Department of English
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Browsing Department of English by Subject "African American studies"
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Item African American Vernacular English: affirming spaces for linguistic identity within the composition classroom(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Golar, Regina Latonya; Niiler, Lucas P.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThis dissertation, "African American Vernacular English: Affirming Spaces for Linguistic Identity within the Composition Classroom," presents the findings of an IRB-approved case study on African American female identity within the first-year composition classroom. The goals of my research are to interrogate the privilege awarded to Standard American English, advocate equality among all cultural dialects, and affirm pedagogical spaces for students' linguistic identities. My research addresses the links between African American females' language and identity. The first portion of the case study involves the students' academic identities. Based on the results of the study, I argue that in order to succeed within academia, African American female students must overcome a silencing of the African American voice as well as their personal insecurities involving language. The second portion of the study involves the students' societal identities. I argue that incorporating new waves of technology that reflect students' interests provides students an outlet to explore facets of their identity that fall outside the scope of academic discourse. Within my research, I demonstrate concrete ways to apply the Conference on College Composition and Communication's position statement Student's Right to Their Own Language. I examine the gaps that exist between certain professional organizations' policy statements and the actual pedagogical practices of the members of these professional organizations. In so doing, I seek to challenge other English professionals to uphold the position statements of our professional organizations. The foundational argument of this dissertation is that language and identity are tied inextricably together; therefore, any professional policies or pedagogical practices that seek to negate students' cultural languages should be reexamined.Item Black feminist utopianism and Gloria Naylor's Mama Day(University of Alabama Libraries, 2021) Patel, Megha D.; Manora, Yolanda; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThe feminist utopia was a prominent literary genre for women writers throughout the 1900s. Otherworldly separatist societies in novels such as Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Female Man (1975) by Joanna Russ featured speculative elements to present feminist issues to readers and advocate for a space created by and for women. But often lacking from popular depictions of feminist utopianism is the inclusion or even the presence of Black women’s voices and perspectives. Many of the most integral texts of the “feminist utopian” genre are largely white-centered and feature white women’s voices at the forefront. The questions then arise: where do Black women and their voices enter in? Is there such a thing as a Black feminist utopia? I posit that Black feminist utopian literature does exist, but that it often does not align with the same set of standards that a non-Black feminist utopia, as it was popularly conceived by 20th century white women writers, would adhere to. This project seeks to locate and articulate possible features of Black feminist utopianism that may then allow such fictions to be ‘read’ as utopian. Some of these characteristics may include connections to African folk traditions, a focus on the lived experiences of Black women and their communities, and a home place that is created against systemic oppression. Through a Black feminist theoretical approach, I will illustrate how possible Black feminist utopias exist in many spaces and places, with Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day as an exemplary text. Through the figure of Sapphira Wade, who is mother, goddess, and creator of the utopia, and through her descendants, nuanced portrayals of traditions such as conjure take prominence. And the island itself is a liminal home for a community that challenges Western paradigms, in a space that is built and owned by its people. In her depiction of the island of Willow Springs and the women of the Day family, Naylor presents us with one version of a Black feminist utopia, and in particular, one that endures through its centering of Black women’s intersectional experiences.Item Black women as monuments in Nella Larsen's Quicksand(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Barksdale, Nadia Ashae; Manora, Yolanda M.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaGiven examples such as the Statue of Liberty and various Civil War monuments to the Confederate “Lost Cause,” it is clear that many monuments rooted in the American landscape take the form of the female body. I propose that this public prevalence translates into a rootedness in the American consciousness as well. With monuments, we honor the past and attempt to make permanent the ideologies that fit with and bolster our collective memory. This collective memory is, of course, a testament to the greater hegemonic forces that structure societies. Thus, marginalized bodies are often not inscribed within this narrative. Women’s bodies, however, are used to convey these hegemonic, masculine-centered ideologies in the form of monuments. Because this phenomenon is so present in the American (sub)conscious, I argue that such consciousness bleeds into the literary realm. This thesis attempts to make sense of the process of monumentalization and its deleterious effects on women, who, because they resemble such monuments, are subject to this process. As men construct physical monuments on the landscape in order to bolster their own masculine-centered power structures and ideologies, so do they attempt to construct femininity in such a way that achieves the same effect in every day life. I use Nella Larsen’s 1928 novel Quicksand as an example of how men and masculine-centered forces attempt and, ultimately fail, to monumentalize living women, specifically women of color, who face a unique set of constraints on their sexuality and identity within society. With Helga Crane as an example of a woman who undergoes attempted monumentalization in several different environments and by several different men or male-centered societal forces, I examine the deleterious effects that monumentalization has on the woman’s ability to self-fashion her own identity.Item Hybrid aesthetics: ambivalence, blues, and spirituals in African American novels(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Jones, Donnie; Manora, Yolanda M.