Traveling Discourses: Subjectivity, Space and Spirituality in Black Women’S Speculative Fictions in the Americas
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TRAVELING DISCOURSES: SUBJECTIVITY, SPACE AND SPIRITUALITY IN BLACK WOMEN’S SPECULATIVE FICTIONS IN THE AMERICAS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Esther L. Jones, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee: Approved By: Professor Valerie Lee, Adviser _______________________ Professor John Roberts Adviser Professor Rebecca Wanzo Graduate Program in English ABSTRACT The diverse arenas of African American literary criticism, speculative fiction, and academia in general have historically operated to marginalize, respectively, the critical contributions, artistic works, and theoretical engagement of black women. If as historian Robin Kelley asserts, "the marginal and excluded have done the most to make democracy work in America," then I extend that claim to suggest that marginality, particularly when rearticulated as a position of liminality, offers powerful critical perspective on contemporary and historical issues. Ultimately, it imagines different possibilities for the future of not only oppressed people, but for all people. In response to this tradition of marginalization, I extend critical race theorist Kimberle Crenshaw's notion of intersectionality to develop an interpretive frame that I term multiply liminal discourse. Multiply liminal discourse engages various so-called marginal aspects of social/political positioning. It allows the simultaneous analysis of converging aspects of identity as each one informs the other and posits this interplay as a liminal, rather than marginal, position of power from which important socio-cultural critique might be made and radical visions of the future imagined. This project employs multiply liminal discourse through the multiple marginal- cum-liminal positionings of black female subjectivity, black Diasporic space, and African spiritual epistemologies through the academically marginalized/liminal medium of speculative fiction. By examining various black women writers of speculative fictions ii from various parts of the Americas—Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States—I establish the shared position of black female liminality and African epistemological frames of reference while remaining attendant to the particulars of difference generated by varied historical developments in African diasporic spaces. The examinations of the works within this text, utilizing multiply liminal discourse as an interpretive methodology, reveal the potential for enactment of "strategic essentialism" toward an integrated theoretical and practical liberatory discourse and politics. This occurs within the texts through reclaiming agency for black womanhood and black romantic relationships in Aline França's A Mulher de Aleduma; embracing black heritage particularly through one of the most demonized cultural legacies, African spirituality, in Erna Brodber's Louisiana and Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring; and the expansive and inclusive vision of liberation ideology that embraces difference and change through Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. This manuscript concludes by discussing the integration of ideology and activism through multiply liminal discourse and the ways in which speculative fiction enables that integration. iii To my family iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This task could not have been accomplished without the help of many friends and associates. It is probably impossible to name all of the people who have had a hand in making this work possible, but to the extent possible, I would like to express my appreciate to some key persons. To Ms. Aline França, for allowing me the time and opportunity to interview her. To Mrs. Sonia Abreu, librarian, and Professor Florentina Silva da Souza of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, for access to and general direction given in the research on the Brazilian chapter; to Mark Fuo and Anne Sobotta for sharing important documents and materials on black Brazilian literature and culture; to the director, Clara Ramos and staff at ACBEU for their assistance with connecting with the important key people above; and to Vanessa and Daniela for assistance with making my transition to living in Brazil a little bit easier. To the Philanthropic Education Organization for awarding the funds that enabled my research abroad during this final year of writing; also to Dr. Mac Stewart and The Ohio State University's Office of Minority Affairs for funds in support of my time abroad. To my mentors and professors for inspiration and continuous support: Dr. Raymond Winbush, Dr. Frank Hale, Jr., Dr. Valerie Lee, Dr. John Roberts, Dr. Rebecca Wanzo, Dr. Beverly Moss, and Dr. Jacqueline Jones Royster. I would like to extend a special thanks to Tiffani Clyburn, for generously allowing me to sporadically use her home as my home base during the times that I was in and out of the country; and to Jelani Favors, who, always offered an open house and cupboard in addition to friendly competition as impetus to complete the task. To Kalenda Eaton Donald, I thank you for always helping me maintain perspective. To my parents and family, who have always remained optimistic and supportive in every way that they can. And I especially want to thank God for blessing me with the ability and the opportunity. v VITA August 3, 1976……………………………………Born – Lexington, KY 1998……………………………………………… B.A. English & Music, Fisk University 2001……………………………………………….M.A. African American & African Studies, The Ohio State University 2006-Present...........................................................Presidential Fellow, The Ohio State University 2005........................................................................P.E.O. Scholar and FLAS Fellow, The Ohio State University 2000-2005...............................................................Graduate Administrative Assistant The President & Provost's Diversity Lecture Series The Ohio State University 2003-2005...............................................................Graduate Administrative Assistant The Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing The Ohio State University 2001-2003...............................................................Graduate Teaching Assistant The Department of English, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS 1. “Historical Fiction,” The Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005. 2. "Linda Beatrice Brown," The Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005. 3.“Grace F. Edwards,” The Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005. vi 4.“Sandra Jackson-Opoku,” The Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005. 5. “Phyllis Alesia Perry,” The Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2005. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: English Focus Areas: African American Literatures, Black Diaspora Literature, Black Feminisms, Speculative Fiction vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract...................................................................................................................... … ii Dedication....................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................ v Vita................................................................................................................................... vi Chapters: 1. Always Already Alien: The Case of Black Women Writing Speculative Fictions.... 1 Black Literature and the Problem of Genre........................................................ 6 Multiply Liminal Discourse as an Interpretive Framework................................ 11 When Lions Write History: Multiply Liminal Discourse Applied .................... 19 The Basis for Cross-Cultural Comparison of Speculative Fiction ..................... 25 2. To Serve Two Gods: Science and Mythology in the Construction of Indigenous History in Aline França’s A Mulher de Aleduma................................................ 38 Race, Class, Literature: Social, Historical and Cultural Constraints and the Virtual Absence of African Brazilian Fiction .................................................... 39 The Formation of African Brazilian Literature ................................................. 44 To Be a Black Female Brazilian Science Fiction Writer: An Emblematic Experience in Multiple Liminality...................................................................... 53 Reclaiming Black Womanhood.............................................................. 60 The Spiritual Leadership of Black Women................................ 61 Sexual and Spiritual Integration.................................................. 64 Mother Love............................................................................... 69 Hybrid African Spiritual Epistemology.............................................................. 73 Quilombagem: The Construction of African-Brazilian Diasporic Space........... 80 Indigenous History as Hybrid Mytho-Scientific Genre....................................... 83 3. "The Spirit of Breaking the Rules:" Technology, Spirituality, and Genre Subversion in Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring and Erna Brodber's Louisiana………………. 87 viii Fractal Patterns: Nationhood, Exile, and Subject Formation in and beyond the Caribbean.........................................................................................................