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1. Seminar 2
“The Study of James Baldwin’s Selected Novels in
Relation to the Human Rights”
Name of the Researcher
MR. RAVINDRA RAMDAS BORSE
(Asst. Prof. Dept.of English, B.P. Arts, SMA Sci. and KKC Com. College, Chalisgaon)
Name of the Guide
PROF. DR. S. D. MAHAJAN
(Head, Dept. of English, N. Y. N. C. College, Chalisgaon)

2. Outline…
 Human rights
 Introduction of the Author
 Objectives
 Hypotheses
 Significance of the study
 Scope & limitation
 Chapters
 Bibliography & journals

3. Human Rights : Definition
– Article of the United Nations Universal Declaration of
Human Rights(UDHR) comments –
– “All humans are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience
and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood.”
– Human rights can be defined as –
 “the fundamental rights to which a person is
inherently entitled simply because she of he is a
human being”
– The motto of human rights is “All human, rights for all”
and “the world is one family”
– Human rights are a legitimate concern of the
international family.
– The pioneers of this ideology are Thomas Aquinas,
Immanueal Kant, John Locke and Hobbe.

4. Freedoms Under Human Rights
1. Freedom from discrimination – by gender, race,
color, national origin or religion.
2. Freedom to enjoy a decent standard of living.
3. Freedom to develop and realize one’s human
potential.
4. Freedom from fear of threats to personal
security, from torture, arbitrary arrest and other
violent acts.
5. Freedom from injustice and violations of the rule
of law.
6. Freedom of thought and speech and to
participate in decision making and form
associations.
7. Freedom for decent work without exploitation .

5. James Baldwin:
 born on August 2, 1924 at Harlem in U.S.A..
American writer of the post-war period.
 Wrote five novels -“Go Tell it on the Mountain”(1953), “Giovanni’s
Room”(1956), “Another Country”(1962), “Tell Me How Long the Train’s
Been Gone”(1968) and “If Beale Street Could Talk”(1974).
 two plays “The Amen Corner” and “Blues for Mister Charlie”.
a short story collection “Going to Meet the Man” and a poetry
collection “Jimmy Blues”.
Baldwin’s essay collections are “Notes of a Native Son”, “The Fire
Next Time”, “No Name in the Street”, “The Devil Finds Work” and “The
Price of the Ticket”.
Introduction to the Author

6. Features of Baldwin’s Writing
 Baldwin’s writing shows the black man’s fate and
an effort to explore ways and means by which his
predicament can be resolved.
 The novels exhibit the predicament of the Black
in the white dominated America.
 Baldwin himself had faced the humiliations being
a Black and all his novels have their roots in
racial discrimination and injustice.

7.  To examine the nature, scope and development of human rights.
 To examine the development of Afro-American novel.
 To investigate the violation of human rights by the white Americans in
Baldwin’s novels..
 To examine the patterns of protest by the Blacks in Baldwin’s novels.
 To investigate how the Blacks assert their identity in Baldwin’s novels.
To justify the need of mutual understanding and the human values like
unity, equality and brotherhood.
To investigate if there is possibility of inter racial co-existence.
Objectives of the Study

8.  Human rights exist to protect the basic dignity of
human life.
 The Black are exploited by the White Americans.
 The Black are not granted the basic human rights
like freedom, equality, brotherhood and Justice.
 The Black protest against the White American’s
discrimination regarding race, gender and color.
 The Blacks try to assert their identity in the
American society.
Hypotheses

9. Significance of the Study
Blacks in America are treated as marginalized sections.
They are oppressed, humiliated and victimized by the white Americans.
Baldwin’s novels point out the violation of human rights to the African –
American Negros on the ground of race, gender and class in the American
society.
The essential human rights like equality, liberty, fraternity and education
are denied to the Black.
The Black should be granted all the human rights like the whites as all
are the creatures of God.
The study would highlight the violation of human rights in the case of the
blacks in white America in the interest of humanity.
The present study acquires a greater significance in the era of
globalization and multiculturalism. The sociological theory of
multiculturalism advocates the peaceful co-existence of people with
different religions, races, languages, castes and countries.

10. Scope and Limitations of the Study
James Baldwin has written five novels in total.
The novel “Giovanni’s Room” does not exhibit the
element of discrimination strikingly. Hence, this
novel has been excluded from the present study.
The scope of the present study will be limited to
the following four select novels –
1. “Go Tell it on the Mountain”
2. “Another Country”
3. “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”
4. “If Beale street Could Talk”
These select novels will be studied only from the
point of view of human rights.

11.  Descriptive Analytical Method
The proposed thesis will be divided into six
chapters. The tentative outline of the six Chapters
is as follows :
Methodology

12. Two sections:
A) Definition, Growth and Development of Human
Rights.
B ) Background, Growth and Development of
Afro-American novel in general and the novels by
James Baldwin in particular.
Chapter 1
Introduction

13.  This chapter will deal with Baldwin’s first novel “Go Tell it on the Mountain” and
the human rights with a view to bring out the violation of human rights to the
Blacks.
 The present novel presents diverse dimensions of a Negro boy John’s
experience of growing up in hostile conditions in the white America.
Baldwin depicts the effects of systematic racism that is the second and third
generation result of the era of American slavery that took place from the period of
colonization through the American Civil War.
The three parts of the present novel “The Seventh Day”, “The Prayers of the
Saints” and “The Threshing Floor” present the racial discrimination faced not only
by the hero John but also by other characters.
Chapter 2
Go Tell it on the Mountain

