The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020
Amherst College University of California Claremont Colleges Consortium Philander Smith College Barnard College at Berkeley Claremont McKenna College Rust College Bowdoin College University of California Pitzer College Saint Augustine’s College Brooklyn College (CUNY) at Los Angeles Pomona College Shaw University Brown University University of California Scripps College Spelman College Bryn Mawr College at Riverside Stillman College California Institute of Technology University of Cape Town United Negro College Fund Participants Talladega College Carleton College University of Chicago Allen University Texas College City College of New York (CUNY) University of New Mexico Benedict College Tougaloo College Columbia University University of Pennsylvania Bennett College Tuskegee University Connecticut College University of Puerto Rico Bethune-Cookman University Virginia Union University Cornell University University of Southern California Claflin University Voorhees College Dartmouth College University of Texas at Austin Clark Atlanta University Wilberforce University Duke University University of the Western Cape Dillard University Wiley College Emory University University of the Witwatersrand Edward Waters College Xavier University Grinnell College Washington University in St. Louis Fisk University Harvard University Wellesley College Florida Memorial University Haverford College Wesleyan University Hampton University Heritage University Whitter College Huston-Tillotson University Howard University Williams College Interdenominational Theological Center Hunter College (CUNY) Yale University Jarvis Christian College Macalester College Johnson C. Smith University Northwestern University California State University Consortium Lane College Oberlin College California State University LeMoyne-Owen College Princeton University at Dominguez Hills (Carson, CA) Livingstone College Queens College (CUNY) California State University Miles College Rice University at Fullerton (Fullerton, CA) Morehouse College Smith College California State University Morris College Stanford University at Long Beach (Long Beach, CA) Oakwood College Swarthmore College California State University Paine College at Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) Paul Quinn College California State University at San Bernardino (San Bernardino, CA) Through subtle shades of color, the cover design represents the layers of richness and diversity that flourish within minority communities. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 A collection of scholarly research by fellows of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program
Preface
It has been my sincere honor and pleasure to work with the talented authors of the 2020 edition of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Journal for the first time as Editor-in-Chief. The goal of the MMUF program is to directly address one aspect of inequity within higher education by taking deliberate measures to increase diversity within the faculty of colleges and universities writ large. Since 1988, the MMUF has supported over 5000 undergrad- uate students from marginalized backgrounds with research funding, professional development, and the opportunity to work closely with a faculty mentor, among other experiences, to best prepare Fellows to enter a PhD program in the humanities or social sciences in the near future. For the past 25 years, as a branch of the MMUF program, the MMUF Journal has served to provide Fellows with an avenue to publish their original research. Going through the academic publication process— from submitting an article, to revising one’s work through the peer review process, to ultimately preparing and polishing a piece for publication— is a crucial step in the life of a budding scholar. Our hope is that through this experience, our authors feel empowered to continue to publish their work as they progress in their respective academic careers.
The 2020 Journal features contributions by 30 authors from 24 colleges and universities that are part of the MMUF’s member institutions. These articles often started as seminar papers or adapted chapters of senior theses and exemplify the breadth and depth of the humanities and social sciences, particularly emphasizing the interdisciplinary work that we find in so many fields today.
Though the Journal is open to scholarly work from all time periods and disciplines, we received a noteworthy amount of submissions this year deconstructing and critiquing issues of the present day. The papers presented here thought- fully and powerfully analyze and reflect on many issues of (in)equity and inclusion within contemporary society from several different perspectives and points in time. In the 2020 Journal, several authors bring buried voices and experiences of marginalized groups to life, including overlooked women in history, contemporary college students of color, and black girls in education. Others explore social activism through the arts. Yet another group interrogates the immigrant experience and the political barriers that prevent some from not only U.S. citizenship, but also safety and security within their own homes. Persistent investigation into topics such as these will remain timely, relevant, and crucial to empower desperately needed change in the U.S. for many years to come. The voices of our authors will continue to be strong and powerful through the words and ideas captured on the pages of this Journal even after they have moved on from their tenure as an MMUF Fellow.
It has been a privilege to work alongside these promising scholars as they prepared their work for publication. I am in awe of their bravery and tenacity to take on through their work such important topics that are all too crucially relevant to issues of equity, access, social justice, and racism within the United States— and the world— today.
We are excited and proud to share their work with you!
Elizabeth Perten, PhD MMUF Journal Editor-in-Chief Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Harvard University Editorial Board
Gregory A. Llacer MMUF Journal Editorial Board Chair Director, Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Harvard University
Liza Cariaga-Lo MMUF Journal Editorial Board President and Founder The LCLO Group (A Higher Education and Workforce Development Consulting Firm)
Medeva Ghee MMUF Journal Editorial Board Executive Director, The Leadership Alliance Associate Professor of the Practice of Behavioral and Social Sciences Brown University
Norm Jones MMUF Journal Editorial Board Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Amherst College
Cammi Valdez MMUF Journal Editorial Board Assistant Professor Chemistry Northeastern State University
Krishna Winston MMUF Journal Editorial Board Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, Emerita Professor of Environmental Studies, Emerita Wesleyan University
Journal Administration
Elizabeth Perten Assistant Director, Research and Fellowships Harvard University
MMUF Program / Mellon Foundation
Armando Bengochea Senior Program Officer and Director of MMUF The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Renee Johnson-Thornton Senior Program Associate and Associate Director of MMUF The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020
Table of Contents
3 57 Jasmine A. Abang, California State University, Dominguez Hills Nestor Amador Guerrero, University of California, Los Angeles Malintzin: The Buried Voice of the Spanish Conquest Listening to Records of Resistance: A Methodology for Remembering Advisor/Mentor(s): Doris Namala the Legacies of Latinx DJs in Los Angeles Advisor/Mentor(s): Genevieve Carpio, Joshua J. Guzman 8 Joshua Acosta, California State University, Long Beach 62 Visible from the Veil: Subalternity as Agency in the Life of Mother Ignacia Nya K. Hardaway, Washington University in St. Louis del Espíritu Santo, 1660–1750 Anger as a Useful Tool: An Analysis of Black Girls’ Resistant Anger in Advisor/Mentor(s): Guotong Li a St. Louis Public Charter School Advisor/Mentor(s): Sheretta Butler-Barnes, Jonathan Fenderson, Lerone 13 Martin Chioma Anomnachi, Swarthmore College Not One Minute More: Queer Temporality, Streaming, and Black Mirror 68 as Forms of Disruption to the Temporal Scarcity of the Traditional Kimiko Hirota, Stanford University TV Industry Ending Detention: A Radical Policy Recommendation from Immigration Advisor/Mentor(s): Rachel Buurma Services at the U.S.–Mexico Border in Times of ‘Crisis’ Advisor/Mentor(s): Clayborne Carson, Michael Rosenfeld 18 Jorge M. Banuelos, Jr., Carleton College 74 “Become Black with God!”: A Black Theological Response to Sinazo Magadlela, University of the Witwatersrand Afro-Pessimism How the Women in the Black Review Found a Way to Stand in the Sun Advisor/Mentor(s): Lori Pearson Advisor/Mentor(s): Thokozani Chilenga-Butao, Siphiwe Dube
23 81 Ivanna Berríos, University of Pennsylvania Ben Maldonado, Stanford University Anger and Territory: Revolutionary Politics and Non-Figurative Metaphors “Love or Eugenics?”: Marital Bliss in the Eugenic Union in the Poetry of Chrystos Advisor/Mentor(s): Jennifer Burns, Estelle Freedman Advisor/Mentor(s): Ricardo Bracho, Jennifer Ponce de León 87 28 Christoph’ McFadden, Claflin University Libby Carr, University of Texas at Austin Shirley Caesar, DJ Suede, “You Name It!”: Evaluating the Challenges of Dancing Together Apart: Comobility and Performance in Quarantine Song Sampling Advisor/Mentor(s): Aris Clemons, Lisa Moore, Jacqueline Toribio Advisor/Mentor(s): Heather Buffington-Anderson
33 92 Meklit Daniel, Williams College Rachel Medel, University of California, Los Angeles Beyond Physical Limitations of Kin: How Chronically Ill Ethiopian Food Insecurity at a Large, Public University: A Closer Look at Residential Immigrant Women Utilize Social Media to Contend with the Disruptive Meal Plans and Race Effects of Migration Advisor/Mentor(s): Leisy Abrego, Charlene Villaseñor Black Advisor/Mentor(s): Lisa Koryushkina 97 33 Alexis M. Paulin-Edwards, Hunter College, CUNY Paola Del Toro, University of Chicago “They stole our story”: Intersectionally Conscious Feminist Perspectives “The President Told Us All to Go Shopping”: Ambivalent Immigrant on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale as Told Through Twitter Recovery in Ling Ma’s Severance Advisor/Mentor(s): Kelvin Black, Loren Cahill, Wendy Hayden, Kelly Nims, Advisor/Mentor(s): Adrienne Brown, Sophia Sherry Michelle Robinson
42 102 Djelimory Diabate, Amherst College Abir Petiwala, City College of New York Islamic Reformism and Political Thought in Nineteenth Century Labor and Surveillance in 21st Century Persian Gulf Fiction West Africa Advisor/Mentor(s): Amr Kamal Advisor/Mentor(s): Olufemi Vaughan 107 47 Aditi Rao, Barnard College E. Carson Eckhard, University of Pennsylvania Creating India: Exploring Colonized Histories and Mythologized Realities The Maestrapiece: Zora Neale Hurston’s Creation of Souths Unseen in Megasthenes’s Indica in Barracoon Advisor/Mentor(s): Monica Miller Advisor/Mentor(s): Clinton Williamson 113 50 Mona Reed, Hunter College, CUNY Ari Forsyth, Rice University The Queer and Feminist Myth-Revision of Christina Rossetti’s Agent or Subject? The Civilizing Mission of Hadassah Medical “Goblin Market” Organization (HMO) Nurses in Palestine, 1913–1940 Advisor/Mentor(s): Tanya Agathocleous Advisor/Mentor(s): Tani Barlow
1 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020
Table of Contents
118 141 Brian Reyes, Yale University Jason Tuâ´n V˜u, University of California, Los Angeles Putting the Jailer on Trial: The Iconography of Angela Davis and the From Grassroots to Global: Memory and Diaspora in Sahra Nguyen’s Indictment of America Deported Advisor/Mentor(s): Viet Trinh Advisor/Mentor(s): Thu-Hu,o,ng Nguyê˜n-Võ, Grace Kyungwon Hong
123 145 Mariana Rivera, University of Texas at Austin Sophia Yip, City College of New York Mestizaje: Iterations of Settler Colonialism “Link Deeply Through Their Wounds”: Haruki Murakami, Intercultural Advisor/Mentor(s): Julie Minich References, and World Literature Advisor/Mentor(s): Robert Higney 127 Ana Santory Rodríguez, Wesleyan University 149 Come, Medea, to be, to pass, to matter: On Latin American Reception Victoria Zabarte, Rice University Advisor/Mentor(s): Eirene Visvardi The Black Frontier: African Americans, Slavery, and Freedom in Mexico, 1820–1840 131 Advisor/Mentor(s): Fay Yarbrough Isaiah Romo, University of New Mexico Redes sin Fronteras: Tracing Son Jarocho’s Transnational Musical Networks Advisor/Mentor(s): Ana Alonso Minutti, Samuel Truett
136 Laura Veira-Ramirez, Harvard College Fighting Deportation with Family: The Case of Shirley Tan and the Uniting American Families Act Advisor/Mentor(s): Jungmin Lee, James Mestaz
2 Malintzin: The Buried Voice of the Spanish Conquest Jasmine A. Abang, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Jasmine Abang is a senior at California State University, Malintzin: The Buried Voice of the Spanish Conquest Dominguez Hills, double majoring in History and Women’s Studies. Jasmine’s research interests include Colonial México, The Mexican Conquest is one of the most significant Indigenous and Native peoples, and Women’s Perspectives in events in world history. However, for centuries, the dominant History. Her current MMUF research project examines forced narrative has been a Eurocentric portrayal that presumes sterilizations (Eugenics) in 1920–1979, Los Angeles, bringing Hernán Cortés and other conquistadors to be heroic, noble, visibility to the voices of Mexican (American) women. After she and competent enough to maneuver through México with departs from DH, Jasmine plans on pursuing a PhD in History. little to no opposition. Additionally, the dominant narrative silences Indigenous voices of the 1519 Spanish Conquest and omits the acknowledgment of Indigenous contribu- Abstract tions to Spanish success. Contemporary Spanish Conquest history scholars, such as Matthew Restall, contribute a big The Mexican Conquest is one of the most sig- push against the dominant Eurocentric narrative of the nificant events in world history. However, for centuries, Conquest in his book Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.1 In the dominant narrative has been a Eurocentric portrayal Malintzin’s Choices, Camilla Townsend brings an Indigenous that presumes Hernán Cortés and other conquistadors woman, Malintzin, the interpreter of Hernán Cortés, to to be heroic, noble, and competent to maneuver through the forefront.2 With support from Nahuatl alphabetic and México with little to no opposition. Additionally, it silences pictographic texts and sixteenth-century Spanish sources, Indigenous voices of the 1519 Spanish Conquest and Malintzin’s voice becomes visible. The paper utilizes two omits the acknowledgment of Indigenous contributions to core Indigenous sources in its analysis: the Florentine Codex, Spanish success. Matthew Restall’s Seven Myths of the Spanish a Mexica source created a generation post-Conquest, and Conquest pushes against the dominant Eurocentric narrative the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, representing an Indigenous ally per- of the Conquest. In particular, Restall brings an Indigenous spective also from the mid-sixteenth century. Through the woman, Malintzin, the interpreter of Hernán Cortés, to analysis of these sources I will demonstrate how Malintzin the forefront. With support from translated Nahuatl texts emerges as a central figure with a linguistic multi-skill set of and pictographs and sixteenth-century Spanish sources, quick language acquisition, the ability to navigate high-risk Malintzin’s voice becomes visible. Two core Indigenous scenarios, the skill to interpret with cultural mediation and sources that molded Restall’s arguments are the Florentine sensitivity, as well as the utilization of different linguistic Codex, a Mexica source created a generation post-Conquest, registers. Matlintzin’s skills provided her the ability to make and the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, representing an Indigenous ally a conscious decision to save herself from Spanish sexual perspective. Through these sources, Malintzin emerges abuse and exploitation in order to become Cortés’ inter- as a central figure with a multi-skill set of quick language preter, as Townsend argues so brilliantly. Beyond that, her acquisition, the ability to navigate high-risk scenarios, inter- linguistic skills proved to be indispensable when it came to preting with cultural mediation and sensitivity, plus the Spanish-Indigenous communication during the Conquest utilization of different linguistic registers. Her skills allowed and thus should be considered a crucial contribution to her to make a conscious decision to become Cortés’ inter- Mexican Conquest history. preter and proved to be indispensable when it comes to Spanish-Indigenous communication during the Conquest. During the Conquest, Malintzin’s significance first becomes apparent with her quick language acquisition. Malintzin was born to a noble family of Coatzacoalcos, a Acknowledgements southern region of Veracruz, México. Pilar Godayol men- tions in her article “Malintzin/La Malinche/Doña Marina: A big ¡Muchísimas Gracias! to Dr. Doris Namala. For Re-Reading the Myth of a Treacherous Translator” that the past three years, you have been in my corner as a teacher, Malintzin’s birthplace is in Nahuatl-speaking territory, mentor, advisor, and biggest supporter. The knowledge and attributing to her ability to speak Nahuatl.3 Godayol’s anal- guidance you provide me are invaluable, and I cannot wait ysis of Malintzin also focuses on the Franciscan friar Diego to show you all that I accomplish in the future! de Landa’s account, Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, to address Malintzin’s presence in Yucatán. De Landa reports that A warm thank you to Dominguez Hills’ History Malintzin was kidnapped from her birthplace and was sold Department coordinator Raúl Rubio, Mr. Bruno Dell’Erba, in Xicalango and Champotón, both Mayan-speaking regions and Liza Bakewell at Mesolore. You all worked during your bordering the Gulf of México and the Yucatán Peninsula.4 winter break to help me obtain the permission needed to It was there that in addition to Nahuatl, Malintzin picked use images in my scholarship. Without those images, my up Mayan language, making her a bilingual speaker and scholarship would not be what I envisioned! able to communicate with Gerónimo de Aguilar, a Spanish 3 conquistador who had been shipwrecked and enslaved We return to Camilla Townsend’s book Malintzin’s among the Mayans and became the Spanish to Mayan lan- Choices as she highlights Malintzin’s ability to learn Spanish guage interpreter to Cortés. with the help of her fellow interpreter Gerónimo de Aguilar.9 Malintzin’s aptitude to quickly learn Spanish becomes Malintzin utilizes her bilingual abilities to her advan- essential to the Conquest as Cortés relieved Aguilar of his tage during the Conquest’s move inland, away from the interpreting services when he observed him struggling to Mayan-speaking Yucatán into Nahuatl-speaking central understand conversations in Nahuatl. With the dismissal of México. Frances Karttunen notes in “Rethinking Malinche,” Aguilar, Malintzin became the primary agent who handled that Cortés observed Malintzin speaking to the Nahuatl all interactions spoken in Mayan, Nahuatl, and Spanish.10 speaking groups the Spanish encountered.5 Malintzin’s interactions not only illustrated her ability to speak Mayan The Lienzo de Tlaxcala further verifies Malintzin’s with Aguilar but also confirmed that she spoke Nahuatl. quick acquisition of language. The Lienzo, a tapestry com- Competency in two languages extended to her options to missioned by the cabildo (town council) of Tlaxcala, one of not remain a concubine, nor a slave para hacer tortillas (to the Spaniards’ most important Indigenous allies, offers a pic- make tortillas), but to become the most relied on interpreter torial account of the Spanish Conquest that starts with the to Cortés.6 arrival of Cortés at Tlaxcala through the fall of Tenochtitlán and then continues with campaigns across Mesoamerica. Matlinzin’s ability to quickly pick up language is The Lienzo frequently presents Malintzin in the middle of depicted further in communicative exchanges between both Spanish and Indigenous parties interpreting. However, Cortés and the Mexica tlatoani (lord) Moteucçoma. The not one image of the tapestry shows Aguilar translating. Florentine Codex, a Mexica account of the arrival of Cortés Aguilar’s absence in the Lienzo cements Malintzin as the only and the 1521 fall of Tenochtitlán, records in Book XII, interpreter for communication across Nahuatl, Mayan, and Chapter Seventeen, the conversation around the Spanish Spanish languages, naturally placing a heavy dependency attempt to detain the powerful Mexica tlatoani Moteucçoma. on her by Cortés. Despite the pressure, her trilingual pro- In Figure 1, the codex artists illustrate Malintzin in the ficiency proved successful as Cortés detained and isolated center between Cortés and Moteucçoma, ascribing to her the Nahua tlatoani and began to exercise his control in a position of an intermediary. The squiggle-like markers México-Tenochtitlán. Even beyond Tenochtitlán, Malintzin shown between the Spanish and Indigenous parties are continued as Cortés’ interpreter, making more of her lin- used by Mesoamerican codex writers to denote that a con- guistic proficiencies visible during encounters with other 7 versation is occurring. Facilitation in this instance would Indigenous altepeme (Indigenous communities). only be possible if Spanish and Nahuatl were the languages spoken. According to the Nahuatl text in Book XII, Chapter Another linguistic skill that Malintzin utilized Eighteen of the Codex, Malintzin can be observed using the was her capacity to interpret during high-risk scenarios. language of Castile (Spanish).8 Throughout the Conquest, especially with the omission of Aguilar, Malintzin was the intermediary in peace nego- tiations and other Spanish-Indigenous communicative exchanges. With differences in culture, language, and the political nature of Indigenous alliances, the lack of under- standing by Cortés undoubtedly placed his interpreter at the forefront of the interactions with unpredictable outcomes. One high-risk interaction Malintzin found herself in was the negotiation between the Spaniards and Tlaxcalans, a rival altepetl of Mexica-Tenochtitlán. Although both the Spanish and Tlaxcalans had a distaste for the Mexica, the Spanish attempted to exert their control over the Mexica enemies, which erupted in a month-long bloodshed. Though bat- tles eventually yielded, hostilities still ran high with the Tlaxcalans planning ambushes and Cortés threatening to use violence if the tlatoani did not come to negotiate peace.11
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Townsend mentions Cortes’ letter to the crown, “I took all fifty [messengers] and cut off their hands and sent them to
Figure 1. Malintzin translating between Spanish and Moteucçoma. tell their chief that by day or by night, or whenever they Folio 26 in Book XII of the Florentine Codex. Digital image provided by chose to come, they would see who we were.”12 Despite the the World Digital Library. danger that was to come from Cortés’ demands, there was 4 an expectancy of Malintzin to continue mediating Spanish- Malintzin also displayed another linguistic strength, Tlaxcalan negotiations. Her effectiveness was significant as interpreting with cultural awareness and sensitivity. The she ushered in the Spanish-Tlaxcalan alliance. land conquered by the Spanish and their allies during the Conquest stretched from Veracruz to Tenochtitlán, accord- Malintzin’s presence during the negotiations with ing to the map provided in Frances Karttunen’s “Rethinking the Tlaxcalans is further encapsulated in the memoirs of Malinche.”17 It was inevitable that the Spanish would face 13 Bernal Díaz, a Spanish Conquistador under Cortés. Díaz with Nahua and Mayan cultural practices, as well as a vari- describes that after the bloodshed ceased, Tlaxcalan caciques ety of local dialects. In her youth, Malintzin had to navigate (local native leaders) would meet with Cortés, referring to between different Indigenous cultures; now she learned to 14 him as Malinche. Book XII of the Florentine Codex also do the same with the Spanish culture. Townsend notes, “She attests to Indigenous references to Cortés as Malinche, had an extraordinary gift to assess situations.”18 Because symbolizing a visibility to Malintzin’s voice as her name there is no telling whom the Spanish would be facing at any transposes on to Cortés since she spoke on his behalf. The point of the Conquest, Malintzin’s gift was invaluable. Indigenous reference placed upon Cortés meant the caciques of Tlaxcala equated Malintzin’s interpreting with being wor- As discussed previously, the peace treaty between thy of much importance and respect. Díaz also adds in his the Spanish and the warring altepetl of Tlaxcala exemplifies memoirs that other Indigenous encountered by the Spanish Malintzin’s capacity to interpret with cultural mediation and referenced Cortés as Malinche, equating communication sensitivity. When the Tlaxcalans were ready to make peace with Cortés with his Indigenous interpreter.15 with the Spanish, Malintzin was the mediator of the nego- tiations. However, Malintzin not only had to translate what Cell 14 (Figure 2) from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala exem- Cortés was saying in Spanish to one tlatoani, but Tlaxcala’s plifies another dangerous scenario and an expectation of four tlatoque (plural for tlatoani), all of whom were involved Malintzin to interpret. Figure 2 depicts Malintzin in the in the negotiations. The talks of peace represented an middle of an enclosed area surrounded by warriors iden- extremely complicated mediation and a delicate Indigenous tified as not being from Tlaxcala. Wartime dress, shields, political arrangement with five individuals speaking at one obsidian-swords, and bladed weapons establish the differ- time. Because of Malintzin’s experience with both cultures, 16 ence between the two Indigenous groups. The physical she was the only individual to be culturally and linguistically danger is evident as Malintzin is positioned further back in prepared for this encounter. Díaz further attests to her the building and shielded by Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces who uniqueness in his memoirs proclaiming, “Without her, we protect her from the opposing warriors. However, despite couldn’t do anything.”19 the conditions, Malintzin’s presence proves that there is a Spanish need for her regardless of the possible violence Malintzin’s cultural awareness is again evident when afflicted towards her. interpreting during Cortés’ encounter with Moteucçoma. From a Mexica perspective, without Malintzin, interaction with Moteucçoma was impossible for Cortés. Karttunen mentions that any subjects in Moteucçoma’s presence would never let their eyes come up from the ground.20 Malintzin maintains communication between Cortés and Moteucçoma without having to keep her eyes on the ground, informing him that Spanish forces were about to arrest him. Although a detrimental situation for the Mexica tlatoani, this exam- ple depicts Malintzin’s strength to maneuver through Indigenous culture practices while meeting the Spanish objective of capturing Moteucçoma.21
A final component of Malintzin’s linguistic efficiency, and perhaps her most significant asset overall, was her ability to switch between informal and formal registers of Nahuatl. Karttunen, author of “To the Valley of Mexico: Doña Marina, “La Malinche” (ca. 1500–1527),” notes that Malintzin, as a noble woman, was able to understand a Figure 2. Tlaxcala-Spanish allies fighting side by side, surrounded by 22 Mexica warriors. Malintzin illustrated behind the Spanish and Tlaxcala linguistic register known as te¯cpillahto¯lli (lordly speech). warriors. Cell 14 of the Lienzo de Tlaxcala. Digital image provided by Te¯cpillahto¯lli was a register exclusive to Nahua nobles only the Mesolore Project, Brown University. obtainable through education. The Nahua ma¯ce¯hualtin 5 6 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 of hishead. who isidentifiedbytheslicked-backknotofhairattop Malintzin, interpretingbetweenCortésandaNahuanoble illustrates amomentafterthecaptureofMoteucçomawith firmed Malintzin’s capacity to use te¯cpillahto¯lli through thelineageofatlatoani. a nobleofCoatzacoalcos,relateddirectlytotlatoanior to utilize a noble register traces back to her father, who was making ithardto denytheimportanceofherquick language further attested to the value of Malintzin’s linguistic skills, century Spanishmemoirs like thatofBernalDíaz de Castillo see that her presence was indeed, significant. Sixteenth- sources, theLienzodeTlaxcala andtheFlorentine Codex,we Conquests inMéxico.With theuseoftwocoreIndigenous out bythedominantEurocentric narrative ofthe Spanish be impossible. ter communicationwiththeTenochca piles because withoutMalintzin’s knowledgeofthelordlyregis- speaks.” ThisfrankexchangewasessentialforCortés, pointing signifyingthepowerandauthorityof“hewho Moteucçoma’s nobleclass,whichisdepictedbythefinger provided bytheWorld DigitalLibrary. (noble). Folio29inBookXIIoftheFlorentine Codex.Digitalimage Figure 3.MalintzintranslatingbetweenCortésandaMexicanpilli grammatical complexityoftheregister. fore didnotpossesstheabilitytounderstandorutilize (commoners) didnothaveaccesstoeducationandthere- The Spanishmonths-longstayinTenochtitlán con- Malintzin’s voiceisonethatfindsitselfbeingdrowned Cortés relied on Malintzin to givecommands 23 Malintzin’s ability (nobility) would . Figure 3
Endnotes ideologies aswell. ration of Indigenous women and Mesoamerican gender history but extended into the Colonial Period and the explo- in factimpactedthewritingofnotonlyMexicanConquest events inworldhistory. Nativelanguage-drivenresearchhas of anIndigenouswomantoshapeonethemostsignificant importantly, theywereproofofheragencyandtheability contributing factorto Spanish successes.Perhapsmore communication. Undoubtedly, hercontributionswerea tion ofdifferentlinguisticregistersinSpanish-Indigenous ing withculturalmediationandsensitivity, andtheutiliza- acquisition, abilitytonavigatehigh-riskscenarios,interpret- 2 1 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Camilla Townsend. Malintzin’sChoices:AnIndianWomanintheConquest Matthew Restall,SevenMythsoftheSpanishConquests(Oxford,United The literatureonthistopicisvastandoutside myareaofexpertise. Karttunen, “RethinkingMalinche,”301. Karttunen, “Valley ofMexico,”11. Díaz deCastillo,Historiaverdadera,280. Karttunen, “RethinkingMalinche,”305. Ibid., 107. Townsend, Karttunen, “RethinkingMalinche,”190. Lienzo deTlaxcala,MesloreProject,
Works Cited
Primary Sources
Díaz de Castillo, Bernal. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la nueva España (The True History of the Conquest of New Spain). University of Toronto Collection, The Internet Archive, https:// archive.org/details/memoirsofconquis01dauoft. October 2019.
