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In Search of a Postcategorical Utopia James Baldwin and The PEKKA KILPELÄINEN In Search of a Postcategorical Utopia James Baldwin and the Politics of “Raceʺ and Sexuality Publications of the University of Eastern Finland Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology 3 University of Eastern Finland Joensuu 2010 Joensuun yliopistopaino Joensuu, 2010 Sarjan vastaava toimittaja: Jopi Nyman Myynti: Itä‐Suomen yliopiston kirjasto ISSN (nid.) 1798‐5625 ISSN‐L 1798‐5625 ISBN (nid.) 978‐952‐61‐0085‐2 Kilpeläinen, Pekka Antero In Search of a Postcategorical Utopia: James Baldwin and the Politics of “Race” and Sexuality Joensuu: Itä‐Suomen yliopisto, 2010, 199 sivua Publications of the University of Eastern Finland. Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology; 3 ISSN (nid.) 1798‐5625 ISSN (PDF) 1798‐5633 ISSN‐L 1798‐5625 ISBN (nid.) 978‐952‐61‐0085‐2 ISBN (PDF) 978‐952‐61‐0086‐9 Diss. ABSTRACT: IN SEARCH OF A POSTCATEGORICAL UTOPIA: JAMES BALDWIN AND THE POLITICS OF “RACE” AND SEXUALITY Despite his prominent role as one of the most important African American authors and social critics, James Baldwin’s literary and intellectual legacy remains curiously overlooked and underappreciated, particularly as far as his later work is concerned. This study emphasizes the urgency of a large thematic impulse which runs throughout his oeuvre, consisting of an endeavour to question and challenge the oppressive effects of the social categorization of human beings, especially in terms of race and sexuality. This thematic undercurrent can be conceptualized as the idea of postcategorical utopia, an impulse towards a world, or a state of being, in which those identity categories would lose their capacity for oppression. This study maps the impulse of postcategorical utopia in three of Baldwin’s novels by making use of Fredric Jameson’s theory of the political unconscious, which is designed to reveal and explicate the political urgency of literary works. The reading proceeds from the rather narrow social scope of community to the level of the antagonistic dialogue between different social groups, and on to the widest perspective of history. Baldwin’s novels manifest the politics of race and sexuality on all of these three levels. Firstly, they map the heteronormative and patriarchal tendencies within the black religious community and, secondly, the issues of interracial and homosexual relationships. Finally, Baldwin’s work assumes a position as both a part and criticism of the black counterculture of Western modernity by taking to task the racist and heteronormative tendencies visible in both of these versions of modernity. The concept of postcategorical utopia provides a way of understanding the underlying logic of Baldwin’s work and helps establish his later work as an integral part of his legacy. Keywords: James Baldwin; African American literature; race; sexuality; ideology; utopia; Fredric Jameson ABSTRAKTI: POSTKATEGORISTA UTOPIAA ETSIMÄSSÄ: JAMES BALDWIN JA ”RODUN” JA SEKSUAALISUUDEN POLITIIKAT James Baldwinia pidetään yleisesti yhtenä merkittävimmistä afrikkalaisamerikkalaisista kirjailijoista ja yhteiskuntakriitikoista. Tästä huolimatta erityisesti hänen myöhäis- tuotantonsa on saanut osakseen hämmästyttävän vähän huomiota. Väitöskirjassa koros- tetaan, että Baldwinin koko tuotantoa lävistää sosiaalisen kategorisoinnin alistavaa voimaa kyseenalaistava tematiikka, mikä tulee esille erityisesti rodun ja seksuaalisuuden kategorioiden kautta. Tutkimuksessa tämä temaattinen jatkumo käsitteellistyy post- kategorisen utopian käsitteen kautta. Se tarkoittaa pyrkimystä kohti maailmaa tai olemisen tapaa, jossa identiteettikategoriat menettävät alistussuhteita tuottavat ja yllä- pitävät voimansa. Postkategorisen utopian impulssia tarkastellaan kolmen Baldwinin romaanin kautta käyttäen hyväksi Fredric Jamesonin poliittisen alitajunnan teoriaa, jonka avulla voidaan paljastaa ja analysoida kirjallisten teosten poliittisia merkityksiä. Luenta etenee yhteiskunnallisessa mielessä suhteellisen kapealta yhteisön tasolta vastakkaisten ryhmittymien tason kautta laajimmalle historian tasolle. Baldwinin romaanit käsittelevät rodun ja seksuaalisuuden problematiikkaa näillä kolmella tasolla. Ne kartoittavat mustan perheen ja yhteisön tasolla ilmenevää patriarkaalisuutta ja heteronormatiivisuutta sekä rotujen välisiä ja homoseksuaalisia ihmissuhteita. Lopulta Baldwinin tuotanto asettuu sekä osaksi länsimaisen moderniteetin mustaa vastakulttuuria että toisaalta sen kritiikiksi haastamalla näissä molemmissa traditioissa ilmeneviä rasistisia ja heteronormatiivisia piirteitä. Postkategorisen utopian käsite auttaa sitomaan