Sonny's Blues

E346531

"Sonny's Blues" is a widely acclaimed short story by James Baldwin that explores themes of suffering, family, and redemption through the relationship between two brothers in Harlem and the transformative power of jazz.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sonny's Blues canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf short story
author James Baldwin
centralTheme addiction
brotherhood
family
racism
redemption
suffering
suffering and salvation through music
the power of art
the search for identity
characterStruggle Sonny's heroin addiction
collectionType short story collection
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticalReception widely acclaimed
explores communication and misunderstanding
family responsibility
redemptive potential of art
urban African-American experience
firstPublishedIn Partisan Review
focusesOn relationship between two brothers
transformative power of jazz
frequentlyAnthologized true
genre literary fiction
short fiction
hasAdaptation musical adaptations
stage adaptations
includedIn Going to Meet the Man
language English
literaryMovement African-American literature
postwar American literature
mainCharacter Sonny
the unnamed narrator
medium prose
motif darkness and light
imprisonment
music
narrativePointOfView first-person
narratorRelationToSonny older brother
originalPublicationYear 1957
protagonistOccupation high school algebra teacher
settingCity New York City
settingCountry United States of America
surface form: United States
settingLocation Harlem
taughtIn African-American studies courses
American literature courses
creative writing courses
timePeriod mid-20th century

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Going to Meet the Man containsWork Sonny's Blues
Going to Meet the Man notableStory Sonny's Blues