“Explore Mesolore.” Lienzo de Tlaxcala. Accessed October 24, 2019. http://www.mesolore.org/viewer/view/3/ The-Lienzo-de-Tlaxcala.
Lockhart, James, ed. We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993.
Secondary Sources
Godayol, Pilar. “Malintzin/La Malinche/Doña Marina: Re-Reading the Myth of the Treacherous Translator.” Journal of Iberian & Latin American Studies 18, no. 1 (April 2012): 61–76. doi:10.1080/14701847.2012.716645.
Karttunen, Frances E. “Rethinking Malinche,” In Indian Women of Early Mexico, 290–312. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
——————————. “To the Valley of Mexico: Doña Marina, “La Malinche” (ca. 1500–1527).” In Between Worlds: Interpreters, Guides, and Survivors, 1–23. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994.
Namala, Doris. “Mesoamerican Perspectives on Mexican Conquest History: Using Digitized Indigenous Primary Sources in the Undergraduate Classroom.” The History Teacher 52, no. 2 (2019): 237–264.
Restall, Matthew. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Townsend, Camilla. 2006. Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
7 Visible from the Veil: Subalternity as Agency in the Life of Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo, 1660–1750 Joshua Acosta, California State University, Long Beach
Joshua Acosta is a senior at California State University, Long largely shaped education, governance, and various cultural Beach where he is majoring in History and has a minor in norms. However, the evangelization of the indigenous com- Religious Studies. His main research area is early modern munities and the Chinese merchants, referred to as sangeleyes Pacific history and how systems of colonialism were subverted by the Spanish, and the mestizos, or mixed races, was greatly by narratives of agency among subaltern populations. He is also nuanced. Hindered by secular racial hierarchies and reli- interested in studying the ways material and visual culture serve gious patriarchal domination, religious mestizas challenged to construct representations of Pacific Islander and Asian culture colonial hierarchies by using their religious vocation as a across maritime worlds. Joshua plans to pursue a PhD and focus platform for ethnic and gendered activism. Using the story on how cultural identities spanned across the Pacific and how of Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo (1663–1748), I argue cross-cultural encounters between various peoples have shaped that subaltern religious women actively collaborated with identities in the vast ocean. each other to create and define their own spaces within their colonial society. I describe this agency as “subaltern counterculture” which manifested in the formation and Abstract charism of their religious orders. The notion of subalternity denotes populations left outside of the hierarchies of power In 1684, Ignacia del Espíritu Santo, a woman of as a result of colonization or other structures of domination Chinese and native descent, created one of the first mestiza imposed upon a given population. As such, it is the central religious communities for native and women in the mestiza theoretical framework of this study.1 Spanish Philippines. However, within the colonial social hierarchy, natives and mestizos were considered the subaltern, Spanish Colonialism in the Philippines those at the bottom of the hierarchy of power. Hierarchies emerged from the constructs imposed upon the colonized Much like the events across the Pacific where by the Spanish based on ethnicity to emphasize Iberian the Spanish had claimed large swaths of territory in the superiority. Despite rigid ethnic hierarchies and religious Americas, the Southeast Asian archipelago that would be norms imposed by the Spanish colonial period, Mother named Las islas filipinas (after the reigning monarch of King Ignacia’s story reflects an effort of subaltern countercul- Philip II, 1556–1598) was subject to the rule of their new ture by showing how religious women sought to subvert Iberian conquerors. The period of colonization was dubbed and negotiate social spaces for themselves within colonial as the process of “hispanization” of the Philippine Islands society. This case study examines her efforts to increase by historian John Leddy Phelan. In The Hispanization of the the visibility of religious women regarded as inferior in the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1565–1700, public sphere and contests the narrative of colonialism and Phelan denotes how indigenous tribes were organized by power in the early modern period. the Catholic clergy bajo de campana (under the church bells). This highlighted the importance of the religious authorities in the manifestation of the imperial state with the multiplic- Acknowledgements ity of churches and the involvement of the clergy through- 2 My most profound gratitude goes to my mentor, out the period of colonization. The Spanish imposed two Dr. Guotong Li, for her time and effort to support my central components of colonial domination: racial stratifica- research project. Her dedication to my scholarly pursuits tion and religious conversion. has been an important part of this journey. I also thank Dr. As in the Americas, the Spanish created various struc- Abigail Rosas for providing clear feedback and suggestions tures to govern their subjects. Racial hierarchies were cen- to develop this work and all my Mellon Mays peers for their tral to the colonial administration. According to Richard encouragement. Chu, “the Spanish colonial government built an administra- tive structure distinguishing these groups along socio-cul- tural and political lines. The Spanish colonizers classified Introduction the natives as ‘indios’ and the Chinese as ‘sangleyes’ . . . The arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century and they established a separate and legal category called marked the beginning of over three centuries of imperial ‘mestizos’ to categorize the growing number of creole off- rule in the Philippines. Spanish colonialism was closely tied spring of intermarriage between the Chinese and indigenous 3 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 with the religious aims of the Roman Catholic Church as women.” These racial rankings were collectively known various missionaries journeyed to the newly claimed lands as the casta, or caste system. The encomiendas, or systems acquired by conquistadors during the height of Spanish of labor, classified different groups of people, composed exploration across maritime worlds. The Catholic Church mainly of indigenous tribes and other ethnic groups not of 8 remains an integral structure within Filipino society, having Spanish descent, into a societal hierarchy that networked the economic infrastructure of the colonial administration. remained fervent.8 However, mestizos de sangleyes defied this Chinese merchants who had been long-established traders, hegemony. sojourning from nearby Fujian province in mainland China for centuries, were also subjugated by the Spanish govern- The Profile of Ignacia del Espíritu Santo ment. Manila contained many ethnic enclaves, particularly for the sangleyes, who were confined to a portion of Manila The intersection of gender and ethnicity serve as known as the parián. The Chinese community had a sub- important modes of analysis in understanding the plight of stantial presence in the city with an estimated population of subaltern religious women during Spanish rule. The notion 20,000 by the end of the seventeenth century, whereas the of mestizaje (miscegenation) as a condition of subalternity Spanish who numbered no more than approximately 2,000 demonstrates how the flexibility and ambiguity of their within the same time period.4 As a result, the Chinese com- identity allowed mestizos to create spaces for themselves. munity in Manila was an integral sector in the archipelago. Faced with the colonial systems of power that centered on Many of these sangleyes were carpenters, shopkeepers, bak- the importance of Spanish Catholicism and ethnic superi- ers, fishermen, and domestic servants.5 The preoccupations ority, they were presented with a quandary. Although pres- of being outnumbered coupled with their imperial hubris sured by male clergy to convert and embrace a life of piety, led the Spanish to distrust the Chinese settlers. This led to they found limited vocational options in the existing colonial the Spanish colonial authorities to stifle any significant cul- order. Mestizas and mestizas de sangleyes (native and Chinese tural and economic influence among the Chinese merchant descent) were often relegated to the fringes of the religious sojourners. community as they were barred from various aspects of the conventual hierarchy. However, the case of Ignacia del Secondly, the process of Spanish colonization cannot Espíritu Santo besets the established colonial modus operandi be divorced from the mission of proselytization to convert by subverting the ethnic and gender monopoly of socio-re- native and surrounding Asian populations to Catholicism. ligious power. Her life was chronicled by Pedro Murillo Religious orders had established their own administrative Velarde (1696–1753), a notable Jesuit author known for his norms and led the campaign to initiate conversions such condescending views on the native peoples.9 In 1749, he as the Jesuits, the Dominicans, and the Franciscans. The authored Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la Compañia dispatching of nuns in the colonies was decreed in the lit- de Jesús: Segunda parte, que comprehende los progresos de esta any of instructions by King Philip II where he instructed provincia desde el año de 1616, hasta el de 1716, an encyclope- the Governor of the Captaincy General of the Philippines, dic-like tome where the principal biography of Ignacia del Gomez Perez Dasmariñas (1539–1593), that a convent was Espíritu Santo is contained. to be established to educate and foster Spanish girls.6 This directive ushered in the presence of beatas, or holy women, Jesuit scholar John Schumacher has critically ana- in the 1600s to serve and teach there. lyzed the biography of Mother Ignacia found in Father Velarde’s writing. He concluded that although Velarde’s An important figure in the introduction of nunneries biography seems based on memories happening decades was Jerónima de la Asunción (1555–1630), a Spanish-born after his reported encounters with Mother Ignacia, his biog- nun from the Order of Saint Claire, who arrived with a small raphy presents an important account that gives key details cohort of sisters to Manila in 1621. Under the patronage of of her life, a personal admiration of her sanctity despite the Franciscans, Jerónima established the royal convent of his detestation of the native indios, and the context of the religious sisters in the islands— El Real Monasterio de Santa attitudes of the Spanish clerical community surrounding Clara. However, under colonial law, any person who did Mother Ignacia’s life.10 Born to a Chinese father from Amoy not possess limpieza de sangre, or those who did not possess (now Xiamen) and a native Filipina mother in the section of the “pure blood” of being a Spaniard were forbidden from Manila called Binondo, Ignacia embodied both ethnic iden- admission into religious orders. This law resulted in the tities categorized on the Spanish colonial casta as subaltern. total exclusion of the subaltern and led to an incident in Velarde states that “In 1684, the House of Recogidas began which a Spanish-speaking Filipina was barred from enter- to form . . . to help the women who frequently attended to ing religious life at the Santa Clara Monastery.7 This was a hear mass, to confess, to receive communion, and to per- common requirement for Spanish officials, whose concerns form works and other acts of devotion. Ignacia del Espíritu with racial purity had monopolized ecclesiastical ordination Santo, a maiden of twenty-one years, was determined to by excluding their colonial subjects from the structures of enter the Beaterio de Santo Domingo as a nun despite the authority. Assumptions propagated by Spanish prelates that urging of her parents to marry.”11 Mother Ignacia’s story neither native islanders nor even the Spanish-born colonials points to the importance of her identities which challenged had the tenacity to take on theological and moral studies the colonial ethnic hierarchy and the patriarchal religious spaces of the Catholic missionaries. 9 10 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Beaterio de la Compañ built a community of sisters with the founding of the cultural change. mestiza nunsbycolonialsocietyasintegral agentsofsocio- locus forheragency, centeringonshiftingtheperceptionof Mother Ignacia’s adoptionoftheCatholicfaithservesas notes MotherIgnacia’s consciousstrategies: in the Philippines’colonialperiod,LucianoP.R. Santiago In hishistoricalsurveyofreligiouscommunitiesforwomen their societyandfound avenues to circumvent these barriers. and inclusionintoCatholicreligioussociety. Mother Ignaciawereabletonegotiatetheirparticipation peoples, heneverthelessrecallshownativebeatasunder unique pointofview. Despitehisnotoriousdisdainofnative overcoming one’s prior state of subordination.” as the condition of possibility for defining and subsequently and incorporationofthelanguagelogicChristianity Vicente L. Rafael, “conversion requires one’s submission to participation inthecolonialCatholicChurch.Accordingto transcended the hierarchical labels that excluded them from women whosoughtadmissionintoreligiouslife.Theseacts provides avantagepointforMotherIgnaciaandthe the ideaofconversionandacculturationintoCatholicism newer membersandincreasetheirvisibility. their convent.Thishelpedthemtofurtheraccommodate Jesuits. Thisstrategyallowedthemtomaintainandexpand given annualsubsidiesthroughdonors,particularlyfromthe By beingacknowledgedasaschoolforgirls,thebeataswere foment changethrough education andspiritual activism. of thepublicsphereandrepurposedtheirlivestoindirectly community. TheysurmountedtheSpanishmonopolization authorities whilealsocultivatingtheirownvisionforreligious The nunssoughttomakethemselvesacceptablethesecular themselves insecularcharitybyeducatingyoungwomen. space topracticetheirreligiousvocationwhileinvolving the rigidityofcolonialcastesystem. networked withcolonialandecclesiasticalofficialstoexploit This suggeststhatthebeataswerecognizantoflawand Known forherferventasceticism, MotherIgnacia They wereawareoftherestrictiveinstitutions Velarde’s accountofMotherIgnaciapresentsa Under theguiseofaschool,beatascreated preferred— not asareligioushouse—whichtheywouldhave protection whichtheyinvariablyobtainedthough ate, they appealed directly to the king for special their religiousbenefactors,whetherfriarorprel- spiritual butalsoatthepragmaticlevel.Aidedby agencies ofthemiterandcrownnotonlyat They learnedtosurmounttheconflictswith but asaschoolforgirls. ia de Jesus in 1684 (known today as 13
14 12 Inthissense, 15 The case of and caring for the elderly. such astheeducationofyoung girls, nursingtheinfirmed, their charisminspiritualexercisesandworksofcharity R.V.M.), acommunityofmestizasisterswhomanifested the CongregationforReligiousofVirgin Mary or voting toallowtheadmissionofSpanishwomen. consent ofthesisterswasrequiredthroughaprocess disparity perpetuatedbytheupper echelonofthecasta. patriarchal customsofreligious ordersandtheethnic in doingso,MotherIgnaciaand herbeatasaddressedthe they possessedintheirreligious communities.Secondly, rights ofself-governancetoreposition theauthoritythat in two ways. Firstly, the sisters of the R.V.M. claimed the customary a reversal to that of the Santa Clara convent in upending the noted inanexcerptonreligioussisterhood: she soughttoformtheR.V.M.’s vocationalcharacteras document was the codification of her spirituality and how and formalizetheethosoftheircommunity. Criticaltothis promulgated aconstitutiontogovernthesisters’wayoflife power perpetuatedbycolonialrule.In1726,MotherIgnacia challenge theethnicmonopolizationofsecularandreligious insight onthevaluesofsistersandhowtheysoughtto or thedaughtersofmestizasdesangleyes. specific provisionofsolelyadmittingpurenativeFilipinas of coloniality. Embeddedintotheirconstitution wasthe subaltern counterculture in response to the structures In repudiationtolimpiezadesangre, theR.V.M. fostered a norms that were found in her contemporary Catholic orders. community posedinstarkcontrasttotheconventional Enshrining communalequalitywithinherreligious society. as wellgarnerrecognitionfortheircontributionsto unknown tocolonial spaceswherewomen couldorganize of subalternity, allowing for a unique domain previously of the By establishingacongregationofsistersfromthefringes central ethosofthebeatasintheirvocationalmotivations. a spacethatcatalyzed“subalterncounterculture”asthe their communityinthepublicsphere.TheR.V.M. became visibility ofthesisterswhosawnecessitytosolidify The institutionalstructureoftheR.V.M. offersan them withmotherlylove. need, bearingtheirimperfectionsandcorrecting all equal benevolence and assist theminallthatthey who govern observe this, those who should show to Jesus ChristourLord;muchmoreshouldthose nor friendship for one or the other, but love all in of partiality;theyshouldnotshowmoreinclination Those wholiveincommunityshouldavoidallsort casta, Mother Ignacia had reoriented the discourse 17 limpieza desangre. Thus,ashiftofagencyemerged 16 18 This further elucidates the 19 Additionally, the 20 Thiswas Conclusion 14 Ibid., 125. 15 Vicente L. Rafael, Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian The legacy of Mother Ignacia conveys an important Conversion in Tagalog Society under Early Spanish Rule (Ithaca: Cornell discourse on history and memory for the subaltern. In 1948, University Press, 1988), 7. 16 Andaya, The Flaming Womb, 99. the Religious of the Virgin Mary became among the first 17 Ibid. Filipino religious communities to be conferred Pontifical 18 S. Ma. Anicia B. Co, RVM, “The Accents of Ignacian Spirituality of approval of its constitutions. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI Humble Servanthood,” Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, Accessed lauded the virtuous impact of Mother Ignacia, stating October 10 2019, http://motherignacia.info/index.cfm?fa=page.ignacian that she is “found to possess to a heroic degree the theo- _spirituality&menu_id=14ea4273–884c-4686–910e-07685909d912. 19 Santiago, To Love and to Suffer, 122. logical virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity toward God 20 Ibid. and neighbor as well as the cardinal virtues of Prudence, 21 “Decretum Super Virtutibus,” Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, 21 Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude.” The commemora- Accessed October 10 2019, http://www.motherignacia.info/index.cfm tion of Mother Ignacia’s contribution to the reorientation ?fa=page.decretum_super_virtutibus_english&menu_id=49c19 of religious spaces for women in colonial society remains a fda-fd04–40ee-9a6e-5479b03c6793. pertinent reflection on the narratives of subaltern women and their impact within contemporary spheres. Her case Works Cited shows how mestizas navigated colonial spaces that were often Andaya, Barbara Watson. The Flaming Womb Repositioning Women restricted and how they independently created an ethos that in Early Modern Southeast Asia. University of Hawai’i Press, allowed them to define their own agency, being “visible from 2006. the veil” within the public sphere. Blair, Emma Helen and James Alexander Robertson. The Philippine Endnotes Islands 1493–1898, 55 vols. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Co. Tr., 1903–1909. 1 The term “subaltern” was coined by Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937), an Italian Marxist author and theorist who was imprisoned by the Mussolini Chia, Lucille. “The Butcher, the Baker, and the Carpenter: Regime. His use of the term referred to working class populations Chinese Sojourners in the Spanish Philippines and Their exploited by the hegemonic ruling class. Subaltern came to be defined Impact on Southern Fujian (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries).” by those demographics that are oppressed, marginalized, and disenfran- chised by structures of dominations such as colonization. See Subalternity Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49, no. 4 and Representation: Arguments in Cultural Theory (1999) by John Beverley, (2006): 509–534. Can the Subaltern Speak? (1985) by Gayatri Spivak, and Dominance without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India (1997) by Ranajit Guha. Chu, Richard T. “The ‘Chinese’ and the ‘Mestizos’ of the 2 John Leddy Phelan, The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Philippines: Towards a New Interpretation.” Philippine Studies Filipino Responses, 1565–1700 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 50, no. 3 (2002): 327–70. 1959), 48–49. 3 Richard T. Chu, “The ‘Chinese’ and the ‘Mestizos’ of the Philippines: Co, Anicia B., R.V.M. “The Accents of Ignacian Spirituality of Towards a New Interpretation,” Philippine Studies 50, no. 3 (2002): 332. Humble Servanthood,” Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, 4 Lucille Chia, “The Butcher, the Baker, and the Carpenter: Chinese Accessed October 10 2019, http://motherignacia.info/index. Sojourners in the Spanish Philippines and Their Impact on Southern Fujian (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries),” Journal of the Economic and cfm?fa=page.ignacian_spirituality&menu_id=14ea4273– Social History of the Orient 49, no. 4 (2006): 515. 884c-4686–910e-07685909d912. 5 Ibid. 6 John Newsome Crossley, The Dasmariñases, Early Governors of the Crossley, John N. The Dasmariñases, Early Governors of the Spanish Spanish Philippines (Abingdon: Routledge, 2016), 233. Philippines. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2016. 7 Barbara Andaya, The Flaming Womb: Repositioning Women in Early Modern Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006), 99. “Decretum Super Virtutibus,” Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu 8 Luciano P. R. Santiago, To Love and to Suffer: The Development of the Santo, Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, Accessed October Religiohus Congregations for Women in the Spanish Philippines, 1565–1898 12 2019, http://www.motherignacia.info/index.cfm?fa=page. (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2005), 94. decretum_super_virtutibus_english&menu_id=49c19fda- 9 Ibid., 121. fd04–40ee-9a6e-5479b03c6793. 10 John N. Schumacher, “Ignacia Del Espiritu Santo: The Historical Reliability of Her Principal Contemporary Biography.” Philippine Studies Murillo Velarde, Pedro. Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la 50, no. 3 (2002): 432. Compañia de Jesus: Segunda parte, que comprehende los progresos 11 Murillo Velarde, Pedro, Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la Compañia de Jesus: Segunda parte, que comprehende los progresos de esta de esta provincia desde el año de 1616, hasta el de 1716. Con las provincia desde el año de 1616, hasta el de 1716. Con las licencias necesarias licencias necesarias en Manila: En la Imprenta de la Compañia en Manila: En la Imprenta de la Compañia de Iesus, por D. Nicolas de la de Iesus, por D. Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, 1749. Cruz Bagay, 1749. http://archive.org/details/historiadelaprov00muri. 12 Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson, The Philippine Islands 1493–1898, vol. 40 (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Co. Tr., 1903–1909), 280–283. 13 Santiago, To Love and to Suffer, 96–97. 11 12 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Schumacher, JohnN.“IgnaciaDelEspirituSanto:TheHistorical Santiago, LucianoP. R.To LoveandtoSuffer:TheDevelopmentof Rafael, Vicente L.ContractingColonialism:Translation andChristian Phelan, JohnLeddy. TheHispanizationofthePhilippines:Spanish Philippine Studies50,no.3(2002):416–34. Reliability ofHerPrincipalContemporaryBiography.” 1565–1898. AteneoUniversityPress,2005. the ReligiousCongregations forWomen intheSpanishPhilippines, Cornell UniversityPress,1988. Conversion inTagalog SocietyunderEarlySpanishRule.Ithaca: Press, 1959. Southeast AsianStudies.Madison:UniversityofWisconsin Aims andFilipinoResponses,1565–1700.NewPerspectivesin Not One Minute More: Queer Temporality, Streaming, and Black Mirror as Forms of Disruption to the Temporal Scarcity of the Traditional TV Industry Chioma Anomnachi, Swarthmore College
Chioma Anomnachi is a senior at Swarthmore College from Television has, for decades, been taken as the very Washington, DC completing degrees in English Literature, determinant of the mainstream, and it is still typi- Black Studies, and Computer Science. She researches African cally seen as the most ordinary, everyday, and com- American literature, specifically relating to Afrofuturism and monplace of our media forms. Conversely, queer is defined precisely as the subversion of the ordinary, science fiction, and the emerging field of the digital humanities. as the strange, the irregular, which would seem to This past summer, she carried out an independent research necessitate some sort of disruption to ‘our regularly project exploring tensions between representations of collectivism scheduled programming.’ Does this then make the and individualism in the Afrofuturist literary canon. After very notion of queer television— and, perhaps by graduating from Swarthmore College, she hopes to continue to extension, queer television studies— impossible, or explore the intersections of race, technology, and the humanities does it make this nexus particularly productive, in a graduate program. since this combination is itself defined in and as contradiction, thus making it necessarily queer? Might that implicit queerness then help to explain Abstract some of the shifts in TV? (Joyrich 134)
One of the most transformative shifts in the way These shifts in TV are precisely where my focus lies. One of television functions in the modern day is the conception and the most transformative shifts in the way television functions explosion in popularity of streaming services. This method in the modern day is the conception and explosion in popu- of consuming media allows for new conceptions of time and larity of streaming services. Three aspects of the “insulated queerness within the highly regulated, routinized norms flow,” or the method of consuming media “characterized of the TV industry. This paper uses two episodes of the by extended and focused attention on one text” (Perks xxiv) science fiction anthology seriesBlack Mirror as a case study that streaming allows, fit into a queered conception of tele- to discuss the emerging conceptions of queered time that vision’s temporality. First, the advent of binge-watching as a streaming makes possible. The interplay between the lim- regular mode of content consumption; second the conscious itlessness and scarcity of time in each episode is used to choice required to opt-in to shows, and specific episodes of consider the tensions between disruptive and standardized shows, available on streaming services; finally, the removal of time in both streaming and traditional TV formats. standardized lengths for things like advertisements, release dates, and episode duration in shows created directly for streaming platforms. I plan to use Black Mirror, an incred- Acknowledgements ibly popular science fiction anthology series now produced I would like to thank Professor Patty White and by Netflix, as a case study to analyze the ways that streaming Swarthmore’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program for opens and closes possibilities for disruption within televi- guiding my exploration of this topic in various ways over sions’ norms. Specifically, I will look at the episodes “San the last four years. I would also like to thank my friends who Junipero” in Season 3 of the series and “Striking Vipers” in have accompanied me on the long nights spent writing and Season 5, both of which confront questions of queerness and editing this paper and many others. Finally, I would like to temporality within their storylines. Examining the ways that thank Professor Rachel Buurma for her support at every step the two episodes explore non-normative relationships and of the submission process. concepts of queer eternities, I show how the possibility or impossibility of queered time in each of these episodes cor- responds to streaming’s potential for disrupting the expecta- Introduction tions of the TV industry.
