Paul Laurence Dunbar and the Naturalism/Dialect Poetry Divide

Abstract

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s dialect poems are often read as the negative, stereotype-laden other of his naturalist prose. This article, however, argues that Dunbar’s poetry complements his prose and provides a more holistic picture of Dunbar’s anti-racist naturalism. Whereas Dunbar’s prose diversifies African American stories, his dialect poetry emphasizes the illegibility of Blackness. The poetry’s focus on the process of meaning-making deconstructs stereotypes as expansive sites of paradox.