14. This chapter discusses the second novel of Baldwin “Another Country”.
The present novel highlights the negro protagonist- Rufus’ problem of existence
in the white dominated America.
Rage and anger against racial prejudice of whites is seen in the depiction of
Rufus, a black Jazz drummer and after his death through his sister Ida.
The Black Rufus punishes his white girlfriend Leona making her insane as a
revenge against the white exploitation.
Very soon he suffers from guilty feeling and commits suicide.
The color hatred is carried forward by his sister Ida towards his white boyfriend
Viovaldo.
Like her dead brother, she too realizes the futility of color hatred and finally
reconciles with Vivaldo.
The novel explores the possibility of an amicable relationship between whites
and blacks.
Chapter 3
“Another Country”

15.  This chapter will investigate the novel “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been
Gone”
 The present novel has a black protagonist Leo who is a famous stage actor.
 He suffers a heart attack on the stage.
He has a white girlfriend Barbara.
The earlier part of the novel deals with Leo’s love ship with Barbara.
The remaining part of the novel shows Leo’s exposure to racial problems
introduced to him through a black character Christopher.
The novel highlights Leo’s life as a struggle of a blackman and a black artist in
particular for search of some meaning in the white world.
Finally, Leo recovers from the heart attack and returns to the stage.
Chapter 4
Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone

16.  This chapter is about the novel “If Beale Street Could Talk” and human
rights with a view to show how the black suffer in the white America.
 The protagonist of the present novel Alonzo Hunny nicknamed Fonny is a
black sculptor who takes pride in making sculptures for the black and his
sculptures are symbolic of the entire black creativity.
The black Fonny has a black girlfriend Tish belong to the Harlem.
The innocent Fonny is accused of raping a white woman Victoria Rogers.
A racist police officer Mr. Bell tries to harass the black hero Fonny.
The black couple fights against the racist white mentality and finally wins.
The protagonist’s struggle to get out of prison for a fake crime is not only his
personal struggle but a struggle of the entire black community for freedom.
Chapter 5
“If Beale Street Could Talk

17.  The Sixth and the final chapter will explicate the conclusions drawn
from the analysis.
 It will make an attempt to show how the Black are treated as
marginalized sections due to the age old customs and discrimination
regarding race, gender and sex.
 An attempt will be made in this chapter to suggest some solutions to
the problems that are discussed in the earlier chapters.
 The present chapter will also point out the possibilities of the further
research in this area.
Chapter 6
Conclusion

18. Bibliography
Primary Sources :
1.Baldwin, James. Go Tell it on the Mountain. New York :
Dial Press, 1953.
2. ___________. Another Country. New York :
Dial Press, 1962.
3.___________. Tell Me How Long The Trains Been Gone.
New York: Dial Press, 1968.
4. ___________. If Beale Street Could Talk. New York :
Dial Press, 1971.

19. Secondary Sources :
1. Barthold, Bonnies. J. Black Time:Fiction of Africa, the Caribbean
the United States. New Haven : Yale University Prsss, 1981.
2. Bernard, Bell. The Afro-American Novel and its Tradtions. Amherst
: University of Massachusetts Press, 1987.
3. Bharat Sergio and Ghosh, Swaronjali. Teaching of Human Rights.
New Delhi : Dominant Publication and
Distributors, 2009.
4. Dhawan, R. K.(ed.) Afro - American Literature. New Delhi :
Prestige Books, 2001.
5. Inge, Duke Bryer.( ed.) Black American Writers. St. Martin's
Press, 1978.
6. Joshi, Madhu. "The Agony of Not Being Heard:Unheard Voices in
Nineteenth Century American Fiction", Marginal Existence : New
Trends in literature. eds. Anits Parihar and Anil Bisht, New Delhi :
Creative Books, 2006.
7. Kanan, Satya. Human Rights : Evolution and Development. New
Delhi : Wisdom Press, 2012.

20. 8. Kwame, Nkrumah. Class Struggle in Africa. New York: International
Publication, 1970.
9. Mishra, Prakash. Human Rights in India. New Delhi : Cyber Tech Pub.,
2012.
10. Ray, Mohit K. "America in the Twentieth Century" From the Melting Pot to
the Mosaic", New Waves in American Literature. eds. A.A.Mutalik - Desai
and T.S. Anand, New Delhi : Creative Books, 1999.
11.Sharma, Asha. Baldwin : Protest and Beyond, A Study of Afro-American
Fiction. New Delhi; Rajat Publications, 2005.
12. Sinha, P.C. India's Human Rights Regime : A Comprehensive
Presentation - Part I & II : New Delhi : Kanishka Pub., 2003.
13.Thomaskutty, P.G. and George. Marry. Human Rights and Values of
Education. New Delhi, Discovery Pub. House, 2009.

21. Journals:
 1. The Commonwealth Review
 2. The Atlantic Literary Review
 3. Journal of Human Rights Practice- Oxford
University.
 4. Journal of Human Rights Practice-
Connecticut University
 5. SUR – International Journal on Human Rights

22. Webliography / Electronic Sources :
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.google.com
 www.googlescholar.com
 www.inflibnet.in
 www.shodhganga.inflibnet.com
 www.shodhgangotri.com
 www.amazon.com
 www.goodreads.com
 www.indianbookworm.com