The First American "Superspy" : Secret Agency and the Black Nation in Martin R. Delany's Blake
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Silesian Studies in English 2018 : Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of English and American Studies |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Silesian Studies in English 2018 |
| Keywords | Martin R. Delany; Blake; The Huts of America; black nationalism; spy fiction; superspy |
| Description | Martin R. Delany’s only novel, Blake; Or, the Huts of America, has been studied for its black-nationalist ideas but criticized as poorly crafted. There is widespread confusion even as to its genre. This essay argues that both its artistic and ideological aims are clarified if we view its hero, Henry Blake, as a forerunner of later “superspies” like Richard Hannay and James Bond. Blake serves no existing state but the black “nation within a nation,” as Delany had earlier called it. His secret mission: to lend that nation agency, bringing it into existence through his international, omni-capable exploits. |
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