" The literature often considered the most American is rooted not only
in European and Western culture but also in African and American Creole
cultures. Keith Cartwright places the literary texts of such noted
authors as George Washington Cable, W.E.B. DuBois, Alex Haley, Zora
Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, William Faulkner, Joel Chandler Harris,
Herman Melville, Toni Morrison, and many others in the context of the
history, spiritual traditions, folklore, music, linguistics, and
politics out of w