On Compiling a Selective Bibliography of “The White Negro”
Keywords:
The White Negro, bibliography, the hipster, critical reception, race, James BaldwinAbstract
2017 marked the sixty-year anniversary of the publication of Norman Mailer’s essay “The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster,” announcing the emergence of his new existential hero, the “philosophical psychopath,” a Nietzschean ubermensch who re-evaluated all traditional American values to create his own system. Widely read and cited since the time of its initial publication in Dissent, “The White Negro” continues to assert its relevance and to antagonize its detractors. This analysis identifies particularly relevant bibliographic references for Mailer’s seminal work.