James Baldwin, one of the most prolific writers of American literature, once began a speech entitled “The Negro Novel” with a greeting, an introduction to his topic (the novel and American writing), and a reflection on how we all hold opinions and ideas about novels, whether we read, write, or do neither.
And then: a long blank space:
“_______________________________________ or the novels.”
The blank space is in his typed draft with handwritten edits, part of the James Baldwin papers acquired by The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 2017. One can assume that Baldwin filled in the space by improvising another word while he spoke or subbing in one of the notes he scripted in the back pages of the speech.
The first page of this speech includes “xxxxxxxxxxx”s between alternate versions of phrases, markings for new word choices, and incomplete thoughts he would have likely gone back to.
These tangible details in Baldwin’s work are revealing, and lead to discoveries and deeper understanding about his process.
“There are these long dashes where some meaningful word should go, but you aren’t sure where he’s going with it next,” said Cheryl Beredo, curator of Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. “The drafts of his writing and his creative output are incredible.”
By the title “The Negro Novel,” one would think Baldwin would start the speech with African-American writers of the time. But he introduces Shakespeare, Chekov, Kerouac, and pages of white authors to the audience first.
“You realize he’s hooking the audience by saying ‘You know about Kerouac and Salinger. I know about them, too. They are practical form’,” said Beredo. “‘The Negro Novel’ speech isn’t only about Baldwin’s experience writing as a black man in the 20th century. He is explaining to us how to understand American writing.”
Baldwin explains the responsibility of writers to establish their own identity and expose the way the world around them reacts to that identity. This case is even stronger for Black American writers as their storytelling as Black people document divides in America.
“This is not just a relic,” said Beredo. “The concept he is describing is relevant today. This speech is bits and pieces of a lot of things, but is worth reading in its entirety.”
Details about Baldwin’s own experiences and writing methods are found in the tangible features of his life. This speech is not dated, but Baldwin says he is 36 years old, so it is likely from 1960. It is suggested he is talking to younger people as he says he “expects a great deal from this generation.”
Beredo recalls how discoveries in details like these create the perspective we hold about Baldwin. Her favorite details are his global correspondence with writers and even in the minutia in his drafts: “In the Schomburg [Center] I love to show people how you can see Baldwin’s transitioning from writing on scraps of paper in his youth to filling quality European notebooks and typewritten pages in his later years.”
In “The Negro Novel” speech, readers can see how Baldwin scaffolds his argument and even saves some ideas for later. In some places, there are words he decides not to use, tangents tied to other arguments, and even a few corrected typos. Most importantly, it gives us a perspective of the power of novelists, told by one of the greatest American writers of all time:
“[The novel] is one of the most valuable forms that we have yet evolved for recording and for interpreting human experience, and one might almost say, to make the human experience bearable.”
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