Queer temporality, as defined by Kara Keeling in Why Black Mirror? “San Junipero” and “Striking Vipers’” Queer Times, Black Futures describes the “dimension of time Queer Relationships that produces risk . . . that dimension of the unpredictable and the unknowable in time that governs errant, eccentric, Black Mirror is particularly well-positioned to explore promiscuous, and unexpected organizations of social life” the queer potentialities of streaming as a show that has (Keeling 64). At first glance, queer temporality seems wholly itself transitioned from being produced for traditional TV unconnected from the realm of television, which thrives on to being produced for a streaming platform. Beginning the expected, the routine, and the minimization of risk. In as a Channel 4 production, Black Mirror was picked up fact, television and queerness appear to be diametrically by Netflix after two (critically acclaimed) seasons in 2015 opposed on many fronts, a tension that Lynne Joyrich cap- (IMDb). This deal made Black Mirror the first show in tures in her piece “Queer Television Studies: Currents, which a streaming platform successfully outbid a commis- Flows, and (Main)streams.” She writes: sioning broadcaster for exclusive production rights (Ritman, 13 14 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 ual” sex that they believe “don’t feel like a gay thing,” even as gender playinherent inthetwomenengaging in “heterosex- only bythevirtualspaceinwhich thetwointeractbutby pects he is cheating on her. Their relationship is queered not with Danny’s realrelationshipwithhiswife,Theo,whosus - ship between Karl and Danny spirals and begins to interfere of whom is a woman being controlled by Karl. The relation- tionship betweentheirtwocharacters LanceandRoxxie,one tions.” Thetwoendupusingthegametostartasexualrela- experience where “the game emulates all physical sensa cutting edgeVRtechnologytomakeafullyimmersivegame newest installmentofthevideogamethatutilizesTCKR’s Years later, Karlbuys DannyacopyofStrikingVipers X,the adulthoods playingthevideogameStrikingVipers together. friends KarlandDannywhospentmuchoftheiryoung less straightforward.Thestorycentersontwolong-time an eternitywithYorkie. and beingeuthanizedtopassoverSanJuniperospend ends with Kelly deciding that she is ready “for the rest of it” who bothdiedwithoutpassingoverintothetown.Thestory than avisitwouldbebetrayaltoherhusbandanddaughter Kelly, feelsthattostayinSanJuniperoforanythinglonger could asaquadriplegicintherealworld.Theotherwoman, as itallowsherthefreedomtoexperiencelifeshenever One of the women, Yorkie, views San Junipero as a heaven, uploading theirconsciousnessestothecloud-basedreality. over” into San Junipero permanently after their death by The two women are given the option to choose to “pass in loveavirtualrealitysimulatedpartytownofthe’80s. the positiveoutcomesofevolvingtechnology. ful ofepisodesinthegritty, cautionaryshowthatconsider LGBT+ relationships and storylines and are two of a hand- two oftheonlyepisodesinseriesthatdealwithexplicitly the landscape of BlackMirror’s collectionofstories. They are two episodesshareafewotherimportantsimilaritieswithin gain accesstohyper-realistic virtualrealities.However, the nection liesintheTCKRsystemsdevicethatbothuseto “San Junipero”and“StrikingVipers’s” onlyplot-basedcon- relationships canberedefinedthroughandbythesetools. new technologiesallowseachepisodetoexploretheway Zone, popularity possible.MuchlikeitspredecessorTheTwilight technological advancementsthatmadestreaming’s current makes itafittingshowforconsideringtheeffectsof stories servingasamicrocosmoflargerculturalshifts.This future settingfititwithinalargertraditionofsciencefiction tial. Furthermore,BlackMirror’s anthologyformatandnear significant toconsiderationsofstreaming’s disruptivepoten- the landscapesofTVproductionandconsumptionthatis Roxborough). Thisjourneymirrorsalargershiftwithin Black Mirror’s explicitfocusonthehumanimpactof The queerrelationshipin“StrikingVipers” isalittle In “SanJunipero”twosickanddyingoldwomenfall - Gays” tropein an interestingwaybecausethe continuation with Yorkie. Theirstoryalsoplays withthe“BuryYour band anddaughter andchoosestostayin San Junipero restraints sheplacesonherself onbehalfofherdeadhus- a reproductiveheterosexualspace, Kellyleavesbehindthe conversely totheideaoflesbian desireneedingtoendin able onlythroughthedeathof both queercharacters. Acting provides viewerswithaneternal lesbianrelationshipachiev- more thanjuststoriesaboutqueersexandlove.Thefirst Vipers” arefactoredintothishistoricalcontext,theybecome mourn them(TVTropes). killing off half of the couple and forcing the other half to serves toendthepossibilityofqueerfuturerelationshipsby the well-documented “Bury Your Gays” phenomenon often the history of queer cinematic representations. For example, if ultimatelyunstablestate”(Traub 69)echoesthroughout sexual union.Thisideaofqueerrelationshipsasa“viable that isnotforecloseduponinfavorofaneventualhetero- the possibilityofadisruptivequeerfuture,specificallyone engaged inthoseactsdonotbecomethreatsuntilthereis homosexual acts were never the problem, and that people The twoauthorscometosimilarconclusionsaswell,that in environments where homosexual acts are criminalized. in EarlyModernliteratureandlifehowthatispossible cerned withtheproliferationofhomoeroticrepresentations Homosexuality inRenaissanceEngland.Bothauthorsarecon- and supernaturalconceptionsofhomosexualactsinhisbook Modern England”andAlanBray’s discussionofmythical analysis “The (In)Significance of ‘Lesbian Desire’ inEarly century. AnexampleofthiscomesfromValerie Traub’s ways thatqueernessisexpressedonthescreenin21st even in a time predating film, has tangible effects on the ably evenearlier. Recoveringpastconceptionsofqueerness, going asfarbacktheRenaissanceperiodandundoubt- long literarytraditionofqueercharactersandrelationships, Pre-dating filmicrepresentationsofqueerness,thereis a richness tothewaythattimefunctionsineachepisode. torical tiestodeathandeternity, addsanewdimensionof episodes in the context of queer media, especially its his tation infilm,text,andimage.Infact,examiningthese tionships donotfallwithinavacuumofqueerrepresen- “Striking Vipers” as portrayals of queerness and queer rela- The HistoryofQueerEternities goes to pursue an extramarital relationship of her own. goes topursueanextramaritalrelationshipofherown. relationship withKarlwithinthevideogamewhilehiswife is allowed one day a year, his birthday, to engage in a sexual unexpected compromisebetweenDannyandTheowherehe their sexual encounters in the game. The episode ends in an Karl confessesthathelovesDanny(orLance)duringoneof When thestorylinesof“SanJunipero”and“Striking The examplesofBlackMirror’s “SanJunipero”and - of their relationship is only made possible by the deaths of Linear television is consequently characterized by both women. “Striking Vipers” appears to fit more readily two related attributes: capacity constraint (limited within the historical framework for queer relationships. The content available) and time specificity (content in-game relationship between Danny and Karl is only an available at a particular time). (Lotz) interruption to the lasting heterosexual marriage that Danny This illuminates a dichotomy within the realm of television, and Theo share. When their relationship begins to threaten and arguably the larger world, between the limitlessness the continuation of Danny’s marriage, the two men abandon and scarcity of time. The interplay between these two ideas the possibility of eternity and get almost the opposite, one is a productive nexus within Television Studies, and one in scheduled day every year. which streaming plays a critical role. Neither episode of The TCKR virtual reality system that is central to Black Mirror examined in this piece engages with only one the plot of both episodes represent highly routinized and half of this split, just as streaming does not exist only as that regulated spaces. The time that characters have in these which is limitless and standard TV only as that which is spaces are constructed to always be counting down, creating limited/scarce. To get at the meanings of these interactions, multiple moments in both episodes where one of the pairs we must view the episodes in dialogue with one another are abruptly pulled out of the space at emotionally climac- and take a closer look at the way time functions differently tic moments. Visitors to San Junipero are only allowed to between them. use the device for five hours, once a week and are refused In San Junipero, Kelly’s decision to marry Yorkie in access to the alternate reality at any other points for fear order to allow her to pass over and gain unrestricted access that they will lose touch with the real world. Even further to the virtual reality permanently disrupts any attempts at regulation occurs in the space in who has access to legally regulating this space for the two of them. Their marriage sanctioned euthanasia that will allow sick or dying people is an act of resistance within the confines of their world to pass over into San Junipero as a permanent alternative to because it grants Yorkie access to eternity. For Yorkie, who their current lives. A central point of the story is the fact that was already scheduled to be married to a male aide at the Yorkie requires her family’s written permission, in addition to hospital, the marriage represents everything her parents authorization from the state and hospital, to gain full access have denied to her: the possibility of a queer life that she to San Junipero, regardless of her own wishes. In “Striking gets to control. The rebellion that they are staging does not Vipers,” the TCKR video game is not regulated by a medical end with Yorkie’s family though. When Kelly decides that or state apparatus but is rather controlled by the confines and she wants to marry Yorkie instead of the nurse Greg, she is habitual flows of Danny’s family life. It is implied that over placed in the position of having to convince him to let her the course of four to five months, Danny carries on his vir- into San Junipero outside of visiting hours. The moment tual affair with Karl illicitly after his wife has gone to bed or when Kelly proposes should have never happened according when she leaves the house for a social function or work event. to the rules that govern the TCKR system; thus when Kelly This creates a temporal scarcity to the meetings of Kelly and is able to create that time for the two of them, “she subverts Yorkie and Danny and Karl, a feeling of running out of time, the hospital’s authority as a gatekeeper” (Constant 218). and a lack of autonomy over the times in which they can Yorkie’s, and later Kelly’s, choice to stay in San Junipero full meet. Alongside the context of the historic representations time grants them access to the possibilities contained within of queer eternities, the constant threat to the couples’ time that space at their leisure for an eternity. The moment where together serves as a continuation of the “unstable state” Yorkie gains the power to opt-in to this eternity is granted that Traub describes in her discussion of lesbian desire. The through the institution of marriage, one granted by a very scarcity imposed by the regulation of the TCKR systems austere and bureaucratic appearing man who presides over becomes a force that must either be overcome or accepted. the ceremony (see “San Junipero,” 46:24). In this moment their marriage is both disruptive and normative. They must Traditional Television as Temporal Scarcity work through predetermined channels but making space within that system for individual connections and autono- The idea of scarcity is foundational to the way that mous choice makes their marriage a meaningful opposition linear TV operates. Amanda Lotz describes this concept to the regulations of the medical system. in her chapter “Theorizing the Nonlinear Distinction of Internet-Distributed Television.” She describes how: “Striking Viper’s” Hopeful View of Scarcity A single channel can only distribute 24 hours of programming a day. That is a significant limit to If “San Junipero” exemplifies a break from the reg- what can be “on” in any day. Thus, the channel’s ulation of virtual spaces, the ending of “Striking Vipers” ability, or requirement, to select the one thing avail- holds up an even more entrenched standardization. The able at any time very much defines linear television. couple’s agreement to a scheduled once a year allowance for 15 16 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 and predetermined channels.Theirqueereternity ismade disruption thatisstagedmust take placethroughregulated both categoriesbecomesapparent. In“SanJunipero”the streaming andtraditionalTV, theroomforvariations within “Striking Vipers” tobeaone-to-onecomparisonbetween “San Junipero”and“StrikingVipers” The InterplayoftheLimitlessandScarcein do haveinthisvirtualspacecanfeeleternal. time placeduponthem,orattheveryleastthatthey love shared by thepaircantranscend strict boundariesof though fleeting,endstheepisodeonanoteofhopethat themselves alone,evenifitisonlyforoneday. This moment, possibility. It is a whole world that the two men have to “Striking Vipers,” 1:00:18) feels charged to the brim with on which they havechosento rendezvous. Theshot (see zooms outtoanextremewideshotoftheimaginedcityscape tions of the song. As Danny and Karl embrace, the camera shot helpstofurtherilluminatesomepossibleinterpreta- Danny and Karl. However, the setup of the episode’s final to beabouttherelationshipbetweenDannyandTheoor As viewers,wedonotknowrightawayifthissongisintended behind thefacesoftheircharacters,Grantsings: for thefirsttimeinpresumablyayear. Asthepairembrace credits as we watch Danny and Karl reunite within the game marking her as available. But the song continues into the box andpermissiontoretireherweddingbandforthenight, his TCKR remote control and Theo in return gets a ring they exchangeDanny’s birthdaypresent.Hegetsaccessto interaction between Danny and Theo, the moment when eternal, undyinglove.Thesongstartsinthemiddleofan “Not OneMinuteMore”byEarlGrant.Itisasongabout the credits rollontheepisode,alove songstartsplaying, the endofepisodedoesnotfeellikeaforeclosure.As to thechannel’s scheduledprogrammingthenextday. Yet that onecouldsitdownandwatchallday, beforereturning is likefindingafavoriteshowbeingmartathonedoncable ificity, anallowancethatmakesthestandardmorevisible.It per year is the ultimate creation of constraint and time spec- in thevirtualhaventhatTCKRcreates.Theirsingleday eternity toexplorethecomplexlayersoftheirrelationship somewhat unfulfillingtwist.DannyandKarldonotgetan Danny andKarl’s virtual relationship isanunexpected,ifnot If wethinkoftheanalogy “SanJunipero”and I’m gonnaloveyoutillthen,notoneminutemore I’ll onlyloveyoutillthere’s onlynight Rolls onendlesslytotheshore I’ll onlyloveyouaslongthesea And thesun,sungivesnolightasbefore Dn Robertson —Don is shared,created, andconsumed.Yet thesechangesserve way thatrevenue iscollectedaswelltheway thatcontent in many ways. There are foundation-shifting changes inthe as anindustryallowsroomfor reinventionandinnovation way frommedicaltoentertainment. LikeTCKR,streaming that the tech giant has hands in industries ranging all the program oraprivatecompany, “StrikingVipers” showsus specifically stateswhethertheTCKRsystemisastate-run the TCKRcorporationitself?While“SanJunipero”never then servetoviewtheindustryofstreaminginrelation streaming entitiesintoalargelynormative,capitalistsystem. must remain profitable for those runningthem,fitting these we canseethattheroomfordisruptionandnon-normativity lion (TheMotleyFool).Lookingattheindustryasawhole, revenue of $16 billion and grew its net income to $1.2 bil- able enterprise.In2018,Netflixalonebroughtinanannual point itisundoubtablethatstreamingplatformsareaprofit- taking onasadisruptiontothenormsoflinearTV. Atthis must beaskedofjusthowmuchriskstreamingservicesare queer temporalityastimethatproducesrisk,thequestion light. However, ifwereturntoKaraKeeling’s definitionof tions withtraditionalTVplacesbothsystemsintoanew Television Studies. A consideration of streaming’s interac plays aninvaluablerolewithinthediscourseofQueer Conclusion disruption andnormalizationwithineachofthespaces. these episodes in depth reveals that there is room for both limitlessness withinalargerlinearenvironment.Lookingat the DVRthatallowsforqueeredconceptionsoftimeand is synonymous to innovations within traditional TV like tion oftheirrelationshipthatendsinareturntothenorm time and space before returning to each other. The reinven- filled, havingbeengivenachancetobrieflyopt-innew Danny andTheotoreturntheirroutinelivesmoreful- in anon-monogamousrelationshipallowsroomforboth the heterosexualmarriagethatepisodereifies.Ending see thatthereisroomfordisruptionwithinthenormalityof city oftraditionalTV. Inthecaseof“StrikingVipers,” we This actofretrievalisusedtoovercometheimposedscar viewed withinaninsulatedflowinastreamingenvironment. shows producedfortraditionalTVformatsthatarethen draw from the realm of streaming is the interaction with Booker 161).Anexampleofthisthatwemightbeableto addressing theproblemsofpublicworld”(Daraiseh, “offering solaceandescapewithinaprivatespacewithout sonal level and leaves the larger regulatory system intact, the disruptionthattheydoenactfunctionsonaninterper possible by the heteronormative institution of marriage and Looking backtoBlackMirrorasananalogy, wouldit Despite itsnewness,itisapparentthatstreaming - - - the same purpose, to attract viewers and generate profit, a venture that is not so queer to us after all.
Works Cited
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Constant, Sarah. “Heterotopias and Utopias in Black Mirror.” Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory, edited by Angela Cirucci and Barry Vacker. Lexington Books, 2018.
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Joyrich, Lynne. “Queer Television Studies: Currents, Flows, and (Main)Streams.” Cinema Journal, vol. 53, no. 2, 2014, pp. 133– 139., doi:10.1353/cj.2014.0015.
Keeling, Kara. Queer Times, Black Futures. New York University Press, 2019.
Lotz, Amanda D. Portals: a Treatise on Internet-Distributed Television. Maize Books, an Imprint of Michigan Publishing, 2017.
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17 18 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 is hopeless. to seewhysomecontendthatthe situationforBlackpeople God who revels in Black suffering. It, then, isnot difficult complacent God,aGodwhoscapegoats Blackbodies,ora racist. blind eyetoBlackpain.PerhapsGodmightjustbeadivine qualities ofsupremeGoodandLove.PerhapsGodturnsa presence ofBlacksufferingrequiresustoreassessGod’s William R.Jones,the“inordinate”qualityandubiquitous make meaningfromGod’s silence.Forreligiousskepticslike Where someBlacksuffererscryoutfordivinehelp,others nature of antiblackness demand its immediateobliteration. quandary. Thehistoricaldurationandobscenelygrotesque camaraderie andwillingnesstohelp. strong mentorship,andtoDr. BillNorthforhisintellectual Stelly forhercriticalwisdom,intellectualgenerosity, and her carefuloversightasamentor, toDr. CharisseBurden- of non-personhood. through workingtoliberateBlackfolkfromcivilconditions God,” namesasocial,ethicalprojectthataffirmsBlackness theology. Blacktheology’s response, to“becomeBlackwith tion bygroundingtheconceptofBlackpoliticalliberationin narrowly secularlimitsofanafropessimistpoliticalimagina- be liberatedfrom.Blacktheologicalreflectionexpandsthe that Blacknessisanontologicalconditiononecannot ceivable andpossibleforBlackfolk. Afropessimism claims anti-Blackness) that positive emancipatory action is con- ogy todemonstrate(withoutdiminishingtheseverityof I drawinsightsfromthe“first generation”ofBlacktheol- municated through afropessimist discourse on Blackness. thesis, respondstotheexistential“hopelessness”beingcom- resting atmyfeet.” why God, do I gotta bleed / Every stone thrown at you is winning rapperKendrickLamarsimilarlyasked“WhyGod, Acknowledgements Abstract anticipate matriculationintoagraduateprogramforFall2021. political andreligious context.They thoughtinaeuromodern in AfricanaStudies.TheirworkstudiesradicalismwithinBlack andReligionaminor uated withadoublemajorinHistory Studies programatCarletonCollege,where theyrecently grad- Jorge BanuelosisanEducationalAssociateintheAfricana Jorge M.BanuelosJr., CarletonCollege Response toAfro-Pessimism “Become BlackwithGod!”:ATheological 1 Echoingthe22ndchapterofPsalms,PulitzerPrize- The sufferingthatBlackfolkendureisaninexplicable I extendthedeepestgratitudetoDr. LoriPearsonfor This paper, anexcerpt from my senior Religion 2 Black sufferingpotentiallyindicates a world whileABlackTheology ofLiberation(1970)systematizes Black Poweras an authenticlocationofdivine actioninthe of Blackness.BlackTheologyand BlackPower(1969)defends this periodassigntheological significance tothecondition category.” contemporaneous withthedevelopment of“Blacknessasa the firstgenerationofAmericanBlacktheologiansemerged at workwithinthecommunity. Vincent Lloydnotesthat Black communitysinceitunderstandsGodtobepresently tion of Black people. Black theology is committed to the Black Theology:Context,Purpose,Accountability “privileged modeofexistence.” than “anidentityinneedofaffirmation” butmoresoasa power, politically and libidinally.” self-describes as“atheoreticallensforsituatingrelationsof than humanforother’s benefit. forge aworldthatdoesnotrequireBlackpeopletobeless a positive embrace of Blackness where individuals strive to that resolution, Black theology then provides the means for anti-Blackness couldevertotalizewhatBlacknessis.From in bothdiscoursescorrectstheafropessimistassumptionthat closer examinationofBlacknessasanontologicalcategory their ontologicaldescriptionsofBlackness.Iarguethata and afropessimismbyexploringthesimilaritiesbetween cal bridge that enables conversation between Black theology Black sufferingfertilizes.Thispaperdevelopsthetheoreti- oppression andone’s enjoymentofthedemonicfruitsthat affirms Blackness by destroying one’s participation in Black to participate in God’s nature, to become Black with God, world, squarelyinthenatureofGod’s divinity. Itsinvitation theology locatesBlacknessoutsideofthelimitations of Blackness)? serves thehumanityofBlackpeople(apositiveaffirmation redresses antiblackness (political/liberatory praxis) or pre- means tobeBlack?Isthereanythingdonethateither the centralquestions:Canantilblacknesstotalizewhatit of Blackness-as-slaveness)caneverbefree.Thisleadsto Black people(remaining enslaved tomodernity’s definition pects of total revolution, afropessimists are hopeless that nance ofWestern modernity. Cynicalregardingthepros- non-being isfundamentaltotheconstructionandmainte- socio-political arrangements. They furtherarguethatBlack that whiteshaveusedtonameanddefendpresentantiblack as wellatotalrejectionofthecategoriesandconcepts requires resistance to white people and their institutions To breakthisrelationshipbetweenBlacksandnon-Blacks in orderfornon-Blackpeopletoparticipatehumanity. Black people,bynatureoftheirsuffering,arenon-human Black theologyis“God-talk”donefromthecondi- Such isanafropessimistposition.afropessimism An answerliesintheBlacktheologicaltradition. 4 Suchtheologiansunderstood Blackness asmore 5 JamesCone’s worksduring 3 Its central axiom is that Black theology according to revised understandings of God, alone.12 Common examples include signifying Blackness to liberation, revelation, and the human through a frame- represent excess criminal, fleshy, or licentious “desire.” work of Blackness. Cone’s social, ontological definition of Blackness channels both the “universals and particulars” of Afropessimism’s raison d’etre is to translate how vio- Black experience that make it the rich location to begin any lence by humans against Black folk shapes Blackness as its theological project. necessary non-human excess. This task lies at the core of its critique: it exposes the integral role of anti-Blackness in Black theology is the religion of Black power. Black the maintenance of the modern world. Western concepts theology mandates a project of “complete emancipation . . . of humanity attempt to parade as if they appeared out of a from white oppression by whatever means Black people transhistorical, natural “nowhere,” justified by the natural deem necessary.”6 While Blackness commonly refers to laws themselves. But, as Sylvia Wynter points out, “Man” people with African ancestry, Cone names Blackness as a emerged from a historicized Euro-Western intellectual her- paradoxical condition of oppression inseparably resonant itage defined as much by slavery and colonial dominance with God’s ontological freedom. Cone states that Blackness as it was the Enlightenment. Exploring how slavery his- is “an ontological symbol and a visible reality which best torically and conceptually constructed the modern concept describes what oppression means in America.”7 For Cone of Blackness as (in)human excess clarifies what it means to and other twentieth-century theologians, symbols are par- understand Blackness as a marker of social/political objecthood. ticular descriptors— embedded in culture— that resonate This historical dimension clarifies part of why afropessimism with a key characteristic of an otherwise indescribable thing “ontologizes” Blackness similarly to Black theology, and is since “symbolic language alone is able to express the ulti- helpful in understanding where afropessimist discourse fails mate” through approximation.8 The generalizable condi- to critically capture the humanity of Black people. tion that Blackness points to is the universal condition of unfreedom due to oppression. Ontological descriptions of Cone asserts Blackness to be “an ontological symbol Blackness communicate that a fundamental component of and a visible reality which best describes what oppression 13 what it means to be Black is to experience “social, economic, means in America.” Since Cone’s works draw from twen- political, and psychic alienation.”9 Ontological Blackness tieth-century examples of American antiblack oppression, recognizes extreme humanity amid extreme attempts at it is easy to narrowly assume that instances of “societal dehumanization: this living tension, of life and death, names enslavement” solely refer to the urban ghettos and brutal 14 Blackness as a paradox. The Black experience is a “moment policing practices he names directly in the text. Yet he fol- of irresolution” where freedom stands in uneasy tension lows that Blackness stands “for all victims of oppression who with experiences and material conditions that attempt to realize that the survival of their humanity is bound up with 15 make Black people accede their rightful freedoms.10 For their liberation from society.” Between both afropessimism Black theologians like Cone, Blackness resonates with the and Black theology, Blackness names a universal process of divine nature of unrestricted freedom by striving for freedom creating social non-persons for the benefit of others while against all odds. paying homage to the unique nature of the world-historical oppression of Blackness in the construction of the modern capitalist world order. On “Afropessimism”: Oxymoronic “Black Humanity”?