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThis dissertation, "Hybrid Aesthetics: Ambivalence, Blues, and Spirituals in African American Novels," examines the use of music in novels and its effect upon the lives of miscegenous and/or hybrid characters. The goals of my research are to theorize and understand hybrid music, interrogate psychic trauma, and explore the ambivalence of miscegenous and/or hybrid characters. This work explores the concepts of ambivalence, which is borne in hybrid and/or miscegenous characters and blues in four African American novels. The protagonists in the texts embody an ambivalence which is akin to Du Boisian double-consciousness which forces African Americans to view themselves through the eyes of others or as the world sees them. In other words, ambivalence is an intensified form of double consciousness because the protagonists are not just African and American, but they are part Anglo-American. I argue that the ambivalence of the protagonists hinders their development and move towards acceptance of their racial and sexual identity. Within in research, I demonstrate ways in which blues can be read as a metaphor for trauma and identity issues. I seek to provide a new approach to the use of music in novels. The foundational argument of my dissertation is that the ambivalence of miscegenous and/or hybrid characters is linked to the blues.Item Revising the concept of black female sexuality in American literature(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Randle, Kemeshia Laquita; Manora, Yolanda M.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaI evaluate the literary and historical discourses that have circumscribed black female sexualities (from 16th century English accounts with black African women to contemporary popular culture images) and contribute to three active and interesting critical discussions: the entrance and acceptance of sex in black literature, the current role of popular culture in the academy, and the evolution of black feminism. I predicate that ignoring or diminishing black female sexualities in academic discussions on account of societal perceptions forces one to ignore characters that, like The Color Purple (1982) and Push (1996) protagonists, negatively experience sex and are deficient of understanding for lack of critical conversation. Second, my project offers an intergenerational and inter-media approach to utilizing popular fiction and culture in the literary classroom. Finally, it provides what I call maverick feminism as an alternative critical lens for evaluating historical and modern texts. Maverick feminism recognizes the inability of an essential feminist theory to appease all scholars and suggests that inherent in modern black feminism is non-conforming, individualistic thinking that advises one to first fulfill self in order to wholly and attentively assist in the obliteration of racist, sexist, and classist oppression amongst others.Item Setting his house in order: the crisis of paternity in James Baldwin's Giovanni's room(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Wiggins, Meredith Joan; Harris, Trudier; University of Alabama TuscaloosaIn this thesis, I argue that James Baldwin's critically neglected second novel, Giovanni's Room (1956), constitutes a necessary and proper addition to the literature that is recognized more widely as part of the author's personal canon. Perhaps the biggest area of scholarly research on Baldwin's writings is his mapping of paternity, yet critics consistently fail to realize the many ways in which Giovanni's Room contributes to this scholarly discussion. I argue that Baldwin consciously embeds a homoerotic subtext in the character of David's father, suggesting that the character is by no means as purely and uncomplicatedly straight as critics have read him heretofore, and that Giovanni's Room, while necessarily a product of its generally homophobic social moment, serves as a sustained critique of the ideological system that queer theorist Lee Edelman calls reproductive futurism. In this system, parenthood becomes the true marker of an individual's subjectivity and worth, and the figure of The Child (different from actual, individual children) becomes the ultimate symbol of societal value; I suggest that the mental, physical, and emotional crises of the novel's main and supporting characters are caused by their failure to fully participate in this system, which shapes the values of the world in which they live. I further suggest that the many autobiographical resonances present in the novel indicate that Baldwin might have looked on Giovanni's Room as a chance to continue working out in writing his complicated relationship with his late stepfather, David Baldwin, Sr. I contend that throughout the text, Baldwin employs literary strategies designed to call attention to the pronounced role that paternity plays in the novel, suggesting that in at least one key way, Giovanni's Room fits squarely within the traditions that shape Baldwin's canonical work.Item Shunned space theory as a holistic framework for understanding characters and communities in selected writings of Jesmyn Ward, Richard Wright, and William Faulkner(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Cole, Barry Michael; Harris, Trudier; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThis project details how to apply a new framework I term Shunned Space Theory for exploring the literary and cultural accomplishments of marginalized communities. Specifically, I explore the pivotal role of shunned space in selected writings by three Mississippi authors: Jesmyn Ward, Richard Wright, and