Kamali, Sima Jamal.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details The Caged Bird Sings On: The Political Voice of Maya Angelou's Autobiographical Oeuvre Sima Jalal Kamali A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex School of History, Art History and Philosophy American Studies Department May 2018 ii I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another university for the award of any other degree (This excludes the submission of this thesis prior to revisions for the purpose of the same degree). Signature: ………………………………… iii Acknowledgements I would like to take the opportunity to thank the people and organizations that helped and guided me during the writing of this project. This project would have not been possible without the guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Maria Lauret. Our discussions and talks helped me to grow as a researcher. My gratitude goes to my academic writing tutor, Rachel Cole, who always made me feel welcome and helped me find my voice in my writing. The support of Dr. Pam Thurschwell was significant to my research and in helping me finish this project. I appreciate the help of the Sussex University Library and their staff for always providing me with the latest requests in my field of research. I would also like to thank Dr. Sue Currell for all her support not only during her time as the chair of the British Association for American Studies, but also in the American Studies Center of the University of Sussex. This research benefited from my visit to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where Maya Angelou's papers are kept. During my visit in the summer of 2015, I appreciate the support of the curator, Steven Fullwood, who helped me to access the materials I needed in the short amount of time I was there. Words cannot express my appreciation for the love and support of my family, especially during this period of my life. I would like to thank my parents for their love and their constant encouragement, which allowed me to follow my dreams; my brother, Siavosh for always being supportive and understanding; and my sister, Shima for inspiring me, patiently standing by my side and giving me the hope and courage to strive towards achieving and completing my goals. This research is the result of all their loving presence in my life. Lastly, this thesis was inspired by Maya Angelou's devotion to art and activism. She passed away while my research was still in progress, but her words motivated me to continue on my path. iv Summary While Maya Angelou has been recognized as a feminist icon and a successful author, publishing more than thirty books and winning numerous awards, the aim of this research is to bring attention to her role as a writer/activist. This thesis analyses her six- volume serial autobiography, which was written over 33 years, and traces the development of Angelou's activism through her life writing. In so doing, this project argues that the success of the first volume, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has obscured the integrity of the series, which consists in the use of Angelou's political voice that has not been recognised before. This research places Angelou in the African American political autobiography tradition, which combines life writing with consciousness raising from the slave narratives onwards. Following the conceptualisation of Patricia Hill Collins, this research theorises Angelou's political voice as a mode of intellectual activism. Adopting an American Studies approach, it shows how Angelou's self-representation as a black artist seeks to intervene in the social and political context of its writing and demonstrates how her life writing is in turn shaped by African American history and activism. While she is known as a pioneer of black feminism, this research, building on recent scholarship in intersectionality, argues that Angelou's work not only addresses the intersection of race and gender, but also class through what Patricia Hill Collins calls the "matrix of domination". Angelou started her writing career with the Black Arts movement, and this thesis traces the influence of this movement beyond the Black Arts era and shows how the debate of art versus propaganda continued to inform her autobiographical work. Since one of the movement's main principles was "art for people's sake", this thesis reads Angelou's life writing through differentiating the narrating "I" from the narrated "I", in which the former functions didactically as a vehicle for Angelou's political consciousness raising of a younger generation. v Contents Introduction – Still Maya Angelou Rises: A Writer's Activism ........ 1 Becoming an Autobiographer ...................................................................... 3 Serial Autobiography: An Act of Activism ................................................. 9 Reading the Autobiographies as a Series .................................................. 15 Outline of the Chapters .............................................................................. 19 Chapter One – Theorizing Maya Angelou's Political Voice ............ 23 Black Life Writing as Activism .................................................................. 26 Black Women and the Black Arts Movement .......................................... 35 Black Feminism and Intersectionality ...................................................... 41 Chapter Two: The Voices of Protest in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name ...... ................... 49 The Demise of the Civil Rights Movement and the Start of the Black Power Movement ........................................................................................ 50 Slave Narratives: The Tradition of Resistance ........................................ 53 Narratives of Resistance in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name .................................................................................. 59 First Stage: Passive/Nonviolent Resistance .............................................. 63 Second Stage: Transitional Resistance ...................................................... 67 Final Stage: Active/Violent Resistance ...................................................... 76 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 81 vi Chapter Three: The Transition from Artist to Activist in Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas and The Heart of a Woman ................................................................................ 83 End of an Era: After the Black Arts Movement ...................................... 84 Art or Propaganda: That is the Question ................................................. 86 Art for People's Sake in Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas and The Heart of a Woman ....................................................... 89 First Stage: The Creation of the Artistic Name ....................................... 93 Second Stage: The Harlem Writers Guild ................................................ 97 Third Stage: Cabaret for Freedom ........................................................... 102 Fourth Stage: Jean Genet's The Blacks .................................................. 108 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 116 Chapter Four: "What is Africa to me? What is America to me?" in All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes .............. 118 The Rise of Black Nationalism ................................................................. 119 In Search of Home in All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes .......... 126 Africa: A Dream or a Nightmare ............................................................ 130 The March on Washington in Accra ....................................................... 141 Malcolm X's Visit to Ghana ..................................................................... 154 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 160 vii Chapter Five: "Burn, Baby, Burn" in A Song Flung up to Heaven ...................................................................................... 162 Post-Racial America: A Reality or a Dream? ........................................ 163 The Art of Protest in A Song Flung up to Heaven .................................. 168 The Loss of the Leaders of the Civil Rights Era .................................... 172 Rebellion or Revolution: The Watts Uprising ........................................ 185 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 202 Conclusion: "A Brave and Startling Truth": The Legacy and New Ventures of Angelou's Intellectual Activism ........................ 204 Works Cited ......................................................................................