“Afropessimism” elides an easy explanation. It claims Across the African diaspora, patterns of antiblack- far-reaching genealogy to the works of Frantz Fanon, ness varied across time and geography. Then what similar- Hortense Spillers, and Orlando Patterson. It argues that the ities, if any, exist in the nature of individual experiences of fundamental nature of Blackness is as an objectified, socially antiblackness? If the particular instances of social/political dead, non-Human abjection necessitated by whiteness. oppression on Black people varied greatly, both historically Such is the pessimism; Blackness can never be positively and culturally, then that indicates a range of existential embraced, and liberation will likely not come. Not entirely responses categorizable as Black. If Black existential expres- sions are initially sutured by antiblack suffering, this does without reason to get up in the morning,11 afropessimism not mean that they can be reduced to this suffering. Such a accedes that Black people “have no good reason to get up in claim implies that Black people are nothing more than their the morning.” Such is the hopelessness. In sum, afropessi- suffering. This is what afropessimism claims in response mism states that Blackness is the absence of humanity since to Black suffering. Yet, to respond to one’s condition of it names the excess of inhuman qualities. Given that ratio- suffering does not mean that their human fullness is lim- nal capacity separates humans from other non-humans in ited necessarily by their suffering; rather, their suffering is Western thought, afropessimists note that “Blackness” sig- but one factor of who they are. It is not all they are. This nifies excess desires that cannot be controlled by reason faulty assumption rests on a misinterpretation of Fanon. 19 20 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 exaggerates theirobjectstatus in relationtowhites. ness ofBlackpeople.afropessimism’s ontologicalBlackness logical conception of Blackness preserves the radical human- misread ofFanonjustifiesthis claim.Blacktheology’s onto- not recognizeaBlackhumanity worthfightingfor, andhis of Blacknessitself,is ing BlackssinceheassumesthefullnessofBlackhumanity, response toantiblacknessnegatesthepossibilityofliberat- Wilderson assumes that the severity of Black suffering in about Blackness’fundamentalnature. AfropessimistFrankB. riences ofsuffering,thereisroomtocontestwhatassumed interiority, separatefrom whites,andBlackexteriorexpe- ligible experience that is separate from whites altogether unintel- rather, whitenesssutures Blackexperience,rendering that thetotalityofBlackexperiencereliesonwhiteness; course, history, andculturalinteraction.Fanonisnotsaying not emergeexnhilio;suchperspectivesareshapedbydis- Blackness-as-slaveness, Blackness-as-human-absencedoes comes intobeingthroughtheother.” that Blackfolkareunawareoftheirinferiority“untilit is qualified“inrelationtothewhiteman.”Fanonfurthers Fanon writes. of thesufferingtheyexperience.However, thisisnotwhat meaning that Black people occupy no order of being because analog inthesufferingdynamicsofontologicallyalive,” Fanon statesthatBlackexperiencesofsufferingare“without not, as afropessimists at times claim. Wilderson’s reading of to non-Black notion ofBlackontologypropercannotbecommunicated understand thebeingofBlackman,”meaningthat others. Fanon states that ontology “does not permit us to tation proper; about how Black people exist in relation to state ofBlackpeoplequathemselves.Itisaboutrepresen- existential. Itisnotconcernedwiththeperennialexistential Fanon’s insertiscrucial;theontologybeingdiscussednot states that: as unapproachablethroughWestern metaphysics.Fanon Masks centershowafropessimistsunderstandBlackontology not meanthatBlackpeoplearenothing. capture theinternalfullnessofBlackself-conception;itdoes Examining FanonhighlightsthatWestern thoughtdoesnot The secondpartofFanon’s claimregardingontology Fanon’s famouschapterfiveofBlackSkin,White in relationtothewhiteman. only musttheBlackmanbeBlack;he understand thebeingofBlackman.Fornot existence bythewayside—doesnotpermitusto Ontology— to non-Blacks.However, inthegapbetweenBlack others. That does not necessarily meanit is once itisfinallyadmittedasleaving existential suffering.Wilderson does 16 17 Blackinferiority, bully Blackfolkintoacceptingtheworldinwhiteterms. using economicoppressionandsocio-politicalostracismto attempt to“definetruthintermsofhumanslavery;”namely, their beingwiththewhiteworld.” tions ofthemselves,butonlyfromtheattempttoreconcile states that “absurdity arises not from Black person’s percep- of absurdity during instances of antiblack oppression. Cone ing inConedevelopsexistentiallyfromBlackexperiences separated from the community which it represents.” as thedescendantsof“humanmoney,” Blackness “cannotbe Blackness namesaparticulargroupdefinedbytheirhistory Blackness, then God is complicit in antiblack racism. While then GodmustbeBlacktojust.Ifdoesnotsidewith be Black.SinceBlacknessidentifiessocialnon-personhood, trait oflovemanifestasjustice.ThereisaneedforGodto occurring again. ilance againstthepossibilityofantiblackoppressionever defeated, politicalactorsremainBlackbymaintainingvig- ever aworldshouldarisewhereantiblackstructuresare by championingtheirfreedomaspoliticalagentsofit.If means workingtoeradicatethesufferingofBlackpeople a masochismtobepossiblefornon-Blackfolk);rather, it of suffering analogous to Black suffering (assuming such Black withGoddoesnotmeanplacingoneselfinacondition Black peopleintopoliticalactionontheirbehalf.To become Blackness. This means manifesting God’s commitment to God,” meansadoptingGod’s traitsoflove,justice,and theology’s response to the hopelessnessthatafropessimism lence suchdiscoursemobilizes. which toderacinateidolatrous whitediscourseandthevio- universal to the world that it is an appropriate location from construction of Modernity. It names a particular so deeply this does not matter based on the relation of Blackness to the “Become BlackwithGod!”:ASocial,EthicalMaxim causes theirsuffering. secure freedomforBlacksbyendingtheantiblacknessthat project. Thus,to“becomeBlackwithGod”isstruggle understanding forms the basis for Black theology’s political mation ofGodtobeajust,loving,free,BlackGod.This the humanityofBlackpeopleintheologyisarecla- world hasusedtomangleit.Thechiefconceptsecuring cessful becauseBlacklifeconteststhecategorieswhite what wassaidaboutthem.Theseattemptsringunsuc- anti-black theologyto attempt to makeBlack folk believe use policeforce,urbanization,anti-blackeducation,and Cones noteshowwhiteAmericainthe1960sattemptedto The similarnotionofsocialnon-personhoodappear God’s BlacknessissymbolicofGod’s coreontological Black theology’s invitation,“tobecomeBlackwith Put intotheseterms, itiseasiertounderstand Black 18 Anumberofforces 20 Yet Yet 19 - grows from. Black theology refutes the claim that such suf- of capitalism. The embrace of Blackness as divine struggles fering disavows political action. The only way to assert the demands revolution and dispels the sensation of hopeless- humanity of people racialized as Black is to act politically ness that Black suffering welcomes. Black theology presents on their behalf. The nature of the human is of one who hope at the possibility of revolution. Not because the event struggles against forces of social non-being. Humans do not is already won, nor because victory is assured. Black theol- need to directly experience such structures in the same brevity ogy offers a necessary word of hope, namely, because we and style to resist social non-being. Persons not racialized as cannot breathe otherwise. “Black,” as well as those who are, must become Black with God. Echoing the Hebrew Bible, Cone states that “to be Black theology clarifies that afropessimsm in par- human is to be in the image of God.”21 God is a loving God ticular, and a refusal to participate politically on behalf of of justice working against domination. Realized humanity Black people more broadly, accedes Black humanity to the likewise loves others and works against domination. Part of attempts that try to dehumanize Black people. The question humanity’s resonance with the divine nature is that humans of possibility resolves into a question of justice. Since Black must “revolt against everything opposed to humanity.”22 theology clarifies that political action is possible, it is now Part of that revolt is not just the rejection of whiteness but a matter of justice, not hope, regarding whether one will an embrace of Blackness. Whiteness names megalomania: it abandon the benefits of antiblackness to realize humanity represents deranged individuals who “claim sole authority in the world. to declare what is real and what is right.”23 To love Black people is to love Blackness. To love Blackness is to oppose Endnotes whiteness. To love Blackness and to work for the liberation 1 William R. Jones, Is God a White Racist?: A Preamble to Black Theology of Black people is to “become Black with God!” Such is the (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1973), 6. social, ethical command of Black theology. 2 Kendrick Lamar, “FEAR,” track 12 on DAMN, Aftermath/Interscope (Top Dawg Entertainment), 2017, Vinyl. This necessarily manifests as the destruction of 3 “Editor’s Introduction,” Afro-Pessimism, An Introduction (Minneapolis, whiteness by all for all. Cone states that to become Black MN: Racked & Dispatched, 2017), 7. with God means far more than to “identify” as Black. It 4 Vincent Lloyd, The Religion of the Field Negro: On Black Secularism and Black Theology (New York: Fordham University Press, 2018), 132–133. also opens the possibility for whites (read: “non-Blacks”) to 5 Ibid., 133. become Black with God. In both cases, it requires one to 6 James Cone, Black Theology and Black Power (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis “reorient one’s existence” away from structures and priv- Books, 1997), 6. ileges derived from the social non-personhood of Black 7 Ibid., 8. people. To “become Black with God” names the maxim: to 8 Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (San Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 2009), 47–48. divest from gains bought through someone else’s inhuman- 9 Charlene Sinclair, “Towards a Twenty-First Century Black Liberation ity. To become Black with God is to work on behalf of those Ethic: A Marxist Reclamation of Ontological Blackness,” in The experiencing social non-being, to secure their liberation as Reemergence of Liberation Theologies: Models for the Twenty-First Century, authentic humans and not as property or chattel, and to ed. Thia Cooper (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2013), 169. resist the comfortable naiveté that believes legislation, pol- 10 Lloyd, The Religion of the Field Negro, 25. 11 Frank Wilderson, interviewed by Jared Ball, Todd Steven Burroughs and icy, or conditional emancipation stands in as proxy for the Dr. Hate, “We’re Trying to Destroy the World,” Ill Will Editions, 2014. realization of humanity for all. To be human is to be Black, Transcript. and to be human is to engage in praxis aimed at participating 12 Defining Blackness as inhuman excess of fleshy, material desires trace an in “societal structures for human liberation.”24 intellectual genealogy to how Christianity (and Islam) understand sinful- ness. Sin names alienation from God, the encroachment of fleshly desire in direct contestation of God’s moral law. The etymology of the word Conclusion “wretched” carries a heathenistic tone; it is ironic but not unintentional that it is used to name those in material poverty in current scholarship. For more information, refer to J. Cameron Carter’s Black Theology offers a word of relief to those grap- Race: A Theological Account (2008). pling with the pain of antiblackness. Where afropessimism 13 Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, 8. constructs ontological Blackness to represent the severe 14 Ibid., 95. inhumanity of Black people who are treated as objects rather 15 Ibid., 8. than people, Black theology’s ontological Blackness outlines 16 Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (New York: Grove Press, 1967), a vision for Black people to realize their humanity imma- 110. nently. The embrace of Blackness is not solely the embrace 17 Ibid. 18 Cone, , 105. of Black suffering as some afropessimists claim. Rather, A Black Theology of Liberation 19 Ibid., 104. the embrace of Blackness means the refusal to accept con- 20 Ibid., 9. ditions of social non-being for the generative comfort of 21 Ibid., 99. demonic whiteness. It refuses to accede humanity to the will 21 22 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Wilderson, Frank.“Gramsci’s BlackMarx:WhithertheSlavein Thomas, Greg.“Afro-BlueNotes: TheDeathofAfro-pessimism Tillich, Paul.DynamicsofFaith.SanFrancisco:HarperOne,1998. Mbembe, Achille.CritiqueofBlackReason.Trans. LaurentDuBois. Lloyd, Vincent W. ReligionoftheFieldNegro:OnBlackSecularism Jones, William R.IsGodaWhiteRacist?:APreamble toBlack ————————. “Existential Dynamics ofTheorizingBlack Gordon, LewisR.BadFaithandAntiblackRacism.Atlantic Fanon, FrantzandPhilcox,Richard.TheWretched oftheEarth: Fanon, Frantz.BlackSkin,WhiteMasks.Trans. CharlesLamm ———————. ———————. Cone, JamesH.ABlackTheologyofLiberation:40thAnniversary ————————. Anderson, Victor. “ARelationalConceptofRaceinAfrican Afro-Pessimism: AnIntroduction.Minneapolis,MN:Racked& Works Cited 24 23 22 01579. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630320001 Civil Society?”SocialIdentities 9,no.2(June1, 2003): 225–240. muse.jhu.edu/article/685979. (2.0)?” Durham, NCandLondon:DukeUniversityPress,2017. and BlackTheology. NewYork: FordhamUniversityPress,2018. Theology [1stedition].GardenCity, NY: AnchorPress,1973. Existential Philosophy.Ed.A.NewYork: Routledge,1997. Invisibility,” inExistenceBlack:AnAnthologyofBlack Highlands, NJ:HumanitiesPress,1995. Press, 2004. Jean-Paul SartreandHomiK.Bhabha.NewYork: Grove Frantz Fanon;Trans. RichardPhilcox;Introductions by Markmann. NewYork: GrovePress,1967. 1975. Orbis, 1997. Edition. Maryknoll,NY: OrbisBooks,2010. York: Bloomsbury, 2016.Originallypublished1995. Collections, TheHistoryoftheTransatlantic SlaveTrade. New American ReligiousandCulturalCriticism.BloomsburyAcademic andEmergentReligions7,no.1(July1,2003):28–43. Alternative of American ReligiousThought.”NovaReligio:TheJournal Dispatched, 2018. Ibid., 94. Ibid., 109. Cone, A BlackTheologyofLiberation,99. Theory &Event21,no.1(2018):282–317.https://www.Theory God oftheOppressed. NewYork: SeaburyPress, Black TheologyandPower.Maryknoll,NY: Beyond OntologicalBlackness:AnEssayonAfrican ————————. ————————. of U.S.Antagonisms.Durham,NC:DukeUniversityPress,2010. Red, White,andBlack:CinematheStructures Anger and Territory: Revolutionary Politics and Non-Figurative Metaphors in the Poetry of Chrystos Ivanna Berríos, University of Pennsylvania
Ivanna Berríos is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, is not only characteristic of, but tactically central to, her majoring in Comparative Literature with a minor in Art poetic project as a tool to disruptively claim territory on History. Their research focuses on artistic production in Latin the plane of ideology. Through the deployment of what America, land struggles in the Andes, revolutionary poetics, and I name “non-figurative metaphors,” this anger insists on more. Ivanna is also an abolitionist and worker justice organizer the psychosomatic element of repression whereby history committed to democratizing knowledge, disrupting the univer- is embodied by racialized and gendered subjects. In this sity, and making scholarship relevant to movement work. They regard, Chrystos understands subjectivity as a product of plan to pursue a PhD in American Studies as well as to continue material conditions.2 Although she is a poet, her politics are grassroots organizing. not merely metaphorical. Her poetry must be read as not only displaying anger because she is unfree but also as using anger in the service of creating freedom. Abstract At times, scholars have derided revolutionary aes- This paper takes the work of Menominee poet thetics as crude realism in the service of propaganda.3 Chrystos as a jumping off point for thinking through the However, poetry occupies a unique position from which an revolutionary potential of poetry. Given that hegemonic, understanding of the revolutionary potentiality of art may colonial ideology not only prescribes a set of values but be expanded from the mimetic to the generative. Poetry also defines our very notions of reality, metaphors and their is materialist in its concern with the devices of language apparent departure from reality may in fact call attention to beyond the practically communicative. As the literary the- the constantly constructed nature of said reality. In the case orist Terry Eagleton writes, “in a world of instant legi- of Chrystos’s work, I name these critical metaphors ‘non- bility, we have lost the experience of language itself.”4 In figurative metaphors’ to indicate their accurate articulation other words, the relationship between signifier and signified of structures of domination that are constantly invisibilized has also been demoted to one of mimesis, with language by the language of U.S. colonization. As a paradox that attempting to approximate the world. reflects the impossibility of ‘treaties’ during genocide, ‘non-figurative metaphors’ are angrily deployed by Chrystos Poetics make a contradictory claim, whereby the to condemn the U.S. nation-state project. This paper also signifier itself constructs meaning. This forefronting of lan- positions anger as not only characteristic of but tactically guage’s materiality is analogous with the demystification of central to her poetic project in order to reject reformism and ideas that materialism provides. In The German Ideology, Karl disruptively claim territory on the plane of ideology. Marx and Friedrich Engels criticize idealists for how they “consider conceptions, thoughts, ideas, in fact all the prod- ucts of consciousness, to which they attribute an indepen- Acknowledgements dent existence, as the real chains of men.”5 Marx and Engels argue that “consciousness is . . . from the very beginning a Thank you to Ricardo Bracho and Jennifer Ponce social product, and remains so as long as men exist at all.”6 de León for your invaluable feedback on the paper and for The political potency of poetry is not limited to mimesis your uncompromising commitment to radical politics in the nor even its opposite, the sensuousness of “imagining other- echo chamber of the academy. In particular, I’d like to thank wise.”7 In fact, interpreting poetry’s revolutionary potential Dr. Ponce de Leon for mentoring and encouraging me as the ability to reconfigure one’s imagination is an idealist throughout my undergraduate career. Finally, I would like usurpation of poetry’s materialist possibilities. Rather, just to thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Wolf as ideas are not separate from the world, the world is not Humanities Center for supporting my academic pursuits. separate from our language for it; thus enters the power of ideology. Ideology is the Euclidean space-time of one’s life, In her poem on violence against women, “There is a plotting the coordinates of how we experience ourselves 8 Man Without Fingerprints,” Chrystos writes, “This is not and the world while remaining invisible and presumed. If a poem it’s a newspaper a warning written quickly/ Always the materialism of poetry can invert hegemonic ideology be on guard.”1 As an Indigenous queer woman and a polit- through language, perhaps we may begin to see where the ical radical who experienced economic, racial, and gender coordinates of our subjectivities lie and move them, expand oppression throughout her life, Chrystos forefronts the them; in other words, claim territory as Chrystos does in her reality of violence and brings the urgency of her politics to writing using historicized anger. bear on her poetic craft through the use of anger. With the The anticolonial writer and thinker Frantz Fanon understanding that her political project is one of territorial proposes a discerning theoretical analysis from which to reclamation aligned with the uncompromising nature of read Chrystos’s poetry as material, territorial, and dialectical. radical indigenous movement work, I contend that anger 23 24 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 tants oftheland. that containsandcategorizesasOthertheoriginalinhabi- highlights thestrangenessofa“BureauIndianAffairs” tion; thestrangenessofa“BureauCaucasianAffairs” cally emphasizes that America’s right toland is a total inven- thus thetitleof thepoemmakesvisiblecontradictions its landtheftandlegitimize its imperialistproject,and to U.S.history. However, theU.S.uses wordtodescribe of theword‘treaty’asaconsensual agreementisantithetical ilar effect.Asthetitleofpoem indicates,thedefinition U.S. Government,”Chrystosuses atoneofangertosim- their own,tobeheldintrust to the inhabitants of this island a portion of that land for satirically invertU.S.ideologybystatingthattheywill“give their officialproclamation,theactivistsoccupyingAlcatraz ideological territory was not forgotten by theoccupiers. In Physical territorywasclearlyatstake,yetthestrugglefor and angerplayavitalrole. sary tactic; alongside violence, the incendiary force of hatred He arguesfortheseizureoflandandviolenceasitsneces- is primarilytactical:howcanwemakerevolutionhappen? Fanon’s seminalwork,Wretched oftheEarth.Fanon’s concern Anger, history, andterritoryaresomeofthekeyconcerns Affairs toholdinperpetuity.” that returned out-of-use federal land to the Sioux tribe. rested; activists cited the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) rights weretherhetoricalcruxonwhichtheiroccupation forcibly removed by the federal government. Territorial 1971, NativeAmericansheldAlcatrazIslanduntiltheywere of AlcatrazIslandfromNovember20,1969toJune11, and Indigenousland-based to organize for better education, preservation of culture, the movementforIndigenouspeopleinNorthAmerica neous andalignedwiththeAmericanIndianMovement, Menominee activist,andpoet.Herwritingiscontempora- Chrystos wasborninSanFrancisco1946andisalesbian, occupation posestoindigenouslifeandsubjectrealization. resisting thethreatthatenduringconditionofcolonial trauma as anindigenouspersongrapplingwiththelegacyandpast colonization projectthatneverended. illuminates theoft-forgottenrealityofUnitedStatesasa nization inthe1960s,readinghisworkintoU.S.context the Algerian independence movementagainstFrenchcolo- tion toclaimlandterritory. AlthoughFanon’s casestudywas sake ofpsychosomaticfreedomisenmeshedintheinjunc- Thus, the prescriptive to claim ideologicalterritory for the an impediment towards the full realization of subjectivities. pathologizing effectcolonizationhasonthecolonizedas In herpoem“IHaveNotSigned aTreaty with the Therefore, Chrystosmustbeunderstoodnotmerely of colonization,butratherasacolonizedsubject 12 9 Inaddition,Fanonidentifiesthe autonomy. Intheoccupation . 11 . . bytheBureauofCaucasian Theproclamation sardoni- 10 10 these names illegible toIndigenousrecognition(“We don’t recognize other formsofIndigenouscommunallegitimacyandisthus its territory are Indigenous. The U.S. has no “elders” or base. Furthermore, Chystos’s claim and the coordinates of logical territory rooted in the right to claim actual land non-figurative metaphormakesanexpansiveclaiminideo- ple within the juridical mandates of the U.S. state. This or theameliorationofconditionsIndigenouspeo- of Indigenousautonomythatrejectreform,assimilation, symbolic flourish, but rather reflects a coherent politics colonist always remainsaforeigner” tion state.InWretched oftheEarth , embodies aFanonianunderstanding of the colonial-na- lines ofaggressiveaversiontoreconciliation. Thisapproach “Gosomewhereelse& /build aMcDonald’s,” andother ect of expulsion. In her “Go Away Now,” Chrystos writes ugly mess/downnow.” even further with the line “This U.S. is theory rather createdbyit.Herideology-rupturinglanguagegoes truth arenotconveyedbythemanipulationoflanguage,but that isinnateinbothpoetryandideology:meaning mative utterance foregrounds the relationship with language as sheclaimsideologicalterritory. Thedeviceoftheperfor thought becomesrealitywritlargeacrossChrystos’s poetry within theideologyofAmericanexceptionalism.Thisafter and povertyofIndigenouspeopleexistsasanafterthought perity tooneofpatheticlack.Normally, themarginalization U.S. istransformedfromitsself-fashionedimageofpros- U.S. ideologyasdelusional,andinstantlyinthenextline reality in whichtheyare stated. Classic performative utterances change the nature of the person,” Chrystosemploysapoeticperformativeutterance. In theline“ThereforewedeclareUnitedStatesacrazy presents theworldofU.S.ideologyasbeingillegitimate: invisibilized by language. In the following lines, Chrystos an inventionofideology. With thisline,Chrystos namestheUnitedStatesitself The claim for territory is tied up in an explicit proj- has nochildren terrible ceremony No onewantstogothere nobody weknow nightmare Therefore wedeclaretheUnitedStatesacrazy We don’t recognizethesenamesonoldsorry illusion person paper can’t cook . . .”). Therefore,“We’re goingtotearallthis lousy food no elders The UnitedStatescan’t dance 14 ugly clothes The useofmetaphorisnota 13 This U.S.istheory Here,Chrystos “declares” no relatives. Fanon arguesthat “the 15 andtherefore the bad meat
illusion.”
as as - - colonized can only resolve this fully by “ejecting him out- with the U.S. government” references a concrete politics of right from the picture.”16 Although he is describing literal Indigenous sovereignty. expulsion, Fanon also writes that “the supremacy of white values is stated with such violence . . . that as a countermea- Although a non-figurative metaphor appears to be a sure the colonized rightfully make a mockery of them.”17 paradox, it is a tool of the political poet that redefines what is This mockery serves to reaffirm the dignity of colonized concrete (i.e., structural) beyond what is visible. This poetic people and “bring about the collapse of an entire moral perspective, although operating in the realm of language, and material world.”18 The moral world is determined by is analogous with Marx’s critique of commodity fetishism the battle for ideological territory whereas the material is that invisibilizes the processes which bring the tangible 22 determined by the battle for physical territory. Through (commodities) into being. As Terry Eagleton writes, “it is her palpable anger and its poetic devices of performative a mistake to equate concreteness with things. An individual utterance and metaphor that sharpen the tensions between object . . . is caught up in a mesh of relations with other language, meaning, and reality, Chrystos carves out a space objects. It is this web of relations and interactions which is of ideological territory that denaturalizes nationalist images ‘concrete,’ while the object considered in isolation is purely 23 of the U.S. espoused by the state and it’s ruling class, centers abstract.” Extended to language, it is a mistake to diminish the material conditions of Indigenous people, and redefines metaphor, imagery, and symbol as strictly abstracted and who the rightful owners of the land are. aestheticized representations of reality when language is constitutive of reality. The “tendons stretched brittle” and In her poem “I Walk in the History of My People,” “women locked in [her] joints” may not be physical “things” Chrystos describes how colonial containment is reproduced before us, but they are an articulation of the very real net- in the body. She writes: work of social factors that create all the “things” we do see. There are women locked in my joints Articulating them as physical reality through the device of the metaphor reverses the invisibilizing nature of ideology, For refusing to speak to the police thereby dialectically negating the negation.24 The work that My red blood full of those Chrystos and other radical poets create highlights that lan- arrested in flight shot guage is not a medium of representation; it is a process of My tendons stretched brittle with anger world-making. Eagleton writes: do not look like white roots of peace What had started out as a matter of clear repre- sentations, now touched on the very essence of the The symbol of the tendons and metaphor of the joints poetic imagination, which combines, distinguishes, adeptly layers vivid, psychosomatic imagery. Those tough, unifies, and transforms. Moreover, if our knowledge wiry strings that hold one together are to the point of break- of reality involved the imagination, then imagery was ing in Chrystos’s body. The stressed “t” in tendon is mirrored cognitive, not merely decorative. It could no longer be in the delicate and unstressed “t” in brittle, interweaving dismissed as so much superfluous embellishment.25 weakness and strain, vulnerability and anger. As the strong Is an Indigenous poet writing about her stretched tendons fibers linking muscle to bone, tendons simultaneously evoke and locked joints any less concrete or real than the U.S. the sturdiness of the skeleton and the movement of the calling its genocidal maneuvers “treaties?” Non-figurative muscle. Brittle tendons result in both inflexibility and loss of metaphors are always around us in the form of what Fanon strength. In his chapter in Wretched of the Earth on “Colonial refers to as “colonial vocabulary,” presenting poetic equa- War and Mental Disorders,” Fanon details case studies tions guised as empirical truth.26 of the psychosomatic effects of colonization on colonized 19 people. One pattern he identifies is of “patients who have If ideology obscures itself in language, poetry can difficulty making certain movements such as climbing stairs, achieve the opposite. It shows itself in language through walking, or running . . . passive bending of the lower limbs its devices that forefront the materiality of language and is practically impossible. No relaxation can be achieved . . . emphasizes the everyday phenomenon of the world-mak- 20 He is constantly tense, on hold . . . ” Fanon theorizes that ing power of words. The worlds that Chrystos constructs this results from the fact that “the colonial subject is a man are defined by the material conditions of poor Indigenous penned in . . . the first thing the colonial subject learns is women and denaturalize the language of dominant ide- 21 to remain in his place and not overstep its limits.” In the ology to claim territory within this invisible but concrete poem, the metaphor of locked joints works non-figuratively realm. Poetry is often perceived as a poet’s interpretation in reference to a concrete condition of colonized people, of the world and thus an abstraction resulting from the similarly to how the non-figurative metaphor “the U.S. is creativity of the individual. The poetry of Chrystos pushes theory” in Chrystos’s poem “I Have Not Signed a Treaty back on this assumption by highlighting the malleability of 25 26 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Endnotes making the cameraobscuraof ideology visible. claiming ideological territory isnecessary forthework of her unapologeticallyrhetorically aggressiveapproachto oppression andcontainment.Theangersheexpresses Fanonian understandingsofthepsychosomatictollracial She writes of herself as a historical being, incorporating work inalignmentwithrevolutionarysocialmovements. challenges andinvertsideologicalassumptionscreates being materiallyconstituted,notindividuallyinterior. She what the‘world’isandbyunderstanding her subjectivity as poetry areintheserviceofrevolution. power is just as crucial to world-making as the metaphors of adeptly showshowthelanguageoftreatiesinservice empire that structure our notions of meaning, Chrystos making visible the invisible logics ofwhite supremacy and 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Frantz Fanon,“On Violence,” inWretched oftheEarth (NewYork: Grove In theiraccountofthecompositionalmodelideology, Jennifer For moreonthis“imaginingotherwise”approachtotheorizingthe Ibid., 44. Karl MarxandFriedrichEngels,Marx,Frederick Engels:Collected Terry Eagleton,HowtoReadaPoem(Oxford:BlackwellPublishing, See HerbertMarcuse’s critiqueoforthodoxMarxistaestheticsand This materialistapproachhasbeenofdefiningimportancewithin Chrystos, Press, 2005). and CulturalRevolution,” PhilosophyToday 64,no.1(2020):100. “Towards aCompositionalModelofIdeology:Materialism,Aesthetics, physical production ofasharedworldsensethat isatoneandthesametime It composesanentireuniversethrough thecollectiveandhistorical sensorium thatemergesfromtheactual life-processesofhomofaber. set ofillusionsorfalseideas,ideologyoperates asanall-encompassing Ponce deLeónandGabrielRockhillwrite, “Insteadofsimplybeinga 2000), 8. with HerbertMarcuse(NewYork: StateUniversityofNewYork Press, Charles Reitz,Art,Alienation,andtheHumanities:ACriticalEngagement cate ourselvesfromtheoppressiveconditionsofoursocialexistence.” abstractions debilitateoureffortstounderstandourselvesandextri- tion that“Marcuse’s non-Marxistandevenanti-Marxistphilosophical plane thatmustbelostorwon.IagreewithCharlesReitz’s conten- as mycentralmetaphoricalunderstandingofideologyaterritorial decisive breakfromthematerialistanalysisthatIseektoemploy, aswell Marcuse’s emphasisonart’s transcendenceofsocialconditions marksa power ofaesthetics,seeMarcuse’s “AestheticDimension”citedabove. Works, vol.5(NewYork: InternationalPublishers,1976),30. 2007), 21. Bloomsbury, 2012),442–451. of Aesthetics,ed.JosephTanke andColinMcQuillan(NewYork: Anthology realism in“TheAestheticDimension,”TheBloomsbury nists andlaterincorporatedintoBlackfeminismbyClaudiaJones. refrain of“thepersonalispolitical”coinedby20thcenturyradicalfemi- Fanon. Thematerialistapproachisalsopresentinthecontemporary oped bythinkerssuchasLouisAlthusser, GeorgLukács,andFrantz dialectical materialismofKarlMarxandFriedrichEngels,laterdevel- multiple radicalintellectualtraditions,perhapsmostfamouslyinthe https://blackcoffeepoet.com/2010/09/13/not-vanishing/. Vanishing byChrystos:Review,” BlackCoffeePoet,September13,2010, happens . shenameswhathappens.”JorgeAntonioVallejos, “Not how thekillerkills,andwhyheisabletodoso.Shedoesn’t maskwhat Antonio Vallejos writes,“Chrystosshowsyouwho,where,when,and On “ThereisaManWithout Fingerprints”theindigenouspoetJorge and mental.”JenniferPoncedeLeónGabriel Rockhill, Not Vanishing (Vancouver: PressGangPublishers,1989),11. 27 Through 13 12 11 10 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 A performativeutterance,asdefinedbythelanguagephilosopher Generally speaking,the“Other”isasubjectwhosedivergencefrom Ibid. “Alcatraz ProclamationandLetter:IndiansofAllTribes (December Marx andEngels,“TheGermanIdeology.” Fanon, Terry Eagleton, How toRead,141. Frederick Engels,“TheDialectic:NegationoftheNegation,”in Terry Eagleton,HowtoRead,142. Karl Marx,Capital:Volume 1:ACritiqueofPoliticalEconomy(London: Ibid., 15. Ibid. Fanon broadlyunderstandsthesepsychosomaticeffectstobeamani- Ibid., 9. Ibid., 8. Ibid., 9. Fanon, To saythattheU.S.isaninventionofideologynottoit University Press,1975). phor. J.LAustin,HowtoDoThingswithWords (Cambridge:Harvard hidden byideology, butratherbyrecomposingtheworldthroughmeta- that Chrystosclaimsideologicalterritorynotbyrepresentingtruths reality isnotbeholdentoanypre-existing‘truth.’Similarly, Ipropose ideology insofarastheyarenottruth-evaluable;theirabilitytoshape etc. Performativeutterancesareparticularlyapplicabletothinkingabout Common examplesinclude“Ido”(weddings),nameyou,”resign,” J.L Austin,isan“illocutionaryact”thatbringsaboutaconsequence. (Oxford: ClarendonPress,1977). House, 1979),G.W.F. Hegel,PhenomenologyofSpirit,trans.A.V. Miller racialized “Other,” seeEdwardSaid,Orientalism(NewYork: Random Race (NewYork: OxfordUniversityPress,2001),10.Formoreonthe and losttotheheartofnation.”AnneA.Cheng,TheMelancholy legitimizes itselfbyretroactivelypositingtheracialotherasalwaysOther racialized others.Thenationaltopographyofcentralityandmarginality white nationalideal,whichissustainedbytheexclusion-yet-retentionof through theinstitutionalprocessofproducingadominant,standard, A. Chengwrites,“RacializationinAmericamaybesaidtooperate which whitesettlerpowerdefinesitself.InTheMelancholyofRace,Anne case, Iamusing“Other”torefertheracializedcounterpartagainst and/or deridedaspartoftheself-definitionapersonorgroup.Inthis norm definesthenormativeSelf;“Other”isthusoftenmarginalized historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/alcatrazproclamationandletter.html. 1969),” Kerr &Company, 1907). Landmarks ofScientificSocialism:Anti-Duehring(Chicago:CharlesH. Penguin Classics,1992),165. colonized.” festation ofhow“thecoredespaircrystallizedinthebody Socialism,no.150(2016):54. International the EuropeanBorderRegime:Towards aMarxistTheoryofBorders,” tently andexclusivelycorrespond.”NicholasdeGenova,“The‘Crisis’of states, towhichallterritory the ideologicalimageofaworldcomposed“nations”and“national” but alsosustainadefinitemetaphysics .bordersconstantlyreinforce mobilization ofvariouspracticesandmaterialtechnologiesbordering) then itiscrucialtonotethattheynotonlyinvolveaphysics(throughthe “If bordersareproductiveofdifferencesinmaterialandpracticalways, body-politic ofsettlers.Alongtheselines,NicholasdeGenovawrites, U.S. nationundergirdsthestate’s claimtoruleonbehalfofacollective socioeconomic realities.Chrystos’s linehighlightshowtheideaofa metaphysics shouldbeunderstoodasanideologicalconstructionwith merely ideological,unreal,orimmaterial,butratherthatnation-state Wretched, 7. Wretched, 5. 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Vallejos, Jorge Antonio. “Not Vanishing by Chrystos: Review.” Black Coffee Poet. September 13, 2010. https://blackcoffeepoet. com/2010/09/13/not-vanishing/.
