Since the publication of the first black protest novels Native Son (1940) and Black Boy (1945) by Richard Wright, a world of researchers and critics got interested in them. While some condemn this protest novel genre as stereotypical and debasing Blacks, others simply argue that Wright did not achieve anything artistically extraordinary since he only reproduced already existing white protest writing style. Reverting to Jacques Derrida’s philosophical-literary concept of différance, the current study rather argues that even though Wright got inspiration from white protest tradition, his protest work of art remains an authentic hybrid work which stems from both White’s and Black’s cultural influences on him.

Richard Wright; protest novel; stylistic hybridity