 Associate Professor E. Lale Demirtürk of the Department of American Culture and Literature gave a talk on “The Contemporary African American Novel: Critical Conversations about the City,” as part of Bilkent University Library's Lunchtime Lecture Series last week March 24.
In her lecture in the Library Art Gallery, Dr. Demirtürk discussed the work of a number of contemporary African American novelists and examined how black identity is intertwined with the primarily urban setting of their novels.
She began with the importance of the controversial African American film actor Sidney Poitier and moved on to look at Percival Everett's novel I am Not Sidney Poitier, which was published last year. In it the main protagonist is actually called Not Sidney Poitier.
Dr. Demirtürk explored the themes of race in a series of other recent books, including Walter Mosley's Little Scarlet, John Edgar Wideman's Two Cities, Diane McKinney-Whetstone's Leaving Cecil Street, Asha Bandele's Daughter, and finally The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead (1999).
The lecture was followed by a discussion session in which members of the audience asked a number of stimulating questions.
The next Library Lunchtime Lecture will be held on Wednesday, April 21, and will be delivered by Prof. Sinan Sertöz of the Department of Mathematics.
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