The Colgate Bookstore held a book signing on Nov. 14 to promote Professor Phillip M. Richards’ newest work “The Ideological Origins of African American Literature.” I was lucky to have a quiet, extended conversation with the scholar whose book aims to reshape how African American literature is understood in classrooms, syllabi and the broader study of American letters.
Richards’ project is historical and conceptual, reconstructing the forces that shaped Black writing from the 18th century through the early 20th century. Rather than focusing solely on themes of resistance or representation, Richards examines the philosophical and religious ideas that structured early Black literary expression.
At the heart of the book, Richards argues that African American literature emerged not in isolation but through complex and deliberate engagements with the same ideological movements that shaped white American writing, such as Puritanism, Romanticism and Modernism. Importantly, the counterparts to early white American legends engaged in these movements in a unique way, creating this distinct literary culture that is grounded in religious interpretation and notions of modernity.
This argument unfolds across what Richards identifies as a particularly creative 125-year period beginning in the mid-18th century. Early African American writers were responding to the racist American culture by transforming elements of Puritan-Protestant ideology to articulate a spiritual and a secular vision centered on Black humanity.
Richards describes a long, uneven transition in which Black literary thought gradually moved away from its earlier religious frameworks. As social conditions changed across the 19th century, including the growth of a Black middle class and shifting cultural pressures, writers reinterpreted older traditions and developed new intellectual priorities. These transformations, Richards argues, reshaped the foundations of African American literary expression and opened the way for new aesthetic and ideological approaches.
“It’s an extension of the previous books I’ve written,” Richards said.
He considers himself a bibliophile immersed in the archives and intellectual landscapes that ground the project. His writing process was a refinement of African American literature in an attempt to understand how African American authors positioned themselves within and against the dominant ideological structures of their time.
When the conversation turned to how historical inquiry functions in the classroom, Richards resisted the idea that contemporary discourse exists in isolation.
“The public sphere very much exists even if we don’t think it does,” Richards said.
He made sure to note that public debate continues to draw on older ideological tensions. For that reason, he cautions against viewing history as a series of isolated moments.
While truly diachronic conversations – those that span long stretches of historical time – may not always unfold directly in college classrooms, Richards insisted that studying early Black literature allows students to participate in a much larger intellectual exchange.
Still, he suggested that by having those discussions, students are contributing to an ongoing public debate that has never disappeared, even if its presence is less visible today.
For Richards, understanding ideological origins requires situating writers in their historical conversations, not isolating them from the intellectual currents they navigated. When asked about the role of religion in contemporary literature, Richards argued that the values of religion have remained even since secularism moved into the mainstream.
“Liberal religion is still religion even if it’s different,” Richards said. “Many conservatives would have you think that tradition has disappeared, but I’d argue it has been reshaped and many of those same values are there.”
This perspective reinforces that African American literary development cannot be understood without tracing how writers engaged in, adapted and sometimes secularized religious thought.
Richards also reflected on his decades of teaching at Colgate, particularly in early Black literature. His approach focused on placing diverse voices before students and encouraging them to read widely across periods and traditions. Richards emphasized that students have access to the resources and intellectual communities necessary to engage deeply with African American literary history.
When asked how he engages his students, Richards explained that having Black literature in the syllabus and challenging students to read diverse writers were essential elements of his pedagogy.
“Colgate [University] is one of the best places to be academically,” Richards said. “There are many ways students can learn here.”
“The Ideological Origins of African American Literature” offers a compelling invitation to reconsider how this history is taught and studied. For students interested in literature, history, religion or cultural theory, Richards’ work opens pathways that extend far beyond any single course. It traces the evolution of ideas, the transformation of traditions and the creative force that shaped a literary heritage integral to understanding America.
