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Political-social novel · Medium

The Marrow of Tradition

Charles W. Chesnutt · 1901 · United States

A novel about racial violence, white supremacy, class, journalism, memory, and the fragility of civic order in the post-Reconstruction South.

Notes and Misconceptions

This is not a minor historical curiosity. It is one of the sharper American political novels of its period.

Its directness hurt its reception because it was too clear about power, propaganda, and racial violence.

Best Path

American classics, race, political violence

Reading Paths

  • Power, Law, and Social Breakdown

    Books about order, procedure, violence, and what happens when public rules stop holding.

Tags

americanracepolitical-violencepost-reconstructionjournalismsocial-novelmedium