27 28 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 as “beingmobile withothersatadistance,” I createdthe Jen Southern and Chris Speed’s term “comobile,” defined ity audiencesexperience fromaliveperformance. Using prerecorded showsthat lack the liveness and ephemeral- Socially distant dance performances often take theform of the lossofasharedphysicalspace presentsasignificantshift. mances movedtotheinternet. Fordancersandaudiences, result oftheCOVID-19pandemic, rehearsalsandperfor support andalltheyhavetaughtme. Clemons, andthe UT MMUF cohortfor their continued time atUT. ThankyoutoDr. JacquelineToribio, Aris paper— contributed significantly to my imaginings around this Martinez, EricaGionfriddo,andCharlesO.Andersonall time. ClassdiscussionswithDr. RebeccaRossen,Dr. Carra for keepingusthinkingandmovingduringachallenging ment for cultivating thoughtful, innovative performance and unique typeofsite-specificperformance. space as a site, comobile digital dance presents a new and site-specific performancespace.Whenweapproachdigital literature andspacetheorytoarguefordigitalasa ogy. Thisarticleusesacombinationofdanceperformance theatre isbestcreatedonlinethroughcomobilitytechnol- son performance,andthatthesenseoflivenesspresentina same way weapproached creating movementforlive, in-per approach digitalcreativityinlieuofphysicalspacesthe significant changetoperformances.Iarguedancerscannot For dancers,thelossofasharedphysicalspacepresents the worldshutteredasaresultofCOVID-19pandemic. in Quarantine Dancing Together Apart:ComobilityandPerformance Acknowledgements Abstract also aplaywrightanddancer. naturetive andbinary ofboththeatre andacademia.Theyare - political. Theyhopetheirresearchtheheteronorma willinform Boal andPauloFreire toarguethatalltheatre isnecessarily in theatre formarginalizedidentities,usingtheworkofAugusto Libby’s workexplores waystomitigatebarriersrepresentation and GenderStudies.UnderthementorshipofDr. LisaMoore, (Playwriting/Directing Emphasis)withaminorinWomen’s double majoringinPlanIIHonorsandTheatre &Dance Libby CarrisaseniorattheUniversityofTexas atAustin Libby Carr,UniversityofTexasatAustin in Quarantine Dancing Together Apart:ComobilityandPerformance As dancestudiosacrosstheworldshutteredasa I amgratefultotheUTTheatreandDancedepart- This article was conceived as dance studios across their teachingswereinvaluabletomeduringmy - - is unsafeforthedancer. performance arenotmaskedanddistanced,thentheprocess an in-personaudiencehasessentiallyceased.Ifrehearsaland The NecessityofLiveness always bebetter suitedtodigitalviewing,which prompted they couldjustwatchamovie? created forin-personviewing as opposedtoremotewhen ences. Fortheaudience,whywatch afilmeddancethatwas audiences butpresentedonline lessexcitingforremoteaudi- performer in both forms, make dances created for in-person performance, aswelldistancebetweenthecameraand treamed. Theirlackofliveness,inthecaseprerecorded for anin-personaudience,whetherprerecordedorlives- formance fromtheaudience’s view. prerecorded in-person dance, which is just a film of a per in-person dancemaintainssomesenseofliveness,unlike online arewatchingareal-timeperformance,livestreamed image quality, it is sometimes impossible. Because viewers cern intimatedetailsoftheperformance;dependingon stage. It is often challenging for the online viewer to dis formance, creating distance between the camera and the are livestreamed from the back of the theatre during a per a dancecreatedforanin-personaudience.Typically these film. Livestreamedin-persondanceisaliverecordingof in-person dance,prerecordedanddance methods toadaptdanceascreenincludelivestreamed dance, thepracticeofviewinghasmovedonline.Common opportunities areimportantfordancers’safety. conscious movetowardvirtualrehearsalandremoteviewing becoming where everyperformerissixfeetapartwithoutthedance reographers tobuilddancewithmorethanoneperformer space andpeople. of site-specificperformance,withthecapacitytoshapeboth site, comobiledigital dance presentsanewanduniquetype ing overdigitalspace.Whenweapproachspaceasa offers audiences insight into their own experience interact- dancers indifferentlocationsaphenomenon,andultimately dance multiplies and redefines space, makes the position of experience artduringaglobalpandemic.Comobiledigital pelling visuals, and liveness for dancers and audiences to digital dance offers the best combination of safety, com other technologies. current phenomenonoflivedanceexhibitedviaZoomand phrase comobile digital dance, which I use to describe the For thedancerduringCOVID-19,makingdancefor A performance createdfordigitalviewing will Still, mostdancesadaptedtoscreenwerefirstcreated For most audiencesstilllookingtoexperience about everyonebeingsixfeetapart.Therefore,a 1 Inthispaper, Iarguethatcomobile 2 Itislogisticallychallengingforcho- - - - - the development of dance film, or dance for the camera: audience in a live performance experience that was deeply movement created specifically for a high-definition, cine- immersive and extremely successful. matographically artistic movie. With a camera, it is possible that “a viewer . . . may participate in the dynamic of the Part of the importance of liveness, for both dancers performer’s space in a most intimate way.”3 For example, and the audience, is response presence. Sociologist Erving directors can use a camera close to a dancer’s body to high- Goffman describes the immediacy of proximate interaction light what might not be noticeable in a real-time perfor- as “response presence,” a catch-all describing the “non- mance space, but when zoomed in on, becomes incredibly verbal aspects of interaction such as body talk, line-of-sight, emotionally powerful. Instead of creating and filming dance intensity of involvement and levels of engagement in the 5 as if it were for a proscenium stage performance, creators interaction as well as mood, ease and wariness.” When two can record what it feels like to perform the dance. Dance people are present together, their bodies are vulnerable to film is an exciting way to watch dance performances from each other’s response presence. Vulnerability to response a distance; however, the form sacrifices liveness for image presence is an essential feature of dance performance: it is quality and cinematography. the ability to react to different qualities of expression in your fellow performers. When this reaction is live, it is exciting Comobile digital dance presents the opportunity to and desirable to observe. Response presence is the reason combine the image quality of a dance film with the live- it is often more satisfying, and more vulnerable, to video ness of in-person performance while keeping all dancers in chat with someone instead of just calling them.6 (re)current their own space to follow CDC guidelines. In his haunting unrest is an example of performance for a remote audience performance (re)current unrest, which explores the history that kept the thrill of response presence because it was live of Black performance, protest, and sociopolitical activism, and captured close enough for audiences to see the quality choreographer Charles O. Anderson explored a partial ver- of performer’s bodies changing in response to one another. sion of comobile digital dance with some dancers in shared space and some contributing in isolation. Full comobile The liveness of Anderson’s (re)current unrest was as dance would include keeping all dancers at a distance at all close to live dance performance as one could get for remote times during the process; Anderson’s partial comobility used viewing. Still, it entailed the frequent gatherings of dancers livestreams and prerecorded elements to keep some dancers who did not live together. While the dancers were masked distanced, but not all. The hour-long performance was lives- and distanced, there was still potential for COVID expo- treamed— using multiple cameras for close-up shots— for sure— ultimately, COVID infection delayed the perfor- two evenings in late October through the University mance of Anderson’s work, halting the rehearsal process of Texas Theatre and Dance department. Anderson’s for fourteen days, and “many dropped out of the work out 7 (re)current unrest was both artistically stunning and unprece- of anxiety” of exposure. Anderson and his cast created dented in its use of multiple media forms to create an excit- an unbelievably moving and effective remote live perfor- ing live performance specifically for remote viewing. mance. But to create dance during a pandemic without risk of COVID transmission, performers need to explore the For the dancers, (re)current unrest was valuable not potential of full digital comobility. only because of the relation of its subject matter to current events, but because the dancers got to experience moving Digital Comobility together at the same time, part of the draw of comobility. The lack of collaboration and performance opportunities Recorded dance performance was one of the first since early March has weighed heavily on the dance com- attempts by dancers to imitate in-person performance; how- munity and Anderson’s work was an example of the ways ever, as previously stated, recordings lack liveness and real- dancers could collaborate in quarantine. For the audience, time feedback. In an attempt to replicate liveness, dancers (re)current unrest presented a new way to experience art and choreographers should explore creative uses of como- during COVID-19. It was both live and ephemeral— the bility, described by Jen Southern and Chris Speed as simply audience watching on Friday had a completely different “being mobile with others at a distance.”8 The ability to see experience than those watching Saturday, not because the friends move on apps like Find My Friends, for example, is choreography changed, but because the camera angles and comobility. The specified location of other people is not as the dancers they focused on changed dramatically from important to the concept of comobility as is their movement night to night. With multiple cameras capable of capturing and their peers’ ability to follow and react to their real-time dancers close up, Anderson could explore more than with a motion. There is a “sense of liveness” that is offered through few dancers on a proscenium stage, all spread six feet apart. the “real-time feedback of data.”9 Dancers perform como- Anderson described (re)current unrest as an attempt to “bring bility when they dance over Facetime or Zoom with each the audience inside of what’s occurring.”4 He engaged the other, inhabiting the same digital space while they move 29 30 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 be adaptable to various non-traditional spaces. is inseparablefromtheworkitself,andsomecreatedto cific workiscreatedsothephysicallocationof “here andnows.” gular “present,”weexistinaconstantprocessofproducing Geographer DoreenMasseyarguesthatasopposedtoasin- bilities for performerstoexploredifferenttypesofspace. dance onfilmiscreatedspecificallyforvideospace. “Video Space,” he argues that video is a site-specific space as as site-specific performance. InDavidRosenberg’s essay together they help us conceptualize comobile digital dance ness necessarytocreatesatisfyingdigitalperformance,but work indigitalspace,nordoesdancefilmprovidethelive- and RedefiningSpatiality Opening Possibilities:Multiplying“HereandNows” Digital SpaceasSiteSpecificEnvironment creating sociallydistantdance. make spaceandrelationshipthroughtechnology, iskeyto separately. Thisideaof“virtualcopresence,”theabilityto Finally, they produce ahereand nowwhich theaudience now thatincludes theknowledgetheyarebeing recorded. dancing onastage.Second, they experienceahereand their bodiesexperienceahere andnowinthemoment, multiple “hereandnows”during theperformance.First, create andrespondtomultiple spacesatonce. creating morepossibilitiesforbodilyexpressionasdancers using digital platforms for performance multiplies space, experience ofthesitewhereoneisrecording.Asaresult, and now”response:totheexperienceofdigitalspace where thespaceisnotphysical,butdigital. constructs a new kind of site-specific performance space live audiencesandin-personspaces.Comobiledigitaldance location ofdigitalspace,butitcanalsobereimaginedfor can beboth— in-person site-specificperformance,comobiledigitaldance with the history or context of the site. non-traditional performance space and typically engages focus oncomobiledigitalspaceasaperformancesite. rather than focus on video as a performance site, we need to now.” and embody those responses in the moment, in a “here and on theirbody’s livedexperiences and interactions with asite creation ofasite-specificdanceperformance,dancersdraw Massey’s worktosite-specificspace,arguingthatinthe 15 Digital danceperformanceopensupmorepossi- The waywemakedanceforalivestagedoesnot Performers indigitaldanceperformances experience Site-specific danceiscreatedforanalternativeor Over digital space, the body experiences a dual “here it mustbecreatedspecificallyforthephysical 14 DancescholarVictoria Hunterconnects 10
12 Some site-spe- 13 Unlike 11 Now, from Donna Harraway’s sands ofotherdancersandtheircommunities.Borrowing ways; nonetheless,theywillexperienceitinrelationtothou- their communitywillexperiencethepandemicinunique distance andconnectionishighlighted.Eachdancer apart. Inthemidstofaglobalpandemic,thissimultaneous digital space while being 12 hours and 6 thousand miles New York andadancerinBeijing,whoconstitutethesame unique qualitytothedigitalspacecreatedbyadancerin their physical position is far apart. For example, there is a than obsolete,theirpositionisaphenomenon,especiallyif are bothinhabiting,throughtheirdigitalinteraction.Rather tute theirdigitalspace,asopposedtothephysicalspacethey mance. Dancing togetherover Zoom, two dancers consti- a dancermightoccupyatanygivenmomentoftheperfor entire performance,ratherthanthepositiononstagethat through them? specific spacesandhowweinteractcreateouridentities screen, ordoesitopenupnewpossibilitiesforexploring lete, becauseweareperceivedasonlybeingonacomputer Does liveonlinedanceperformancerenderspatiality obso- now wearechallengedtocompletelyredefinespatiality. their interrelations, and their spatiality onstage, and right both aloneandshared. a wayofexperiencinghumanitythroughthedigitalthatis in digitalspacecreatesa“hybridofmachineandorganism,” can beseenon a screen.Thereisalsochange insensory is asmallerrange ofmovementsadancercan performthat formance being displayedoverascreen. Practically, there a performanceonstagethatcannot bethesameforaper of thisvariationtodigitalspace. Thereareexpectationsfor tions.” a rangeofspatialandpresentationalcodesconven- formance withinaveryspecificenvironmentencompassing notes that“‘theatre’dancevocabularyiscreatedforaper in-person audienceinatheatreontodigitalspace.Hunter it isimpossibletoimposeaworkchoreographedforan is dramatically different than that of a theatrical space, so Digital DanceasaNewForm from site-specificperformance. ship betweencontent,environment, andaudiencedistinct create eachother. interrelations (interactions), and their spatiality (positions) is theproductofinterrelations:identities(people),their but becauseitisremote,distinct. in reallife,thatobservedspacewouldhavebeenthesame, experiences, differentfromthatofthedancer. Iftheywere 18 For this paper, I define spatiality as the site of the The “hereandnow”interactionwithadigitalspace In her book For Space Theatrical dance intentionally creates a relation- 16 Danceisaproductoftheseidentities, 17
Cyborg Manifesto , Massey asserts that space 19 Iextendtheobservation , comobile dance - - - response a dancer experiences while in their personal space, When thinking about comobile digital dance, imag- e.g. their bedroom, and their screen space shared with other ination is crucial. We must not only be able to imagine a dancers than the sensory response they experience in a completely socially distant live performance, entirely online, theatre space. Hunter argues for a divergent approach to but we must also be able to imagine a future when that per- site-specific work from theatre dance work: in site-specific formance could be adapted into a production for in-person dance, “the work develops in collaboration with the site as audiences. Comobile digital dance is a new and different opposed to imposing itself upon it.”20 When effective, “the type of site-specific dance, and needs to be approached as audience receives the site through the site-specific dance such. Dancers need to begin creating performance together performance.”21 In the case of comobile digital dance, the in digital space, with the digital site inseparable from the digital space is the site. work itself. Dance already has the capacity to shape physical space beyond its normal context— now comobility allows When we create performance in conscious collabora- us the opportunity to creatively manipulate digital space as tion with digital space, the audience will receive insight into well. their own digital experience through these performances. For example, Erica Gionfriddo, artistic director of ARCOS Endnotes Dance, created a live movement project with students in their Projects in Dance Performance and Repertory rotation 1 Southern, Jen, and Speed, Chris. “Sharing occasions at a distance: at UT Austin in conscious collaboration with digital space the different dimensions of comobility.” Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance. Edited by Victoria Hunter. London: which offered the audience reflection into their own expe- Routledge, 2015. Print. p. 133. rience online. The piece involved several dancers exploring 2 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC recommends personal safety their bedrooms, improvising all over their space simultane- guidelines to help slow the spread of disease. As of December 2020, these guidelines include staying at least six feet from those who do not ously in a dozen or so squares on Zoom. While watching live with you and avoiding crowds and indoor spaces as much as possible. them, I became increasingly aware of my relationship with All three of these guidelines are challenging in a typical performance both of the spaces I was in: the space I took up seated on my space. bed, and the space I took up digitally in Zoom. Watching 3 Rosenberg, Douglas. “Video space: a site for choreography.” Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance. Edited by Victoria dancers jump on their beds while seated on my own, I Hunter, London: Routledge, 2015. Print. p. 153. wanted to explore my own furniture and open the intimate 4 Hollister, Celeste. “(Re)Current Unrest Challenges Viewers to Stay space of my bedroom to public performance as everyone on Woke.” San Marcos Daily Record, 4 Oct. 2020, https://www.sanmarcos screen had done. As the piece continued, dancers came close record.com/features/social-movement. 5 Goffman, Erving. “The Interaction Order: American Sociological to their cameras, experimenting with their hands in relation Association 1982 Presidential Address.” American Sociological Review, to the screen. It seemed as though they were trying to touch vol. 48, no. 1, 1983. Print. p. 2. the audience through digital space. Their hands were nearer 6 Southern and Speed. “Sharing occasions at a distance.” p. 133. to me than any had been recently due to the quarantine— I 7 Gallagher-Ross, Anna. “IN PROCESS: Charles O. Anderson on felt close to them. Through Gionfriddo’s project, I became (Re)Staging (Re)Current Unrest.” Fusebox, 9 Oct. 2020, www.fusebox festival.com/post/in-process-charles-o-anderson-on-re-staging- aware of the rich potential of digital space to cultivate con- re-current-unrest. nection between people during times of distance. Comobile 8 Southern and Speed. “Sharing occasions at a distance.” p. 131. digital dance expands the potential for what interactions can 9 Ibid., 133. be shared online, creating space for tenderness and closeness 10 Ibid. through the camera. 11 Rosenberg. “Video space: a site for choreography.” p. 152. 12 Kloetzel, Melanie. “Site and Re-site: Early Efforts to Serialize Site In a moment when our lives, business and personal, Dance.” Dance Research Journal, Vol. 41 No. 1, Cambridge University Press, April 2017. Print. p. 12. are increasingly conducted through computers, site-specific 13 Hunter, Victoria. Moving Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance dance will allow us to experience digital space differently, Performance. Edited by Victoria Hunter, London: Routledge, 2015. Print. finding nuance in on screen interaction. Through perfor- p. 2. mance, digital space is altered; the performance challenges 14 Massey, Doreen. For Space. London: SAGE Publications, 2005. Print. p. 95. the conventions of the space and opens the audience to new 15 Hunter, Victoria. Moving Sites. p. 96. and different interactions within it.22 Recalling Massey’s 16 Massey, Doreen. For Space. London: SAGE Publications, 2005. Print. notion of the “here and now,” the choreographer and the p. 95. audience’s concept of the digital site evolves through famil- 17 Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, technology, and iarity, innovation, and repeated negotiation in the moment, Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.” Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge, 1991. Print. allowing us to bring increased awareness of our inhabited p. 4. digital space forward in our everyday lives. 18 Hunter. Moving Sites. p. 104. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid., 106. 31 32 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Southern, Jen,andSpeed,Chris.“Sharingoccasionsata Rosenberg, Douglas.“Video space:asiteforchoreography.” Massey, Doreen.ForSpace.London:SAGEPublications,2005. Kloetzel, Melanie. Hunter, Victoria. MovingSites:InvestigatingSite-SpecificDance Hollister, Celeste.“(Re)CurrentUnrestChallengesViewers to Haraway, Donna.“ACyborgManifesto:Science,technology, and Goffman, Erving.“TheInteractionOrder:AmericanSociological Gallagher-Ross, Anna.“INPROCESS:CharlesO.Andersonon Works Cited 22 21 Hunter. London:Routledge,2015.Print. . EditedbyVictoriaInvestigating Site-SpecificDancePerformance distance: thedifferentdimensionsofcomobility.” MovingSites: by Victoria Hunter, London:Routledge,2015.Print. . Edited Moving Sites:InvestigatingSite-SpecificDancePerformance Print. University Press,April2017.Print.p.12. , Vol.Site Dance.”DanceResearchJournal 41No.1,Cambridge 2015. Print. . EditedbyVictoriaPerformance Hunter, London:Routledge, sanmarcosrecord.com/features/social-movement. Stay Woke.” San MarcosDailyRecord, 4Oct.2020,https://www. Routledge, 1991.Print. Cyborgs, andWomen: TheReinventionofNature. NewYork: Socialist-Feminism intheLateTwentieth Century.” Simians, Review, vol.48,no.1,1983.Print. Association 1982PresidentialAddress.”AmericanSociological on-re-staging-re-current-unrest. www.fuseboxfestival.com/post/in-process-charles-o-anderson- (Re)Staging (Re)CurrentUnrest.”Fusebox,9Oct.2020, Ibid., 109. Hunter. Moving Sites.p.107. “Site andRe-site:EarlyEffortstoSerialize
Beyond Physical Limitations of Kin: How Chronically Ill Ethiopian Immigrant Women Utilize Social Media to Contend with the Disruptive Effects of Migration Meklit Daniel, Williams College