William Faulkner. By definition, a shunned space consists of land and resources considered unfit or undesirable by the larger, mostly White society, and therefore reserved for marginalized communities. Such venues are subject to periodic invasion by the dominant society, higher crime rates, increased poverty, scarcity, and political exclusion. Nevertheless, shunned spaces are also portals of cultural productivity enacted by residents to stave off both individual and collective fragmentation by creating enduring communities. I argue that Shunned Space Theory offers a comprehensive lens for understanding African American literature by linking individual characters to their communities, the enfolding landscape, and the racialized systems surrounding them. My analysis of shunned spaces spreads across race, gender, and environment. Although Ward and Wright spent much of their childhood in shunned spaces, their interpretation of this experience differs dramatically. On the other hand, Faulkner deploys careful observation and strong empathy in his presentation of shunned space despite living his entire life in a privileged arena.Item Tracing Zora's Janie: reimagining Janie as an archetypal character in 20th and 21st century contemporary literature(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Gholston, Tracey Marcel; Manora, Yolanda M.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaSince the publication of Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937, African American women authors, consciously or subconsciously, have re-imagined Zora Neale Hurston’s Janie Mae Crawford character in various settings with conflicts pertinent to their respective era. Hurston’s Janie is an archetype for African American women characters who are involved in quest fiction. Janie’s primary objective is to experience romantic love and sexual expression. During her quests she combats intense influences in her life that threaten to ruin her dream, influences such as her Nanny’s Victorian principles of respectability and loveless marriages. Despite her struggles, Janie is successful in her quest; therefore, she is a self-actualized character. A guiding question for this project is what becomes of Hurston’s once-self-actualized Janie? I address this question by examining Ann Petry’s The Street (1946), and Sister Souljah’s The Coldest Winter Ever (1999) and A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story (2012). These three texts by African American authors each feature a Black woman protagonist at the helm of the story. I read the main women characters as literary reiterations of Archetypal Janie. Petry’s and Souljah’s texts, which span more than eight decades, and emphasize realistic social, cultural and political issues, can be read as modernized versions of Archetypal Janie’s quest story. This project does the following through literary and cultural analyses: 1) provides background on and justification for the pairing of street literature with canonical texts; 2) establishes a “Self-Actualized Janie” or a “Tragic Janie” as the two particular categories for Black women characters since Hurston’s Janie; 3) analyzes the internal and external factors that contribute to the character’s self-actualization or tragic outcome; and 4) emphasizes the importance of community and ancestral guides to the character’s development and actualization.Item Tragic mercies and other journeys to redemption: defining the Morrisonian tragedy(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Burge, Ashley Nicole; Harris, Trudier; University of Alabama TuscaloosaTragic Mercies and Other Journeys to Redemption: Defining the Morrisonian Tragedy problematizes current portrayals of tragedy and tragic acts in African American literature. Using Toni Morrison’s Beloved as a foundational text, I argue that Morrison executes a literary aesthetic that disrupts traditional constructs of the tragedy that elevate Eurocentric ideologies at the expense of Black identity and subjectivity. This aesthetic challenges the portrayal of the “tragic figure,” positioning it as an inadequate trope that nullifies the complexities associated with the lived reality of Africans/African Americans under repressive systems such as American slavery. Morrison reconfigures tragedy to illuminate a space that she calls the “tragic mode” in which her characters achieve a form of catharsis and revelation. I use Morrison’s signification of tragedy to build a theoretical paradigm that I call the Tragic Mercy which interprets tragedy and tragic acts, such as infanticide in her neo-slave narrative Beloved (1987), as events that symbolize activism against oppressive systems connected to racist capitalist patriarchal ideologies. The Tragic Mercy is the lens through which I define the Morrisonian tragedy, and I articulate it as an act that generates a physical and psychological journey that leads to redemption, catharsis, and reclamation. I connect this journey to several tenets of African American culture and history, which resist one-dimensional constructs of African American identity and subjectivity. For instance, I use several constructs associated with Black Feminism to demonstrate how the act/action/activism of the Tragic Mercy equips characters with agency under oppressive systems that would normally handicap their resolve. I also configure the journey in ways that parallel other cultural expressions that are ingrained in the African American psyche. For example, I liken certain themes to the reclamation of the vernacular tradition. In each instance, I demonstrate how Morrison’s literary aesthetic forces the reader to reassess the signification of tragedy as a means to validate the complexities associated with the African American experience. Further, I use the lens of the Tragic Mercy as a viable construct to interpret other works of African American literature, including Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus (1996) and Fucking A (2001), and Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner (2006). Using these themes, I position Morrison’s literary aesthetic as a narrative strategy that builds on African American literary and cultural traditions while simultaneously subverting detrimental Eurocentric ideologies.