purpose should be political or social. Their relationship cannot, however, be reduced to debates about art versus politics. Several critics found Baldwin’s political aesthetic much closer to his former mentor’s than is often supposed. Furthermore, Baldwin and Wright shared a fascination with the singer Bessie Smith, an artist often overlooked in scholarship on the Mississippi writer. Exploring both writers’ engagement with Smith suggests how their work and outlook are less opposed than is often assumed.