Meklit Daniel is a recent graduate of Williams College, where pillow under her knees and a gabi (cotton blanket) over her she studied Anthropology and Public Health. Her scholarly legs. After greeting her with three cheek kisses, I settled interests lie in East African migration histories, intergenera- at the foot of Redeat’s daybed with Tigist nearby, and we tional migration and health experiences, and applied medical all discussed the past week. Oftentimes, Tigist and Redeat anthropology. A recipient of the Dr. Herchel Smith Fellowship, paused our conversation to offer me injera beh wot (sour Daniel is currently an MPhil student in the Health, Medicine, fermented flatbread with stew). But having just eaten lunch and Society program at the University of Cambridge. She aspires earlier, I kindly refused, acceding for a cold bottle of water to shed more light on the migration experiences of first- and after a few persistent requests. second-generation East African immigrants in the U.S. and to advocate for their health and well-being. Sundays with Redeat and Tigist were a highlight of my week, but I was saddened by what I observed— two elderly Ethiopian immigrant women dealing with the long- Abstract term effects of migration and chronic illness. Redeat is 66 years-old and has type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, which Migration engenders the loss of familiar social have made her reliant on a walker. Redeat’s health issues structures, values, and networks (Bhugra & Becker 2005). are in fact what made her leave Ethiopia for the U.S. in Expectedly, immigrants mourn these deprivations, but they 2007 to get lifesaving treatment, ending her 30 yearlong also contend with the disruptive social effects of migra- marriage and accountant career. Tigist, who is 58 years-old, tion through social media. Drawing upon my ethnographic also has type 2 diabetes. Due to political issues, she involun- senior honors thesis, I present a case study of two elderly tarily left Ethiopia in 2006, where she worked in the media Ethiopian immigrant women living with chronic illnesses to sector. Tigist is now a home caregiver. Migration radically demonstrate that they are active agents in asserting control changes Redeat’s and Tigist’s social networks. Redeat’s world in their lives and restructuring their social networks by is physically and socially isolated to her studio apartment drawing upon social media and technology. I show the inno- and caregiver. As for Tigist, she mainly interacts with her vative and meaningful ways in which Ethiopian immigrant husband and children, patients, and church friends. These women rebuild their social worlds and foster community. social alterations have greater implications on Redeat’s and Tigist’s health as “health is interconnected” just like people (Smith and Christakis 2008, 405). Chronically ill immi- Acknowledgements grants, particularly the elderly, are put at a disadvantage with drastically changed social ties; yet, it is misleading to only To my advisor Professor Lisa Koryushkina, thank you examine these individuals’ physical networks. With the rise for supporting me throughout this long, arduous journey. To of social media, elderly immigrants like Redeat and Tigist my interlocutors, I am humbled by your compassion, kind- have embraced technology, reaching beyond the physical ness, and strength. You all inspire me to pay it forward to limitations of social relations and connecting with other future generations of Ethiopians. Lastly, I thank my parents, Ethiopians both domestic and abroad. whose stories about growing up in and leaving Ethiopia gave birth to this project. Your experiences give me purpose, and This article draws upon my ethnographic senior you have shaped me into the woman I am today. honors thesis in which I explored chronically ill Ethiopian immigrant women’s health experiences in the greater Washington, D.C. area. In this paper, I examine how elderly Introduction Ethiopian immigrant women with chronic illnesses confront In the summer of 2019, I rode the Washington, D.C. the disruptive social effects of migration by utilizing social Metrobus each Sunday afternoon to interview Redeat and media. Migrants are physically deprived of familiar social Tigist.1 The one-hour ride ended at the bottom of a hill, structures and practices when they relocate (Bhugra and which I steadily trekked to its apex in the humid D.C. heat. Becker 2005). For those who are chronically ill, social net- Upon entering the lobby of Redeat’s apartment building, I works become even more important as they provide support and comfort that might be less available due to relocation was greeted by the familiar scents of wot (stew) and bunna (coffee). I skipped up the lobby stairs to the first floor and (Hernández-Plaza et al. 2006; Hombrados-Mendieta et al. made my way to Room 108. Outside, I could hear synthe- 2019; Njeru et al. 2020). Social media provides creative sized Ethiopian Protestant music playing from a TV and ways for building new social networks and maintaining old harmonizing with Redeat’s legato “Mhms” and her caregiver ones. In this article, I demonstrate that Ethiopian immigrant Tigist’s staccato replies. All the melodies stopped abruptly women are active agents in rebuilding their social worlds when I knocked on the door and Tigist let me inside. On with the help of virtual media and technology. Marginalized because of their legal status, race, and gender, these women most Sundays, Redeat waited for me on her daybed with a 33 34 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 immigrants. Migration affectsthe strength of immigrants’ to major life events, and this phenomenon is most drastic for Christakis 2008;Wright 2016). Socialtiesoftenchangedue also ontheirsurroundingbiology andbehaviors(Smith comes dependnotjustontheir physiologyandactionsbut changes (Wright 2016).Accordingly, individuals’healthout- while negativesocialsupport can deterhealthybehavioral Positive socialsupportcanalso reinforcehealthybehaviors support networks(Wright 2016;seealsoCohenetal.2000). port havehigherrisksofmortalitythanthosewithstronger ing. Studiesshowthatpeoplewithlowlevelsofsocialsup- Altogether, thesesocial tiesaffectimmigrants’health. and transnationalties(Wilson andHabecker2008,444). in partbecauseofsocialmediausagetomaintainbothlocal these communitiesbecomestrengthened,andtheyexpand Massey 1990;etal.1993).Thesocialnetworksof established culturalinstitutions(Wilson andHabecker2008; development ofimmigrantenclavesdrawsnewmigrantsto capital (Wilson andHabecker2008).More significantly, the is acosmopolitancity, aplaceforglobalwork,andtheU.S. gateway forEthiopianandotherAfrican immigrants asit (Migration PolicyInstitute2014).D.C.isconsidered a concentration ofabout35,000Ethiopian-bornimmigrants the U.S.withD.C.metropolitanareahavinglargest et al.2014). the U.S.resettledabout1,000Ethiopiansannually(Capps Europe, NorthAmerica,andAustralia. From 1981–1993, Somalia, andKenyaforrefugewhileothersrelocatedto Accordingly, manyEthiopiansresettledinnearbySudan, political regime, droughts and famines, and a civil war. in Ethiopian history as the country endured an oppressive Policy Institute 2014). These decades were critical times tlement occurredduringthe1980sand1990s(Migration to the U.S. after 2000, their first significant wave ofreset- 2019). Although60%ofEthiopianimmigrantsrelocated immigrant groupintheU.S.afterNigerians(U.S.Census tion EthiopianimmigrantsarethesecondlargestAfrican How MigrationAffects SocialNetworks Ethiopians intheU.S.: health. nuanced insightsondifferentsocialmatrices’effects that affectlong-termcarepatterns,anditcanoffermore networks providesabetterunderstandingofthechallenges immigrant womenfostercommunity. Afocusonvirtual goal of conveying the innovative ways in which Ethiopian as asecond-generationEthiopianAmericanwomanwiththe persevere andassertcontrolintheirlives.Iwritethisarticle Social networksinfluencepeople’s healthandwell-be- The Ethiopiandiasporaiswidelydistributedacross With around256,032residents,first-genera- alienation and marginalization in and AmyBelow(2014)callculturalmourning— migrants grievetheirlosses,experiencingwhatDwainePlaza for relocatedpeople(BhugraandBecker2005).Expectedly, of thefamiliar, likelanguage, values,andsocialnetworks, As mentionedearlier, migration engenders the deprivation women, grapplewiththefragmentedeffectsofmigration. grants, inthiscasechronicallyillEthiopianimmigrant Cultural MourningonSocialMedia history Onetypeofonlineresponseisculturalmourning. within the greater context of Ethiopia’s social and political differences, andemotionaleffectsthatarisefromrelocation grants contendwiththegeographicalseparation,cultural through virtualplatforms.Onthesesites,Ethiopianimmi- with thepeople,culture,andaffairsoftheirhomecountry first-generation Ethiopianimmigrantsmaintainstrongties forms. As a relatively “new” immigrant group in the U.S., grants fostertheirtransnationalidentitiesonmediaplat- distant fromhome(Asal2012).Similarly, Ethiopianimmi- their nativecountry’s currentaffairsdespitebeingphysically each other. Immigrantskeepupwithandparticipatein tain connectionswiththeirhomeland,hostcountries,and virtual technologyenablesimmigrantstoestablishandsus- (Plaza and Below 2014). Houda Asal (2012) contends that they usesocialmediatorestructuretheirnetworks alterations throughinnovativelyformedcommunities. cult, butsocialmediahelpsimmigrantscontendwiththese sense of changes related to migration, for example, is diffi- ities in sick people’s life worlds (Kleinman 1988). Making experiences ofpainandsuffering;theyareinseparablereal- of chronicillnesses.Chronicillnessesarenotjustthedaily social networks,whicharefurthertestedwiththeaddition family andfriends’ livesaswellEthiopiancurrent affairs what they have lost, these women stay updated with their and fortifytheirsocialnetworks inEthiopia.Graspingonto immigrant women.“Callinghome” allowsthemtomaintain and Telegram, are key platforms utilized by elderly Ethiopian Instagram, telecommunication applications,likeWhatsApp media isoftenassociatedwith Facebook,Twitter, and in Ethiopia”beforejoiningRedeat andme.Thoughsocial Tigist hungup,shewouldsighandmumble about“issues tion, but I couldtellshewastalking with arelative.After phone. Iwouldhavedifficultyparsingoutherconversa- I waswelcomedbyTigist’s rapidAmharicchatteronthe confront itasseenwithTigist andRedeat. can reinforcethisanguishwithinimmigrantsorhelpthem of settlement”(37).Socialmediaisatwo-sidedplatform that Cultural mourningonsocialmediaisonewayimmi- Immigrants createfluidnotionsofcommunityas When IvisitedTigist andRedeatoncertainSundays, . . . respective countr[ies] “feelings of and cultural changes. For Tigist, calling home reinforces music, or watch other Ethiopia-related videos when she the pain of having to leave Ethiopia involuntarily. She is feels lonely. Despite being physically distant from Ethiopia, reminded of the enjoyable aspects of her life in Ethiopia, like Redeat reinforces her cultural ties through social media, being near her loved ones and having a dynamic professional maintaining her well-being and confronting the isolating life. Tigist also remembers the distressful social and political sentiments of cultural mourning. climate that made her family relocate and continues to affect other Ethiopians. When I asked Tigist if she ever considered In these two examples, we see the dual effects of living in the U.S., she refuted strongly: cultural mourning on social media. Tigist and Redeat both fortify their social networks in and with Ethiopia. These pro- [B]ack home, I have my own business. I’m doing cesses, however, sharpen the pains of involuntarily leaving research. I’m giving a training [sic]. . . . I travel to Ethiopia for Tigist while enabling Redeat to contend with different European countries, African countries. So the alienating effects of her relocation. I examine cultural honestly speaking . . . never. Even when my friends mourning in these contexts because it provides my interloc- are asked me [sic]. [I would say,] “Me? Don’t kidding utors a larger sense of community, one that is geographically me [sic].” No, because I worked the work which I liked. I like it. displaced for Tigist and another that is spiritually driven for Redeat. These different experiences allow Tigist and Though Tigist stays updated with Ethiopian news through Redeat to connect with each other and maintain their virtual social media, this exposure reinforces her grief of being networks. Though migration compromises their physical physically separated from Ethiopia and unable to participate social networks, Tigist and Redeat are able to rebuild these in these broadcasting activities. She mourns her loss of home connections on the basis of shared cultural loss. Ultimately, and its consequences. Calling home is a way for Tigist to these similarities support Tigist and Redeat’s well-being. maintain contact with her loved ones, strengthening those Both women reaffirm their cultural identities and attain social ties at the cost of intensifying the wounds of loss and psychological comfort, pointing to social media’s empow- alienation. ering effects.
While Tigist was on the phone, I would greet Nurturing Social Empowerment and Building Redeat seated in her wheelchair in front of her TV, watch- Interethnic Networks ing a YouTube broadcast of the International Ethiopian Evangelical Christian Church’s (IEECC) service. As I pre- Ethiopian immigrant women utilize social media to pared my voice recorder and interview questions, Redeat strengthen and expand newly established social networks would gently sway her head to and hum along with the within community associations. Tigist is part of a social church songs with a smile on her face. Redeat deals with her organization that consists of the women who reside in her physical and social isolation through technology, namely apartment building. This group is a grassroot association YouTube Ethiopian church broadcasts. These videos for- that acts in part like social clubs, but its goals go beyond tify Redeat’s social ties with Ethiopian Evangelical reli- socializing to provide financial, emotional, and cultural sup- gious practices. Undoubtedly, these broadcasts engender port for its members. At least once a month, the women sentiments of loneliness within Redeat, who left Ethiopia in Tigist’s apartment building meet to discuss important due to unanticipated life events. Similar to Tigist, Redeat infrastructural, financial, or personal issues related to their never thought she would live in the U.S., and she desires place of residence. Tigist describes this group as a “women’s to return to Ethiopia quickly: “If I am okay, I wish I will go empowerment association,” which has become a beloved [to Ethiopia] tomorrow [sic]. If I am okay but God knows at family. Two years ago, the organization members successfully what time I can go . . . Maybe I will go there. I will saw my reversed a couple’s eviction from the apartment by tapping parents, my brother, and sister [sic].” The YouTube church into their social and cultural capital to win this case. That is, videos address these feelings and help Redeat confront cul- the members utilized online platforms like Facebook to con- tural mourning. She develops social and cultural comfort tact other Ethiopian immigrant women who have experience through the IEECC broadcasts that practice traditional in dealing with this issue and to find other resources related Ethiopian Evangelical religious customs. More importantly, to this problem. This example demonstrates how Ethiopian these videocasts offer spiritual solace for Redeat. She rein- immigrant women use social media to challenge structural forces her faith in God, finding the strength and inner peace obstacles in the U.S. These women educate themselves to deal with the physical, social, and emotional effects of about their rights in this unfamiliar country, strengthening migration. In some ways, this virtual connection is more their self-confidence and empowering their counterparts important than real life communication because the for- undergoing similar issues. mer is at Redeat’s fingertips at any moment. She can tune into past IEECC services, listen to Ethiopian Protestant 35 36 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 important roles inpeople’s everyday lives.Thesesystems migration. Social mediaandtechnologyundoubtedly play no lesspowerful inoffsettingthesociallosses generatedby psycho-physiological well-being, butvirtualnetworksare on physicalsocialnetworksand theireffectsonimmigrants’ works, migration, and health. Most kinship studies focus examine the relationships and significance of virtual net- in theirlives.Furtherresearch isneeded,however, to resist structuralandculturalobstaclesassertcontrol cle showsthatchronicallyillEthiopianimmigrantwomen that helpconstructinterethnicsocialties.Inall,thisarti- ment association,tostrengthennewlycreatednetworks Ethiopian immigrantwomen,likethoseinTigist’s apart- face this pain directly. Additionally, social media empowers lives, memories, and loved ones they have left behind and to chronically illEthiopianimmigrantwomentomournthe ical limitationsofsocialnetworks.Theseplatformsenable utors’ agencyinutilizingsocialmediatoexceedthephys- this dishearteningimagedoesnottrulyconveymyinterloc- effects ofmigrationandchronicillness.Icontemplatehow Ethiopian immigrantwomendealingwiththelong-term have of them in Redeat’s studio apartment— and Tigist, andIoftenthinkaboutthatlastingimage ethnic dividesandfurthereachresidents’causes. space, socialmediaplatformsenableengagementacross aries. Justastheapartmentbuildingisasharedinterethnic more meaningful sense of community beyond ethnic bound- learn newvaluesandpracticesfromeachother, fosteringa gins. Together, theEthiopianandLatinaimmigrantwomen vated to support each other regardless of their national ori- women areboundbytheirsimilarexperiencesandmoti- tural barrierstohaveaplaceoftheirown,theseimmigrant to American society. Having overcome structural and cul- cial capitalthesewomenhaveaccumulatedastheyadjust apartment isaphysicalmanifestationofthesocialandfinan- raise their families and rebuild their lives in the U.S. The building isasharedinhabitedplaceinwhichthesewomen inate againstresidents.We welcomeall.”Theapartment group, sheassertedthattheorganization“doesn’t discrim- When IaskedTigist aboutnon-Ethiopianwomeninthe a majority ofTigist’s apartment residentsare Ethiopian. women. Iwassurprisedbythisappearance,knowingthat throughout thephoto,however, wereLatinaimmigrant smiling intheircolorfulkemis 20 womenintheimage,mostofwhomwereEthiopian celebrating theirwinforthetenants’case.Therewereabout women association,sheshowedmeapictureofthegroup social networks.WhenTigist describedherapartment’s pushes Ethiopianimmigrantwomentobuildinterethnic Conclusion It hasbeenaboutayearsinceIlastvisitedRedeat This stridetowardgreatercommunitydevelopment (Ethiopian dress).Dispersed
two elderly
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37 38 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 and EmmaChosyfortheirrevisions andmentorship. early stages.ThankyoutoAdrienne Brown,SophiaSherry, for makingthisprojectpossible and workshoppingitinits Conference, andUCUnitedEthnic StudiesPop-upClasses the ChicagoEnglishDepartment,MellonMaysMidwest Severance. IwouldliketothanktheMellonMaysFellowship, Capitalist RuptureandImmigrantRecoveryinLingMa’s thesis: “ThePresidentTold UsAlltoGoShopping”:Late despite thecomplicatedcapitalistrelationsthattheyimply. strategies ofsurvivalthatsimplymakelifemorebearable, grant novel to show how consumer-based attachments are citizenship aswellBharatiMukherjee’s workontheimmi- engage withLaurenBerlant’s workonambivalenceand just as cognitive attempts at identity-formation or protest. I survival strategies as ambivalent and consumption-based, not a KFC restaurant, and department stores, cast immigrant under crisis. also depend on ambivalent attempts to organize daily life result ofconstantvulnerabilityoractivereclamation,but spaces. Iarguethatimmigrantnarrativesarenotonlya through ambivalent, apolitical attachmentstoconsumer manage thehistoricalandeverydaycrisesintheirlives by demonstrating how immigrant and diasporic subjects grant novelSeverance,supplementstheseconversations paper, throughitsreadingofLingMa’s apocalypticimmi- identities in the face of narrative or historical rupture. This of politicalreclamationthatimmigrantwritersusetoform that ruptureimmigrantlives,oritemphasizestheinstances often focusesoninstancesofvulnerabilityandprecarity Acknowledgements Abstract continue studyingU.S.capitalismandculture. applying tograduateprogramsinEnglish,where shehopesto political redistricting, andracialcapitalismintheU.S.Sheis Law, andPoliticsLab,focusingonyouthpoliticalidentities, analyst forChicago’s andtheViolence, GenForwardSurvey Ma’s Severance.Sheiscurrently anresearch assistantanddata on immigrantestrangementandconsumerattachmentsinLing English Department’s JanelMuellerThesisPrizeforherthesis with SpecialHonorsinEnglish2020.ShewontheChicago Paola DelToro graduatedfromtheUniversityofChicago Paula DelToro, UniversityofChicago Ambivalent ImmigrantRecoveryinLingMa’s Severance “The PresidentTold UsAlltoGoShopping”: This paperisarevisitedexcerptofmyundergraduate My closereadings,whichtakeplaceinshoppingmalls, Contemporary scholarshipon the immigrantnovel strategies forsurvival andstability— rupture. to form their identities in the face of narrative or historical instances ofpoliticalreclamationthatimmigrantwritersuse ity thatruptureimmigrantlives,orithasemphasizedthe has oftenfocusedoninstancesofvulnerabilityandprecar capital inordertocopewithimmigrantandcapitalistcrises. Severance’s subjectsdevelopaffectiveattachmentstoformsof experience andcapitalistconsumptioncollide,Ishowhow characters. By closereadingscenesinwhichimmigrant consumption, particularlywithrespecttoitsimmigrant contradictory natureofthenovel’s attachmentstocapitalist of market.ThisactinSeverancestagestheambivalentand sense ofthenightmarketafterduckingintoadifferenttype inside for reprieve” (103). Candace is only able to make front ofme,abeaconAmericansummer, andIducked the street,” she narrates, “a 7-Eleven magically miraged in just asconsumeristthedizzyingnightmarket:“Across (103). Yet theplaceinwhichshefindsreliefisjustasneon, losing mymind,”soshejumpsintoanearbystoreforrelief market, evensaying“IshoppedsomuchIfeltlikewas of vendorsandproductsintheHongKongoutdoornight Candace isunabletohandletheconstant,“achingstream” Hong Kongandproceedstoshopuntilsheloseshermind. (2018), the protagonist Candace Chen Introduction (684). In this paper, I argue that ous strategiestorepairtheruptures andtraumasoftheirlives studying the ways in which immigrant subjects employ vari- the “brokennarrativesofdisrupted lives”attheexpenseof work for analyzing immigrant literature tends to emphasize grow up“adrift”asCandacedoes. of subjectswhowereneverfully “housed”anywhere,who rehousement isunabletoaccountforimmigrantnarratives and traumaofimmigrantexperience,theframeworkun/ of “rehousement”(683,695).Yet byfocusingontherupture write animmigrantnovelisthereforetonegotiateaprocess endure thepainandinevitabilityof‘unhousement,’”to in theirhomecountry, shewrites,“tosurviveinlifeisto land” (695).Forimmigrantswhofleeoppressiveconditions tures the“anguishofseparationfromfamilyandhome- describes howcontemporaryimmigrantliteraturecap- immigrant literature of“New Arrival,” Bharati Mukherjee to organize daily life under crisis. In her theorization of the or active reclamation, but also about ambivalent attempts narratives arenotonlyabouteitherconstantvulnerability modities andconsumerspaces.Inotherwords,immigrant lives through ambivalent, apolitical attachments to com- subjects managethehistoricalandeverydaycrisesintheir versations bydemonstratinghowimmigrantanddiasporic Contemporary genre theory on the immigrant novel In LingMa’s apocalypticimmigrantnovelSeverance 1 MyreadingofSeverance Severance 2 Furthermore,thisframe- supplements thesecon- like Candacerunning
goes on a trip to stages ambivalent - from the night market to the 7-Eleven— that attempt to Candace’s experience at the mall beauty counter is at repair severed connections from home or create new con- once transactional and deeply personal. Ma uses pacing to nections entirely. I argue that these strategies are often wed the transactional nature of the exchange with Candace’s contradictory or ambivalent attempts to make sense of life memories; in the midst of Ma’s clipped writing style and under immigrant or capitalist crises. These crises range from the frequent reassurances made by the saleswoman at the oblique references to the 2008 financial crisis, to Candace’s beauty counter, Ma slows the pace of the scene with lon- emotional distress as an orphan without ties to her extended ger sentences and a more serious tone, taking the reader family in China, to the apocalyptic plot device of Shen Fever back to Candace’s childhood. In this memory, we learn that that drives the novel as a whole. These crises necessarily Candace’s mother Ruifang used to go to Hong Kong for overlap; indeed, I argue that the inability to enumerate each a cosmetic procedure. Ruifang was teased by her sisters, crisis as a discrete experience is itself a cognitive crisis expe- who called her a “spotted leopard” (101). Candace adds, rienced uniquely by the novel’s diasporic characters. “I’ve always been told my skin is too dry,” placing herself in a lineage of family criticism and self-scrutinization with While some discourse on immigrant narratives dis- which both mother and daughter cope by using cosmetic cusses how immigrants reject American culture or attempt procedures and skincare regimens (101). The memory ends 3 to create hybrid traditions, my readings, which take place with the futility of her mother’s effort; she came home with in shopping malls, a KFC restaurant, and supermarkets, cast white spots instead of moles, still “marked in the places she immigrant survival strategies as also ambivalent and con- desired to be unmarked” then without warning, the next sumption-based, not only cognitive attempts at identity-for- paragraph begins: “I took out my credit card and paid for mation or protest. To this end, I first argue that shopping the cleanser” (101). These immediately adjoining sentences malls specifically are a site of both generic consumption make the sentence “I took out my credit card” read like a and specific familial connection, making it a space where direct response to “She was still marked,” as if Candace not characters form contradictory attachments to its consumer only corrects her own skin insecurities by buying the skin offerings. I then discuss the relationship between consum- product, but her late mother’s, too. The sudden, intimate erism and citizenship. I demonstrate that this connection is memory of Candace’s mother inserted in the text reflects not always an overtly political rejection of the nation but an how an otherwise generic mall is imbued with genealogical ambivalent production of normalcy. Finally, I study the rela- reconnection in the novel. Studying the affective charge of tionship that Candace’s mother Ruifang has with shopping this otherwise mundane scene reveals how Candace con- to show how consumer habits allow her, and the immigrant nects to her family history at the shopping mall and more subjects around her, to make life more bearable. generally how sites of consumption can stage affective ties for otherwise disconnected immigrant subjects. Intimate Encounters at the Mall As the beauty counter scene shows, the moments Shopping— both as a specific kind of transactional of genealogical connection that Ma presents in the novel relation, and as a type of scene that is place-based, such as are not always conscious acts of immigrant reclamation, at a mall or a boutique store— frequently offers temporary but subtle flashbacks that invite the specific memories of relief to the characters in Severance. This relief takes place an ambivalent protagonist into a scene. Scholars of the both on the level of plot, as the novel resolves in large part immigrant novel such as Caren Irr have noted the ambiv- at an Illinois shopping mall where the Shen Fever survivors alence of certain immigrant texts, particularly with texts take refuge, and on the level of character, as Candace recov- under the category of “The New Nomads,” a label that ers memories of her “dimming” genealogical ties through might fit a rootless protagonist like Candace (672). Yet commodity relations at the shopping mall. At 7-Elevens even this theorization of ambivalence towards a homeland and beauty counters, Candace forms commodified, affec- or a “national belonging” is based on readings of non-mar- tive attachments to make sense of her life when she feels ket, non-consumer spaces such as engagements with music, disconnected. Studying these affective attachments and art, or language (673). In Severance, one’s immigrant past micro-interactions pushes us to think beyond the active seeps into market-based, consumer spaces: sometimes, as efforts that immigrants make to reclaim their family histo- Candace’s father says, “the solution is shopping” (177). ries in the immigrant novel and turns our attention to the “banal” and “politically incoherent” strategies that provide The Victory Lap temporary stability (Berlant xii, 3). At a Hong Kong beauty counter during one of Candace’s business trips, for exam- In addition to providing access to familial memories, ple, Candace engages in a simple commodity-based trans- shopping in Severance facilitates or constitutes participation action that also serves as a site of connection with family in a given place, sometimes even as a practice of citizen- memories. ship. Ma stages various attitudes or non-attitudes towards 39 40 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 live inacityistoconsumeitsofferings. [ parents’ consumerhabitsinultimately ambivalentways.