literary aesthetics

Like I said in class, I’m intrigued by the notion of Black literature always having to play catch up, and how this notion ties into the “Black aesthetic.” I am caught between the necessity of creating a Black aesthetic by which to judge Black literature, and the implication of such a creation with respect to the division between _______. Without awareness of a Black aesthetic, essays about the brutality of slavery or Jim Crow would have little value outside of being intensely emotional historical accounts. Moreover, their stylistic departures from the [White] literary cannon would work against their value and acceptance. On the other hand, the availability of a Black aesthetic makes any literature to which it can be applied easy to dismiss as unworthy of the cannon by default. This is something I have a deep interest in, and honestly cannot come to a conclusion. I would love to discuss it in class, but I’m not sure if there will be time. Maybe we can get a little conversation going here? I also think about this in terms of a “Feminist aesthetic,” or even a “Female aesthetic.” As part of my honors thesis, I plan to write some fiction with a man as the narrator. When my advisor asked me why I didn’t decide to have a woman narrate, I realized that there has to be a reason for a woman to be the narrator; in other words, men are still the standard/model for a character. Is White still the standard of race for characters? Is White still the standard of race for authors? How is this tied to the necessity for a Black aesthetic? These aren’t rhetorical questions. I seriously want to know what everyone thinks.