Baldwinin moniulotteisen kirjailijantyön yhteen merkitykselliseksi kokonaisuudeksi ja vakiinnuttamaan hänen myöhäistuotantonsa olennaiseksi osaksi hänen kirjallista ja älyllistä perintöään. Asiasanat: James Baldwin; afrikkalaisamerikkalainen kirjallisuus; rotu; seksuaalisuus; ideologia; utopia; Fredric Jameson Acknowledgements It was fifteen years ago that I first encountered James Baldwin. His voice spoke to me through an excerpt contained in a book of literary theory that I had consulted for an example of a particular literary device. I have forgotten which device the excerpt exemplified, but the voice has remained with me ever since. This coincidental encounter initiated a long and complex chain of events, which has led me to walk the chilly, sunlit streets of Harlem, to ascend a hill in Central Park, to stand at a subway station in New York wondering whether the train had already gone, to delve into the archives of Baldwin’s letters and unpublished texts at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, to attend several academic conferences, to linger in the silences of numerous libraries, and to inhabit the spaces of several solitary brainstorms on the campus of the University of Joensuu. It has not always been an easy path to follow, as few paths ever are. Even at the risk of sounding overly pompous, I dare to say that it has been, to quote Baldwin’s words, a process of “quest and daring and growth.” Looking back upon the past fifteen years, I feel deeply indebted to the people who have helped and supported me in numerous ways. First of all, I should like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Jopi Nyman, who has always had the time and the energy to guide me along the way, and who always seems to know the right books and articles to suggest in order to help me find my way out of a theoretical cul‐de‐sac. I also wish to thank Professor Magdalena J. Zaborowska for being one of the pre‐examiners of this dissertation and for agreeing to function as the official examiner. I am also grateful to Professor Pirjo Ahokas for her work as a pre‐examiner and for her valuable remarks and suggestions. Several other people have provided me with help and advice, and I wish to express my gratitude to them: firstly, Dr John A Stotesbury for checking the language of my manuscript and for his assistance throughout the whole process, especially in its early, formative phases. Professor Risto Turunen’s extensive knowledge of literary theory was pivotal in spurring me on to explore the intricacies of the theoretical side of my work. Professor Mikko Tuhkanen’s insight into Baldwin, African American literature and culture, and their larger theoretical contexts has provided me with numerous flashes of inspiration without which the analytical chapters of this thesis would not have reached their present level of sophistication. Discussions with Dr Matti Savolainen have also sparked various significant ideas and adjustments, particularly in the final stages of the writing process. The Finnish Graduate School for North and Latin American Studies and its teachers and members have provided me with support in terms of guidance, comradeship, and finance, for which I am deeply grateful. As far as my fellow researchers are concerned, I want to thank Hanna Reinikainen and Lea Tajakka for the encouragement and the hours that we have spent reading and commenting on each other’s work. My deepest gratitude goes out to all of these people and numerous others, colleagues and friends alike, with whom I have had the pleasure and privilege to discuss my work, and who have in one way or another made my path easier to follow. Without proper funding, it would have been impossible for me to devote myself fully to this process, and in this respect I am grateful to the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Joensuu. Finally, having now constructed one of the significant towers of strength for my life and work, my heartfelt gratitude goes out to my family for their unconditional and unwavering love, support, and encouragement on levels too numerous to name. Taija, my love, my soulmate, and my partner in everything: there is no mountain that we cannot climb together. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. Pekka Kilpeläinen, Joensuu, 30 March 2010 Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. ix Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. ix 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Aims and Structure .............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 James Baldwin, the Texts, and Earlier Research .............................................................
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