“To ment thatmakeslifeslightlymore livable. simply anegativeorpositiveact; itservesasaformofattach- Participation in mass consumer culture is thereforenot daughter eliminateanytraceofcynicisminthepassage. the chickenandquietcelebrationbetweenfather a nationalcorporatechainrestaurant.Thedelicioustasteof Zhigang hastocompletetheexperiencebygoingKFC, enough toconferthefeelingofparticipationinnation; citizenship. Here,theformalityofcitizenshipalone is not at KFCpairsamassconsumerexperiencewithAmerican and I couldn’t interrupt it” (189). The “victory lap” scene dinner at home. Yet she knows that “KFC was his victory lap will be upset that they will have spoiled their appetites for in Americaasachild.Shethinkstoherselfthathermother there how delicious fried chicken tasted when she arrived ship test,CandacegoestoKFCwithhim,andremembers Candace andherfamilydoplentyofshopping. (Berlant 2).Andyet,aswehaveandwillcontinuetosee, fundamentally exclusionary practices of granting citizenship is embedded in the nation’s “logic of mass culture” and as afraughtpracticeand“fantasy,” asBerlantwrites,that told us allto go shopping” therefore underscores shopping to thecoreofwhotheyare” (1). Theline“President Bush to recognizecertainpracticesandwaysoflifeasrelated of fantasies” about thenationin which “people are asked that the process of citizenship involves “the orchestration of nationalhealingandparticipation.LaurenBerlantwrites ism asanAmericanvalue,makingtheshoppingmallasite told usalltogoshopping”(212).Bushpositionsconsumer which sherecalls,“afterithadhappened,PresidentBush memorial ceremonytakingplaceoutsideheroffice,during lives. As Shen Fever worsens, Candace observes a 9/11 and citizenship produce disconnection and harm in their and nation that immigrants make, even as both capitalism instead considerthecontradictoryattachmentstocapital that goesbeyondthisaffiliation/disaffiliationdichotomyto Severance’s shoppingscenes disaffiliate fromtheAmericannation”(12.11). Yet reading size the“choicetorejectanantiimmigrantsocialclimateand gests that twenty-first century immigrant narratives empha- “waning allegiance to America” in immigrant narratives sug- an ambivalentroutine.KatieDaily-Bruckner’s studyofthe shopping servesasbothaformofnationalparticipationand Putting thesedifferentvoicesinconversationrevealshow ily bonding,andCandace’s owntheoriesofconsumption. shopping inscenesthatfeaturepoliticalspeeches,fam- the novel(290). AsopposedtoGeorgeBush’s call toaction stores. [ Candace herselfmetabolizesboth Bush’s pleaandher After herfatherZhigangpasseshisU.S.citizen- . . . ]To payitssalestaxes” she reflects attheendof reveals theneedforananalysis . . . ]To shopatits - places— alyzing her mother’s motives. Instead she simply lists the of consumerismandCandacespendsnotimepsychoan- describes (177). Ma locates Ruifang’s relief ingeneric places superstores, placesofunparalleledabundance,”Candace eased indepartmentstores,supermarkets,wholesaleclubs, immigrating totheU.S.withshopping:“Herhomesickness sumption, becauseRuifangcopedwiththetransitionof Ruifang, thetextisexplicitaboutherattitudetowardscon- tional normativity.” WhenitcomestoCandace’s mother, immigrant survivalarebetterreadasstrategiesfor“aspira- “unrealized revolution,”wheninfact,somestrategiesfor are oftenreadfortheirabilityorinabilitytopointtowards political marginalization, immigrants and their narratives a pointertowardunrealizedrevolution”(25).Duetotheir show an“ambivalenceaboutaspirationalnormativityandnot Lauren Berlantdescribeshowsubjectscantakeactionsthat Unfinished BusinessofSentimentalityinAmericanCulture , of choice or political will.InTheFemale Complaint: of engaging with the world that are not always a matter a senseofselforstabilityoftenentailsambivalentpractices affiliate ornotwiththenationalculture.Recovering Severance of immigrantdisaffiliationdiscussedabove, my reading of chain stores,Candace herselfdescribespassing aStarbucks The CureforHomesickness Conclusion first place. has contributedtoRuifang’s severancefromhomeinthe relation ofrelief,evenifitprops upthesameeconomythat ability totemperRuifang’s homesickness,isacommodified a pleasure in its own right” (2, 9). Ruifang andCandaceisinfact“anintimateattachment of attachment,”suchthatthefeelingambivalencefeltby people “livetheirfantasiesincoherently, inuneven practices itself aformofattachmenttotheworld.Berlantwritesthat choices. Yet thislackofexplanationandambivalence is interested in the motives or capitalist ramifications of her frequents. Ruifang,inotherwords,isnotideologically of ambivalentattachmenttotheworld. city’s “offerings,”insteadseeingitasamodeofparticipation, no valuejudgementontheactofshoppingandconsuminga disaffiliated dissenter to American culture, Candace places ambivalent one.NotaferventAmericanconsumeristnor from bothsides,makingherrelationtoconsumptionan unspoken victorylapatKFC.Yet ithasclearinfluence enthusiastic one,whileitisalsonotassubtleZhigang’s for Americans, Candace’s theory of consumption isnot an In additiontopushingbackagainsttheframework While Ruifang’s comforttakesplace withinlarge department stores,supermarkets— also complicatesscholars’focusonthe“choice”to 4 Shopping, through its that hermother The “where, for a whole disgusting summer, [she] used to buy Bhabha, Homi. “Postcolonial Criticism.” Redrawing the Boundaries: a Frappuccino a day” (272). In each example, the women The Transformation of English and American Literary Studies, attempt to produce a sense of normalcy and their actions edited by Stephen Jay. Greenblatt and Giles B. Gunn, Modern show how capitalist structures both make life impossible Language Association of America, 1992. and provide the moments of palliative affect that make it Daily-Bruckner, Katie. Reimagining Genre in the Contemporary 5 tolerable. Candace, herself a theorist of consumption and Immigrant Novel. Academia.edu unpublished proof. attachment, summarizes it best: “To live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. It is also Fan, Jiayang. “Ling Ma’s ‘Severance’ Captures the Bleak, to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who Fatalistic Mood of 2018.” Dec. 2018. www.newyorker. could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?” (290). com, https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/ Consumption in Severance produces the normalcy, even the ling-ma-severance-captures-the-bleak-fatalistic-mood-of-2018. pleasure, that its diasporic subjects crave. The inability to Irr, Caren. “Toward the World Novel: Genre Shifts in Twenty- form coherent connections under late capitalism lead Ma’s First-Century Expatriate Fiction.” American Literary History, characters to make attachments to the world where they vol. 23, no. 3, Sept. 2011, pp. 660–79. can, not as acts of immigrant defiance or acquiescence, but as people tasked with being people. Jameson, Fredric. “Fredric Jameson: ‘Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.’” Twentieth-Century Literary Theory, edited by K. M. Newton, Macmillan Education UK, Endnotes 1997, pp. 267–75. Crossref, doi:10.1007/978-1-349–25934-2_51. 1 As I discuss below, scholars Katie Daily-Brucker and Tim Prchal respec- tively discuss “individual immigrant empowerment” and strategies of Ma, Ling. Severance. First edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. “immigrant adjustment” that emphasize how immigrant subjects reclaim their pasts or politically rail against the expectations of an American Mukherjee, Bharati. “Immigrant Writing: Changing the Contours citizen. These concepts leave little room for the non-cognitive, apolitical of a National Literature.” American Literary History, vol. 23, attachments that Ma’s immigrant characters forge to make sense of their no. 3, Sept. 2011, pp. 680–96. Crossref, doi:10.1093/alh/ajr027. lives. While Caren Irr does open the possibility for ambivalent immi- grant narratives, Irr does not address how these narratives rely or don’t rely on capitalist consumption as Ma’s novel asks us to consider. Prchal, Tim. “New Americans and the Immigrant Novel.” The 2 Candace represents Severance’s staging of a dual dynamic in which both Cambridge History of the American Novel, edited by Leonard capitalism and immigrant experience collide to produce disruption and Cassuto et al., 1st ed., Cambridge University Press, 2011, crisis. She is therefore both a “fragmented” subject under late capitalism, pp. 426–36. Crossref, doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521899079.029. as Fredric Jameson theorizes, but also “adrift,” as Jiayang Fan describes her in The New Yorker, due to her disconnection from her genealogy. 3 As I will discuss below, Katie Daily-Brucker’s discussion of “individual immigrant empowerment” and Tim Prchal’s discussion of “immigrant adjustment” are concepts that imply premeditated, cognitive moves on the part of immigrant subjects to reclaim their pasts or push back against “the American nation.” Daily-Brucker also discusses how some immigrant narratives emphasize “the choice to exit America for positive, identity-driven reasons” (15). I seek to supplement these concepts with an understanding of the non-cognitive, apolitical attachments that Ma’s immigrant characters forge to make sense of their lives. 4 Ruifang’s character is in conversation with Berlant’s question in The Female Complaint: “What are the political consequences of a commod- itized relation among subjects who are defined not as actors in history but as persons who shop and feel?” (13). 5 This reading of the novel is indebted to Lauren Berlant’s “cruel opti- mism,” a relation of attempted reciprocity with the world that is unstable and itself an obstacle to one’s “flourishing” (1, 12).
Works Cited
Berlant, Lauren. “Citizenship.” Keywords for American Cultural Studies, edited by Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler, 2nd ed., New York University Press, 2014. Credo Reference.
———————. Cruel Optimism. Duke University Press, 2011.
———————. The Female Complaint: The Unfinished Business of Sentimentality in American Culture. Duke University Press, 2008.
41 42 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 notable Islamic reformist movement,theSokoto Jihadinthe analyze a few major works from the leaders of Africa’s most heterogeneous West Africanregion,inthis paper Icritically specifically onthesestate-society processesinavastand systems. munities wereincapableofbuildingcomplexstate-society political systemscontendsthatpre-colonialAfricancom- dominant EurocentricperspectiveontraditionalAfrican society makingprocessesbeforeEuropeancolonization.A always challengingandsupportingme. to myMMUFcohort,friends,andteammates,for guidance to meonmyacademic journey. Finally, mythanks College Black Studies Department for their insight and Professor MonaOraby, RosemaryEffiom,andtheAmherst to pursuemyideasandworkinthisarticle.Mythanks Olufemi Vaughan forhis mentorshipandencouragement grounding, andinspiration.SpecialthankstoProfessor largest andmostdiverseethnolinguisticregion. in the context of nineteenth-century Hausaland, Africa’s rationalized andlegitimatedtheirpolitical-religiousproject trine onwhichtheseindigenouspre-colonialAfricanrulers written works.Specifically, Iinvestigatethesubjectivedoc- selected EnglishtranslationsoftheSokotoreformists’ these state-makingprocesses.InthisessayIcriticallyanalyze hundred landmarktextsinArabic,Hausa,andFulanion Mohammed Bello, and Nana Asma’u,authoredovertwo Sokoto Jihad:UsmandanFodio,Abdullahi state-society making.Thefourmainintellectualsofthe Central West Africa,isapivotalexampleofcomplexAfrican ment initiatedbyUsmandanFodioinnineteenth-century Introduction Acknowledgements Abstract Studies PhDPrograms. to gaintravelexperiencebefore applyingtoAfricanaorReligious plays forthemen’s basketballteam.Afterhegraduatesplans Black StudiesandAsianLanguagesCivilizations.Healso DiabateisasenioratAmherstCollege,majoringin Djelimory Djelimory Diabate,AmherstCollege Nineteenth CenturyWest Africa Islamic ReformismandPoliticalThoughtin in Africaattheturnoftwentieth century. state-society systems before the imposition of colonial rule landmark writtentextstoexplore theintricaciesofAfrican Islamic intellectualtraditionin CentralWest Africaoffers this prevailingWestern assumptionwhollyinaccurate. Africans constantly engaged in complex state and My deepestgratitudeto my familyfortheirlove, The SokotoJihad,theIslamicreformistmove- 1 HowevertheAfricanahistoricalarchiveproves 3 Focusing 2 The Rise oftheSokoto Fulani:Beingaparaphraseand insomeparts first waveinclude BritishadministratorE. J. Arnett’s The Africa, andthewider Muslim world. intellectual world extended throughout West Africa,North war— ing inpre-colonialAfrica. the discoursesofpower, governance,andstate-societymak- African knowledgeproductionasanintegralcomponentin Africa in1804,underscorestheimportanceofindigenous movement initiated by Usman dan Fodio in Central West nineteenth century. TheSokotoJihad,theIslamicreformist Hausa, andFulaniintoEnglish. Muslim reformists’notablewritten worksfromArabic, jihad. Theycollectedandtranslated someoftheSokoto responsible forthefirstwave of scholarshipontheSokoto British colonial administrators in Northern Nigeria were British colonialruleinthefirst halfofthetwentiethcentury, into three successive historical waves. During the period of Literature Review ligious projectinnineteenth-centuryWest Africa. African rulersrationalizedandlegitimatedtheirpolitical-re- the subjective doctrine on which indigenous pre-colonial virtues orvicesoftheSokotoJihad.Rather, Iinvestigate meant asaconventionalhistoricalorpoliticalstudyonthe tive inAfricanandDiasporastudies,thisworkisnot Enlightenment. Intendedtorefutethisprevailingperspec- tions totheirencounterwiththeWest, especiallysincethe often expropriatestheirlegitimatingdoctrinesandinstitu- political, andintellectualspaces. cated nature,connectingexpansiveAfricansocial,religious, ten worksexemplifyAfricanapoliticalthought’s sophisti- Finally, IcontendthattheSokotoMuslimreformers’writ- to their needs as rulers in nineteenth-century West Africa. suggests thattheyconstructedIslamicorthodoxyaccording lishing discursive connections to past Islamic civilizations reformists’ claimtoorthodoxy, theirmethodologyinestab- Africa. WhiletheirreferencestoIslam’s genesisreifiedthe sociopolitical structureofnineteenth-centuryCentralWest Islamic communitiesandempirestoconfrontthedominant reformists mobilizedtheirdiscursiveconnectiontohistorical century. Second,IprovideabriefanalysisofhowtheSokoto political-religious projectinthefirsthalfofnineteenth ilizations acrosstime andspace whenconstructing their reformists invokedtheirconnectionstootherMuslimciv- related issues.First,IinterrogatehowtheSokotoMuslim Central West Africanregion,Iexplorethefollowinginter complicated relationsbetweenstate-societyinthediverse on Central West Africa’s Hausa kings in 1804, his When UsmandanFodiodeclaredjihad— The secondaryscholarshipontheSokotoJihadfalls Western scholarshiponAfricandiasporicpeoples 5 Keytranslationsfromthis 4 Focusingon the holy - a translation of the Infaku’l Maisuri of Sultan Mohammed Bello reformers’ Ajami works— local languages written in Arabic (Arnett, 1922). British translations of the Sokoto reformists’ scripts— especially Nana Asma’u’s, are a critical element works reified colonial administrators’ pre-existing relation- of their literary archive (2016). Finally, Lovejoy contends ships with the Sokoto aristocracy. Under British indirect rule, that through enslaved African Muslims in the Americas, the British imperial agents advanced the Sokoto Caliphate’s sov- political thought of West African Islamic reformist move- ereignty in Northern Nigeria as legitimate— Fulani— rulers ments was just as influential as Western legal theory in the of a vast and diverse region.6 formation of the late eighteenth to early nineteenth-century Atlantic world (2016). These three major waves of scholar- The second wave of scholarship on the Sokoto ship provide historical and political contexts for any critical Jihad roughly coincided with Nigeria’s decolonization in textual analysis of the works of the four preeminent Sokoto the 1950s and 60s. During this period, British scholars Muslim intellectuals: Usman dan Fodio, the founder of continued collecting Arabic sources, this time to aid the the Sokoto Caliphate, his brother Abdullahi dan Fodio, his Sokoto aristocracy in constructing a nationalist Nigerian daughter, Nana Asma’u, and his son Mohammed Bello, the 7 historiography. Historian Murray Last exemplifies this first Caliph— successor. era as the first Western scholar to incorporate the Arabic sources of Sokoto’s bureaucracy in his groundbreaking book, Constructing the Pious State The Sokoto Caliphate, on the political project of Sokoto’s Muslim reformers (Last, 1967). Critically, Last contended In this section, I offer a close textual analysis of that Islam rather than ethnic Fulani identity served as the English translations from the written works of Usman dan basis for Sokoto’s hegemony in the region. While Last is Fodio, Abdullahi dan Fodio, Nana Asma’u, and Mohammed an invaluable historical source on the Sokoto reformists, his Bello, the four preeminent thinkers of the Sokoto Jihad. reliance on the personal library of Sokoto’s Waziri— Prime Additionally, I incorporate secondary scholarship on the Minister— Junaidu in the early 1960s meant he uncritically Sokoto Jihad’s historical development to articulate how the discussed Sokoto’s bureaucracy as the essence of the reform- reformers evolved their state-building project according to er’s state-making project.8 the Jihad’s changing socio-political circumstances. By ana- lyzing English translations of the Sokoto reformists’ written The third and contemporary wave of Sokoto works in Arabic, Hausa, and Fulani, I adopt Noah Salomon’s scholarship includes work dedicated to understanding hermeneutical approach to Islamic politics. According to the relationship between the complexity of the Sokoto Salomon, “it is through a hermeneutics of Islamic politics reformers’ written works and the socio-political tensions that we can come to understand its own ontologies, its own of nineteenth-century Central West Africa (Ochonu, 2014; categories of understanding, and thus the life-worlds that Vaughan, 2016). Analyzed in the context of the crisis of the Islamic politics makes possible.”9 By discursively establish- post-colonial Nigerian nation-state, these works locate the ing Islam as the ideological basis of their state and society, Sokoto Caliphate as a pivotal pre-colonial socio-political the Sokoto reformers ensured that all aspects of Islam, from structure on which the British grafted their problematic religious practice to civilizational discourse, took on polit- colonial project in Nigeria’s northern region. Works on ical dimensions where the clerical opinions of Usman dan women and gender, notably Callaway (1996), Mack and Fodio’s were fundamentally tied to their political authority. Boyd (1997), and Mack (2011), analyze the critical place of a My hermeneutical approach engages the Sokoto reformers prominent woman intellectual, Nana Asma’u, the daughter writing from the Islamic literary world as I interrogate how of Usman dan Fodio, among the works of the leaders of the the reformers argued that their form of Islam was the only Sokoto reformist movement. By presenting her extensive just and pious state in Central West Africa. written works in Arabic, Hausa, and Fulani, to address her linguistically diverse audiences of men and women, Asma’u’s The Sokoto reformers rooted their state’s bureau- works underscore the intersections of gender, language, cratic structure in their origins as a clerical Muslim clan. religion, scholarship, and statecraft in Africana thought. Specifically, the Sokoto reformers identified as a class of More recently, several scholars have presented the works Fulani scholars known as the Torodbe, originating in the of the Sokoto Muslim reformers within the broader con- Futa Toro region of Senegambia. Usman dan Fodio’s clan text of the vast Muslim scholarship on the West African name, Toronkawa— meaning from Futa Toro— signaled his Sahel, especially from the seventeenth century to the nine- Torodbe lineage in Central West Africa’s Hausa speaking teenth century. Kane situates the Sokoto reformers in a kingdoms, known as Hausaland.10 In his Tayzin Al-Waraqat, millennium-old African-Islamic literary tradition that was Abdullahi dan Fodio insists that their ancestor Musa Jokollo, obscured by colonial European hegemonic discourses and “migrated from the country of Futa Turadubbi” and initi- is only being critically reexamined in recent years (2014). ated the Toronkawa’s settlement in Hausaland.11 Modern Ngom extends Kane’s argument to emphasize that the scholars agree that Musa Jokollo arrived in Hausaland 43 44 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Hausa byprovinceandcountry.” “Abdullah b.MuhammadUthmantheTurudi bylineage, meaningfully introducehimselfinhisTayzin Al-Waraqat, as and themassesofTalakawa commonersatthebottom. top, followed by the Masu Sarauta land-owning aristocrats, further stratifiedintocasteswiththelocalSarkikingat Hausaland, Vaughan explainsthat Hausa speakerswere Hausa Sarkisthatheclaimedconstitutedunbelief: al-Farq, UsmandanFodioenumeratesthepracticesof their religiousandgovernmentalpractices. well. EventheSarkikingsoftenmixedelementsofBoriinto and many Fulani practiced their traditional belief systems as continued to practice their indigenous beliefs called Bori, the overwhelmingmajorityofHausaTalakawa commoners proselytizing from clerics like members of the Toronkawa, making jihadtheonlyrecourseagainstthem.Despitecertain practices layattherootoftheirmisgovernance,ultimately state-making project. ple livingintheareaonwhichtheysoughttoinscribetheir reflected thereformists’broaderneedtocategorizepeo- Accordingly, MohammadBello’s useofthetermSudanese of Hausa,” as “inhabited by the In hisInfaq’lMaysur,MohammedBellodescribesthe“land in atleastthefifteenthcentury. city-state kingdomoforigin. the centralSahel,aperson’s actualidentityreferredtotheir Hausa operatedasalinguafrancaforthediversepeoplesof of Central West Africa’s seven Hausa-speaking kingdoms. sively formalize the term Hausa to describe the inhabitants son MohammedBellowasactuallythefirstpersontodiscur their jihad.MosesOchonufindsthatUsmandanFodio’s land’s socio-politicalstructureswasparamountforjustifying local politicallife. meaningfully translatingtheirglobalvisionintoHausaland’s followers could only initiate their reformist movement by of theprophetMuhammad.Still,UsmandanFodioandhis vision ofanIslamicsocietydatingbacktothecommunity Muslim clan,theysawthemselvesasperpetuatingtheglobal claim topoliticalauthorityasMuslimrulers.Asaclerical showcased theirToronkawa identitytocriticallyreifytheir Tuaregs.” For Usman dan Fodio, the Hausa Sarkis’ syncretic Reformist sourcesindicatethataddressingHausa being thosewhich theycalljanghaliandkurdin on thepeoplemonies notlaiddownbytheShari’a, of thewaystheirgovernmentis theirimposing of theirlusts,withoutanyrightin the Shari’a.One honour ordevourhiswealththey dosoinpursuit whomsoever theywishtokillorexile/ orviolatehis persons, theirhonour, andtheirpossessions; and of theirsovereigntyuponthreethings: thepeople’s One of the ways of theirgovernment is the building 15 OlufemiVaughan emphasizesthateventhough 16 Within thecity-statesacross Sudanese . 12 13 Thus,Abdullahicould TheSokotoreformists 18 InhisKitab ,
Fulani, and 17 17 14 -
ticed bythemajorityofHausapeople. to discursivelyengageBori,theindigenousreligionprac- used HausaontologiessuchasHakikaortheDivineTruth reformists’ politico-religious project. In her writing, Asma’u Asma’u furtherembodiesthetotalizingnatureofSokoto clans. ically disaffected Hausa Talakawa commoners and Fulani enabled thereformiststounitetheirmovementwithpolit- there isnoreliefelsewhere.” well awareofpeople’s needtoturnmetaphysicswhen Beverly MackandJeanBoydemphasizethat“Asma’uwas Mysticism— through thereformists’specificformofSufism— gion. Instead,Asma’uarguedthatDivineTruth asrevealed could notleadtotheultimategoalofDivineTruth inreli- to the Shari’a, but simply in so far as it was oppressive.” uting tothejihad,“notprimarilybecauseitwascontrary contends thattaxationwasoneofthefactorsmostcontrib- the Fulani faced under the Hausa Sarauta. Mervyn Hiskett sive conditionstheHausaTalakawa experiencedtothose Within theseviolations,Usmancriticallylinkstheoppres- the HausaTalakawa commoners and Fulanipastoralists. lations committedbytheHausaSarautaaristocracyagainst Shari’a— Rather thanlistcritiquesbasedontheoreticalaspectsof ple’s persons,theirhonour, andtheirpossessions” the Hausaaristocracybuilttheirsovereigntyon“thepeo- These tangible grievances manifested Usman’s claim that in herwork“MedicineoftheProphet”: aid them.Shespecificallyincorporates remediesforwomen Asma’u prescribed certain metaphysical remedies thatcould To redirectHausapeople’s spiritualdevotiontowards Islam drought in1857, her poem, reformist movementasthemeansofachievingprosperity. In Asma’u offeredherownmetaphysicalpowerandthatofthe to CentralWest AfricanlifecausedbytheSokotoJihad, The workofUsmandanFodio’s daughter, Nana them, noteveninthetitlesoftheirking. their wayingovernment,anddonotimitate ghari andkurdinsalla will beprotected from allailments.” God. If it is worn by a pregnant woman, then she reads Sural al-Haqqa will be judged leniently by (may God bless and protect him) said: “Whoever Sural al-HaqqahSura69[TheProphet Muhammad] redeemed. not. /LetusreturntothePathofSunnaandbe bling. /Hellfirewillbetherewardofthosewhodo Repent of using magic, attending bori, and gam Islamic law— “A Prayer for Rain,” written during a prolonged manifested inpeople’s temporalprosperity. 25 Asma’u warns:
Usman rootshispolemicinthevio- . . 24 . Thereforedonotfollow Duringthemajorupheavals 23 ForAsma’u,Bori 19
