The “Already Implicit” Canon

Data from Anthologies of African American Literature

Presentation

Co-authored with J. D. Porter and Arthur Knight.

This essay extends previous work on American literature anthologiesErik Fredner and J. D. Porter, “Counting on The Norton Anthology of American Literature,” PMLA 139, no. 1 (2024): 50–65, https://doi.org/10.1632/S0030812923001189.

to historical anthologies of African American Literature in collaboration with the William & Mary Anthologies-Canons Lab.

Using new data describing the authors and works selected for 25 comprehensive African American literature anthologies from CalvertonV. F. Calverton, ed., An Anthology of American Negro Literature (The Modern library, 1929).

to the newest Norton,Henry Louis Gates, Valerie Smith, William L. Andrews, et al., eds., The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Fourth edition (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2025).

we demonstrate how prior selection of authors and works for comprehensive African American literature anthologies predict future selections.