Amiri Baraka and Dissertations

Using the ProQuest One Literature Dissertations & Theses database, I took a look at references to Amiri Baraka / LeRoi Jones across five decades (1964–2026) and found a clear pattern of rising and then slightly tapering scholarly attention.

Here's a look at the tallies by years and decades:

1964 – 1969: 15

1970 – 1979: 171
1980 – 1989: 131
1990 – 1999: 336
2000 – 2009: 625
2010 – 2019: 494
2020 – 2026: 219

As the numbers reveal, interest in Baraka picked up steadily over the decades, reaching a peak during the 2000s. As a poet, essayist, cultural critic, and leading figure of the Black Arts Movement, Baraka was particularly active and visible in public realms during the 1970s. However, the scholarly interest, at least in terms of dissertations and theses, lagged behind that period of public prominence.

Taken together, the 2000s and 2010s constituted the height of interest in Baraka studies. That’s when we see the largest number of entries on him.

Notably, the slight dip in the 2010s, compared to the 2000s, and the seeming decline in the 2020s, suggest a shift rather than a disappearance of interest. It may be that it is difficult for even major literary figures, particularly those who aren't novelists, to remain at high levels of citation over consecutive decades.  

Moving forward, one useful direction would be to chart some of Baraka's co-citations, that is, poets, theorists, and even movements that appear alongside him in dissertations and theses. That kind of mapping could reveal how his work continues to circulate within and across various scholarly networks.

Related:

• A New Notebook on ProQuest Dissertations and Theses