- Islamic 22 and 20 20 21 Surat al-Waqi’ah Sura 56 . . . One of the Salihin Endnotes (pious men) said: . . . If written and worn by a woman undergoing child-birth, she will safely 1 Kane, Ousmane. Beyond Timbuktu: An Intellectual History of Muslim West Africa. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2016. 21. deliver the child by the grace of God the Exalted 2 Ibid., 9–10. One.26 3 Ngom, Fallou. Muslims Beyond the Arab World: The Odyssey of ‘Ajamı¯ and the Murı¯diyya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. 250. Through tangible benefits like these, Asma’u provided 4 Mack, Beverly. “Muslim Women’s Knowledge Production in the Greater incentives for Hausa commoners to adopt the Islamic Maghreb: The Example of Nana Asma’u of Northern Nigeria.” In reformist’s principles. Asma’u backed her textual arguments Gender and Islam in Africa. Stanford University Press, 2011. 36. with physical action by organizing some of the many Sufi 5 Kane, Beyond Timbuktu. 34. women scholars throughout Hausaland into a group known 6 Vaughan, Olufemi. Religion and the Making of Nigeria. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2016. 40. as the Yan Taru. According to Mack and Boyd, the Yan Taru 7 Kane, Beyond Timbuktu. 34. “undertook responsibilities, organized food for the army, 8 For example, Last only interrogates the role of male bureaucrats brought up orphans, distributed goods to the poor, gave such as the Waziri in legitimizing the Sokoto Caliphate throughout religious instruction, sorted out problems and related well to Central West Africa, despite women scholars from that period having contributed over a hundred works reifying the Caliphate’s legitimacy everyone willing to respond, regardless of their background in the early nineteenth century. for further discussion of Women’s role or status.”27 These actions reified the Sokoto Caliphate’s in constructing the Sokoto Caliphate see Mack, “Muslim Women’s legitimacy in the eyes of the common people and ensured Knowledge Production in the Greater Maghreb.” Nana Asma’u’s popularity in Hausaland. Today Hausaland 9 Salomon, Noah. For Love of the Prophet: An Ethnography of Sudan’s Islamic State. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2016. 174. remains an overwhelmingly Muslim region of Northern 10 Paul Naylor maintains that the Islamic reformists hotly debated the Nigeria and Niger. ancestral origins of their Toronkawa clan, especially Abdullahi dan Fodio and Mohammed Bello, due to personal disagreements over the course of the movement. Naylor, Paul. “Abdullahi Dan Fodio and Muhammad Conclusion Bello’s Debate over the Torobbe-Fulani: Case Study for a New Methodology for Arabic Primary Source Material from West Africa.” When we understand the socio-political complexity Islamic Africa 9, no. 1 (May 7, 2018): 34–54. of nineteenth-century Hausaland, we can appreciate the 11 Dan Fodio, Abdullahi. Tayzin Al-Waraqat. Edited and Translated by sophistication of Usman dan Fodio, Abdullahi dan Fodio, Mervyn Hiskett. Ibadan Nigeria: Ibadan University Press. 1960. 98. 12 Zahradeen, Muhammad Sani. “‘Abd Allah Ibn Fodio’s Contributions to Mohammed Bello, and Nana Asma’u’s written works. The the Fulani Jihad in Nineteenth-Century Hausaland.” Ph.D. diss, McGill Sokoto Muslim reformers’ written works elucidate the University (Canada), 1976. 95. dialectical processes through which West African Muslim 13 Dan Fodio, Abdullahi. Tayzin Al-Waraqat. 84. rulers constructed complex states and societies in tumultu- 14 Ochonu, M.E. Colonialism by Proxy: Hausa Imperial Agents and Middle Belt ous nineteenth-century West Africa. By leveraging classical Consciousness in Nigeria. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2014. 24. 15 Bello, Mohammed. “On A Biography of the Scholars of Hausaland” Islamic texts drawn from an expansive Muslim world to Chap. 9 in Infaq’l-Maysur. Translated by Shaykh Muhammad Shareef address specific geopolitical issues in Central West Africa, bin Farid. Sennar Sudan: Sankore Institute of Islamic-African Studies the Sokoto Muslim reformers consistently demonstrated International. 2008. Emphasis translator’s. 5. that their West African world was tied to the globality of 16 Vaughan, Religion and the Making of Nigeria. 14. Muslim ideas and knowledge production. Engaging the con- 17 Ibid. 18 Callaway, Barbara. Muslim Hausa Women in Nigeria: Tradition and Change. fluence of local, regional, and global intellectual traditions in Syracuse University Press, 1987. 4. West African civilizations, this paper is grounded in Black/ 19 Dan Fodio, Usman. “Kitab al-Farq: A Work on the Habe Kingdoms Africana studies’ expansive intellectual worlds from across attributed to ‘Uthman Dan Fodio,” Translated by Mervyn Hiskett. the Sahara and Sahel to the Black Atlantic. My motivation Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 23, 3, 1960, 558–579. 567. to study the Sokoto Muslim reformers’ written works arises 20 Vaughan, Religion and the Making of Nigeria. 18. from the need to understand how Black people build states 21 Dan Fodio, Usman, “Kitab al-Farq.” 574. and societies on their terms. In Silencing the Past, Michel- 22 Ibid. Rolph Truillot notes that dominant western historiographies 23 Mack, Beverly, and Boyd, Jean, eds. Collected Works of Nana Asma’u: and epistemologies on the African Diaspora have overem- Daughter of Usman ‘dan Fodiyo (1793–1864). East Lansing: Michigan phasized the West as a reference point for Black people’s State University Press, 1997. 44. 24 Ibid., 99. intellectual frameworks.28 By interrogating how Africans 25 Here Asma’u makes a special reference to the Sunna or the practices of constructed their societies beyond western ideas, hegemony, the Prophet Muhammad as passed down by generations of Muslims. For and domination as the fundamental reference point and further discussion see Mack and Boyd. Collected Works of Nana Asma’u. point of departure, we are better positioned to act on the 248. political thought that members of the African diaspora artic- 26 Mack and Boyd. Collected Works of Nana Asma’u. 106–107. 27 Ibid., 16. ulate in their perspectives and experiences. 28 Truillot, Michel-Rolph. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston: Beacon Press Books, 1995. 16. 45 46 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Ngom, Fallou.MuslimsBeyondtheArabWorld: TheOdysseyofAjamı¯ Naylor, Paul.“AbdullahiDan FodioandMuhammadBello’s Mack, Beverly. “Muslim Women’s KnowledgeProductioninthe Lovejoy, PaulE.JihadinWest. AfricaduringtheAgeofRevolutions Last, DennisMurray. TheSokotoCaliphate.IbadanHistorySeries. Kane, Ousmane.BeyondTimbuktu: ofMuslim AnIntellectualHistory Callaway, Barbara.MuslimHausaWomen inNigeria:Tradition and Arnett, E.J.TheRiseoftheSokotoFulani:Beingaparaphrase Secondary Mack, Beverly, andBoyd,Jean,eds.CollectedWorks ofNana Dan Fodio,Usman.“Kitabal-Farq:AWork ontheHabe Dan Fodio,Abdullahi.Tayzin Al-Waraqat . EditedandTranslated Bello, Mohammed.“OntheLandofHausa.”Chap.7inInfaq’l- Primary Works Cited Ochonu, M.E.ColonialismbyProxy:HausaImperial Agentsand and theMurı¯diyya Africa.” Methodology forArabicPrimarySourceMaterialfromWest Debate overtheTorobbe-Fulani: CaseStudyforaNew Press, 2011. Nigeria.” InGenderandIslaminAfrica.StanfordUniversity Greater Maghreb:TheExampleofNanaAsma’uNorthern Athens, Ohio:OhioUniversityPress,2016. London: Longmans,1967. Press, 2016. West Africa.Cambridge,Massachusetts:HarvardUniversity Change. SyracuseUniversityPress,1987. Mohammed Bello.Kano:TheResidency, 1922. and insomepartsatranslationoftheInfaku’lMaisuriSultan 5, 2020.ProQuestEbookCentral. Lansing: MichiganStateUniversityPress,1997.AccessedJuly Asma’u: DaughterofUsman‘danFodiyo(1793–1864).East Studies, 23,3,1960,558–579. Mervyn Hiskett.BulletinoftheSchoolOrientalandAfrican Kingdoms attributedto‘UthmanDanFodio,”Translated by 1960. by MervynHiskett.IbadanNigeria:UniversityPress. International. 2008. Sennar Sudan:SankoreInstituteofIslamic-AfricanStudies Maysur. Translated byShaykhMuhammadShareefbinFarid. University Press,2014. Middle BeltConsciousnessinNigeria.Indianapolis:Indiana Islamic Africa9,no.1(May7,2018):34–54. . NewYork: OxfordUniversityPress, 2016. Zahradeen, Muhammad Sani. “’Abd AllahIbnFodio’sZahradeen, MuhammadSani.“’Abd Vaughan, Olufemi.ReligionandtheMakingofNigeria.Durham Truillot, Michel-Rolph.SilencingthePast:PowerandProduction Salomon, Noah.ForLoveoftheProphet:AnEthnographySudan’s Hausaland.” Ph.D.diss,McGillUniversity(Canada),1976. Contributions totheFulaniJihadinNineteenth-Century London: DukeUniversityPress,2016. of History. Boston:BeaconPressBooks,1995. 2016. Islamic State.Princeton;Oxford:PrincetonUniversityPress, The Maestrapiece: Zora Neale Hurston’s Creation of Souths Unseen in Barracoon E. Carson Eckhard, University of Pennsylvania
Carson Eckhard is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania with Lewis; by one count, as many as 49 of the paper’s 67 studying English and History. She is particularly interested in paragraphs were directly plagiarized from Historic Sketches of the connections between art, literature and history, and the the South.3 Autumn Womack notes that “apparently neither ways in which art can reveal truths hidden by Historical “fact.” the publishers nor Hurston’s benefactors ever discovered the She hopes to one day pursue a JD-PhD focusing on rehabilitative odd act of piracy” in “Cudjo’s Own Story.”4 After Hurston justice and the social history of incarceration. returned to Plateau the following year and successfully inter- viewed Lewis, also known as Oluae Kossula, she compiled her initial article, interviews, and experiences in Plateau into Abstract an anthropological account, titled Barracoon. Posthumously published, Barracoon retains the pirated sections of “Cudjo’s In December of 1926, Zora Neale Hurston traveled Own Story.” Yet Hurston’s plagiarism is notable not only for to Plateau, Alabama to interview the last living survi- its theft, but for how she selectively presents Roche’s writing vors of the Middle Passage. Her resulting work, entitled alongside her own. Ultimately, Roche’s text serves as a foun- Barracoon, was not published until 2018. This paper ana- dation through which Hurston collages a new story of Cudjo lyzes Barracoon as a discipline-transcending work, exploring Lewis; Hurston as ethnographer becomes the gatekeeper of how Hurston engages with literature and anthropology as Lewis’s narrative. Moreover, Hurston’s engagement with she tells the story of Kossula. Throughout, I argue that Lewis’s narrative is considerably informed by her training Hurston’s approach, through perhaps unconventional, under Boas. As a result, the tone of salvage anthropology explores “Souths unseen,” collapsing traditional borders of heavily underscores Barracoon, and Hurston uses her role chronology within the American historical imagination. as ethnographer to shape Kossula’s narrative accordingly.5 Through this decisive framing of Kossula’s story, Hurston centers Kossula as a symbol of Black resilience, while defin- Acknowledgements ing him as the last survivor of a lost population, thereby 6 I would like to thank my MMUF Cohort and unearthing a rapidly-dissolving “South unseen.” Coordinators as well as Clint Williamson of Penn’s English Both Hurston and Roche locate Kossula as the last department. I am also grateful for the instruction and survivor of the trans-Altlantic slave trade in their respective encouragement of Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet, Dr. Herman works. Indeed, almost the entire “Introduction,” in which Beavers, and Dr. Margo Natalie Crawford. Hurston describes the events, practices and people that forcibly brought Kossula to America are plagiarized from Roche’s text. Despite the presence of pirated paragraphs in The Maestrapiece: Zora Neale Hurston’s Creation of , Roche’s and Hurston’s framing the story of “the Souths Unseen in Barracoon Barracoon last human cargo” differs substantially. Throughout Historic When Zora Neale Hurston stepped off the train from Sketches, Roche presents the experiences of the Clotilda New York to Plateau, Alabama in December of 1926, she survivors in Africa as amusingly exotic and, at times, bar- arrived as a woman on a mission. Sent by the noted anthro- baric. Describing the coffles and march to the sea, Roche pologist Franz Boas, Hurston intended to interview Cudjo depicts, in immense detail, the “dangling heads of relatives Lewis, whom she believed to be the last living survivor of the and friends,” whose remains were later “smoked” by the American trans-Atlantic slave trade.1 For reasons unknown, Dahomeyans and “heads raised on poles above the huts Hurston’s initial pilgrimage to Lewis’s home proved a chal- and skulls, grinning white.”7 Roche’s descriptions reveal the lenge. Perhaps Lewis was unwilling to share his experiences white colonial fascination with African culture, exoticising with a young anthropologist from New York City, or perhaps the experiences of the Takars from a paternalistic standpoint he was simply too busy tending his garden and serving as while glorifying the violence of the slave trade. In Roche’s sexton at the Union Missionary Baptist Church. Regardless retelling, Kossula’s individual lived experience is somewhat of the reason, Hurston apparently found herself at a dead obscured by the author’s interest in framing his forced jour- end on her first journey to Lewis’s door. Intent on returning ney to the slave ship as part of a “performance” of exoticism. to Columbia University with sufficient notes to publish a paper on Lewis, Hurston turned to the Mobile Historical Contrarily, Hurston presents Kossula as both the lone Society, where she unearthed Emma Langdon Roche’s survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and as the last liv- Historic Sketches of the South, published in 1914. With the ing link between a modern African American identity and discovery of Roche’s work, Zora’s luck changed and within African history. Hurston’s work aims to preserve Kossula’s months she published her first scholarly article, “Cudjo’s narrative as a crucial relic in global history and as a case study Own Story of the Last African Slaver” in the Journal of Negro in the intersections between African and African American identity, rendering Barracoon a work of salvage ethnography. History.2 The paper relied heavily on Roche’s interviews 47 48 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 as asymbolofBlackresilience. questions aftertheplagiarizedintroductiondepictsKossula informs her telling of Kossula’s story, Hurston’s addition of with “whatcontactthewhiteshaddonefornegro,” Kossula andhisfellowsurvivors.WhileRoche’s fascination nalistic white gaze that underscores Roche’s depiction of the term“heathen”inquotes,therebycounteringpater American-born contemporaries. Notably, Hurston places eignness to her reader, further setting him apartfromhis paternalism whileneverthelessforegroundingKossula’s for Hurston simultaneouslyreckonswithwhiteracismand ogist counters,“Butdidn’t youhaveaGodbackinAfrica?” on prayin’groun’andinaBiblecountry,” theanthropol- challenge this; when Kossula insists that he “Thanks God I himself identifiesasaChristian.Later, Hurstonappearsto the practiceofAfricantraditionalreligions,thoughKossula American-born freedmenbyexplicitlyconnectinghimwith with aChristianGod,”HurstonseparatesKossulafrom tity withinherwork.Describinghimasa“pagan(living) reveals thewaysinwhichsheseekstoshapeKossula’s iden- experience attheintersectionofAfricaandAmerica her introductionillustratesfascinationwithKossula’s Though Hurston’s voiceisabsentfrommuchofBarracoon, tures facingextinctionfromdislocationormodernization.” attempt todocumenttherituals,practices,andmythsofcul- ethnography,” refers to the “explicit (anthropological) Generally associatedwithBoasandhisstudents,“salvage future, introducinghersubject as: to locateKossulaasasymbolof theBlackpast,presentand notion ofapurely“chronological”history. Hurston strives resents a“Southunseen,”ashissurvivaldismantlesthe as a“buriedpointoforigin.” trates the endured trauma of slavery while locating Kossula one sleepwithsuchmemoriesbeneaththepillow?”illus- preservation; concluding her introduction, she writes: preservation; concludingherintroduction,shewrites: Kossula’s status as a “link” is central to Hurston’s mission of on theAfricanaspectsofhisidentityashetellsstory. ence toChristianity, Hurstonencourageshersubjecttofocus to hisAfricanAmericancontemporaries;despiteadher in theeyesofherreader, renderingKossula“Other”relative Hurston’s interjectionconsiderablyshapesKossula’s identity Depicting Kossulaas“theNigerian‘heathen,’’ eign landbehind him. and whohassixty-seven yearsoffreedominafor raid; thebarracoon;Lenten tones ofslavery; memory ofhisAfricanhome;thehorrors ofaslave The only man on earth who hasin hisheartthe under theprocessofcivilization?Iwassenttoask. God? HowhastheNigerian“heathen”borneup the pillow?HowdoesapaganlivewithChristian How doesonesleepwithsuchmemoriesbeneath 14
13 Inthissense,Kossularep- 12 Thequestion“howdoes 9 -
11
10 - - - 8
impoverishment.” to healthandeducation,prematuredeath,incarceration, Kossula andhisfamilyultimatelyexperience“limitedaccess African Americanidentitywithintheafterlifeofslavery, as sible freedomdemonstrates the convergenceofAfricanand the waysinwhichKossula’s transitionfromslaverytoosten- resistance totheafterlifeofslavery. Hurston’s emphasison Africa, she further shapes his narrative by emphasizing his the “link”betweenAfricanAmericancollectiveidentityand people. Thus,asHurston“salvages”Kossula’s experienceas the social death that enslavement inflicts on him and his presents hersubjectasasymbolofBlackpower, fighting invented Kossula’s dialoguehere.Indoingso,Hurston plagiarized from Historic Sketches kee forhispeople.” ing that hesaid “I say, now isdetime for Cudjo to spea- land, HurstonassignsgreateragencytoKossula,report- Captain MeahertoprovidethesurvivorsofClotilda both HurstonandRocheincludeKossula’s storyofasking the “social death of slavery” that engenders it. Although with hisnarrativeasrepresentative of this afterlifeand edly staticwithinthepost-slaverySouth,Hurstonengages trans-Atlantic slave tradeapparentlynecessitates salvage emphasis onKossula’s statusasthelonesurvivor of the shape hisplaceasa“buried point oforigin.”Hurston’s asks ofhersubjectandselective framingofhisnarrative her voiceislargelyabsentfrom thework,questionsshe ethnographer proved to clash within Barracoon. Although Jim Crowsouth. American” “specter oftheAfricanthatperishedandyielded American collectivememory;heissimultaneouslythe unseen” asatransgenerationalmanifestationofAfrican transcontinental narrative,Kossulaoccupiesa“South lived experience.ThroughHurston’s framingofKossula’s ing generations of African American history through his In asinglesentence,HurstondepictsKossulaasexperienc- slavery.” Definingtheafterlifeofslavery, Hartmanwrites: within whatSaidiyaHartmanhastermedthe“afterlifeof African Americansandtheirintergenerationaloppression as ameansofsimultaneouslyunderstandingtheancestry While RochepresentsKossulaasexoticyetcontent- Ultimately, Hurston’s ownidentitiesasauthorand death, incarceration,andimpoverishment. limited access to health and education, premature This istheafterlifeofslavery-skewedlifechances, arithmetic thatwereentrenchedcenturiesago. iled anddevaluedbyaracialcalculuspolitical long memory, butbecauseblacklivesarestillimper obsession withbygonedaysortheburdenofatoo- black America, it is not because of an antiquarian If slavery exists as an issue in the political life of and a modern Black American surviving in the 15 18 Hurston thus relies on Kossula’s narrative
17 Giventhatthetaleappearstobe ,
it is likely that Hurston 16
- with ethnography as a means of preservation. Yet Hurston’s 16 Hartman, Saidiya V. Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave desire to assert Kossula’s historical importance as the sin- Route. 1st paperback edition, p. 6. 17 Barracoon, 62. gular link between the African and African American expe- 18 Ibid. rience led her to suppress other survivors’ experiences. 19 Hurston, Zora Neale, and Carla Kaplan. Zora Neale Hurston: A Life In In a letter to Langston Hughes, Hurston shared a secret: Letters. 1st Anchor books ed. New York: Anchor Books, 2003. “Oh! almost forgot. Found another one of the original Africans, older than Cudjoe about 200 miles up state on Works Cited the Tombighee (sic.) river. She is most delightful, but no one will ever know about her but us. She is a better talker Calhoun, Craig J., Dictionary of the Social Sciences. Oxford: Oxford than Cudjoe.”19 Hurston was likely referring to a woman University Press, 2002. known as Redoshi Smith, who also arrived on the Clotilda Cep, Casey. “Zora Neale Hurston’s Story of a Former Slave and died in 1937. Yet, despite her being “a better talker” Finally Comes to Print.” The New Yorker, July 9, 2019. https:// than Lewis, Hurston chooses to remove Redoshi from her www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/zora-neale- story entirely, heralding Kossula as “the last survivor” of hurstons-story-of-a-former-slave-finally-comes-to-print. the Middle Passage. Thus, even as she unearths an unseen South through Kossula’s story, Hurston’s commitment to Clifford, James, George E. Marcus, and Kim Fortun. Writing telling a good story obscures elements of the very history Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. 25th anniversary that Kossula’s narrative illuminates. ed. / Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2010.
Durkin, Hannah. “Finding Last Middle Passage Survivor Sally Endnotes ‘Redoshi’ Smith on the Page and Screen,” Slavery & Abolition, 40:4, 631–658, DOI: 10.1080/0144039X.2019.1596397, 2019. 1 Redoshi (also known as Sallie Smith), was later found to be the last living survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the U.S. Durkin, Hannah. “Finding Last Middle Passage Survivor Sally ‘Redoshi’ Smith Hartman, Saidiya V. Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic on the Page and Screen,” Slavery & Abolition, 40:4, 631–658, DOI: Slave Route. 1st paperback edition. 10.1080/0144039X.2019.1596397, 2019. 2 Hurston, Zora Neale. 1927. “Cudjo’s Own Story of the Last African Hurston, Zora Neale, Deborah G. Plant, and Alice Walker. Slaver.” Journal of Negro History 12 (1): 648. https://proxy.library.upenn. Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.” First edition. edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.library.upenn.edu/ docview/1290606164?accountid=14707. Hurston, Zora Neale. “Cudjo’s Own Story of the Last African 3 Cep, Casey. “Zora Neale Hurston’s Story of a Former Slaver.” Journal of Negro History 12 (1): 648. 1927. https://proxy. Slave Finally Comes to Print.” The New Yorker, July 9, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/ library.upenn.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy. zora-neale-hurstons-story-of-a-former-slave-finally-comes-to-print. library.upenn.edu/docview/1290606164?accountid=14707. 4 Womack, Autumn. “Contraband Flesh: On Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon.” The Paris Review blog, July 5 (2018). Hurston, Zora Neale, and Carla Kaplan. Zora Neale Hurston: 5 The “allegory of salvage” (casts) “the lone ethnographer as the anguished A Life In Letters. 1st Anchor books ed. New York: Anchor custodian of a fragile, disappearing culture.” Jacobs, K. (1997). From Books, 2003. “Spy-Glass” to “Horizon”: Tracking the Anthropological Gaze in Zora Neale Hurston.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction 10 (3), 329–60. See also Jacobs, K. (1997). From “Spy-Glass” to “Horizon”: Tracking the Clifford, James, George E Marcus, and Kim Fortun. Writing Culture: Anthropological Gaze in Zora Neale Hurston.” NOVEL: A The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. 25th anniversary ed. / Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2010. Forum on Fiction 30, no. 3 (1997): 329–60. 6 According to Zandria F. Robinson, “Souths unseen are those deliberately ignored by those in power that flash in the recesses of the southern Roche, Emma Langdon. Historic Sketches of the South. New York: psyche.” The Knickerbocker Press, 1914. 7 Roche, Emma Langdon, Historic Sketches of the South. New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1914. p. 82. Sexton, Genevieve. “The Last Witness: Testimony and Desire 8 Calhoun, Craig J., Dictionary of the Social Sciences. Oxford: Oxford in Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Barracoon,’” Discourse 25, no. 1/2 University Press, 2002 (2003): 189–210. Accessed March 1, 2020. www.jstor.org/ 9 Hurston, Zora Neale, Deborah G. Plant, and Alice Walker. Barracoon: stable/41389670. The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.” First edition. p. 16. 10 Ibid., 18. Womack, Autumn. “Contraband Flesh: On Zora Neale Hurston’s 11 See also Morrison, Toni. The Origin of Others. Harvard University Press, Barracoon.” The Paris Review blog, July 5 (2018). 2017. 12 Roche, 146–147. 13 Sexton, Genevieve. “The Last Witness: Testimony and Desire in Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Barracoon,’” Discourse 25, no. 1/2 (2003): 189–210. Accessed March 1, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41389670. p. 197. 14 Barracoon, 15. 15 Sexton, 197. 49 50 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 could nothavedonethisalone. help me with revisions. Thank you to my community; I particularly Dr. JoséF. ArandaJr. whowaskindenoughto Rice UniversityMellonfamily ofcoordinatorsandfellows, Work, forgettingthispaperoftheground,andtomywhole to Dr. LoraWildenthal andherseminaronHistoriesof enough. Iamhumbledandgrateful.alsothankful process, butoverthepastfouryears,“thankyou”isnot Tani Barlowhasofferedme,notonlythrough thiswriting Palestine tothefrontranksofcivilization.” later, as“co-partnerswithotherpioneersinbringingJewish the willingtargetsofHadassah’s civilizingmission,and Schools, Hadassah’s pupilnursesarerevealedasbothfirst Through thecasestudyofHadassahNurses’Training as subjectsinneedofWesternization andmodernization. agents ofHadassah’s civilizingmissioninPalestineand Zionist ideology, EasternEuropeanJewswereseenasboth nursing staff.UnderHadassah’s formoffeminizedcultural Jewish womenthat Hadassah recruited and trained as civilizing missionweretheEasternEuropean(Ashkenazi) ments bydemonstratinghowtheinitialtargetsofHadassah’s This paper seeks to confirm and complicate these argu- a means ofcivilizing indigenous Palestinian populations. employed thediscoursesofhygieneandpublichealthas Medical Organization(HMO). a Jewish system of healthcare in Palestine as the Hadassah Palestine intothefrontranksofcivilization”byestablishing Zionist Organizationof America, set outto“bringing Jewish Acknowledgements Abstract undergraduate work,AriplanstopursueaPhDinHistory. United States and Palestine between 1912 and 1947. After their Hadassah, theAmericanwomen’s ZionistOrganization,inthe ofZionistideologyandmethodpracticedby particular form undergraduate thesisinhistory, whichseekstocharacterizethe activism andunpaidlabor. Ariiscurrently completingherhonors Americanhistory, andwomen’sin Palestine/Israel,20thcentury racial/ethnic identity, AmericanZionism(s),Zionistsettlement ofJewish interests andtransformation includetheformation with minoringinSociologyandJewishStudies.Theirresearch Ari ForsythisasenioratRiceUniversity, majoringinHistory Ari Forsyth,RiceUniversity Medical Organization(HMO)NursesinPalestine,1913–1940 Agent orSubject?TheCivilizingMissionofHadassah For thepatience,wisdom,andtough-lovethatDr. Many scholarshaveaddressedhowtheHMO In theearlytwentiethcentury, Hadassah,theWomen’s members of human society.” of theUnited States and Western Europe, into“dignified the transformationofJews,particularlyJewslivingoutside tool fortherevivalandmodernizationofJewishlife, Jews, HenriettaSzold,Hadassah’s founder, sawZionismasa in Palestine as philanthropy primarily on behalf of European Palestine. WhilemostAmericanZionistsenvisionedprojects approach: establishingaJewishsystemofhealthcarein Organization ofAmerica,developedaradicallydifferent development inPalestine,Hadassah,theWomen’s Zionist organizations concentratedonpoliticallobbyingandland with anew-foundvigortoenact changeintheregion.” and children in Palestine that she “returned to New York nonexistent sanitationthatshe observedamongthewomen so distraughtbytherampantdisease,poorhealthcare,and to Palestinein1909.Accordingthismythology, Szoldwas Szold’s so-calledconversiontoZionismduringherfirstvisit mythology ofHadassah’s originbybeginningwithHenrietta Zionism in1909. Infact,shehadbeenaZionist formost however, itisimportanttoparsethemythfrom thefacts. order toaccuratelycharacterize Hadassah’s Zionistideology, Introduction Unpacking theMyth civilization.” lizing mission:“bringJewishPalestinetothefrontranksof expected toserveastheprimarytargetsofHadassah’s civi- that Hadassahrecruitedand trained as nursing staff were strate howtheEasternEuropean(Ashkenazi)Jewishwomen Hadassah’s Nurses’Training SchoolsinPalestine,Idemon- Western. who wereperceivedasuncivilized,unhygienic,andnon- diasporic life,and “healing”JewishpeopleinPalestine to Palestine,sothatitcouldserveasacenterofJewish an objective which required both recruiting Jewish people “bring JewishPalestinetothefrontranksofcivilization,” In Hadassah’s ownwords,theaimofHMOwasto Hadassah in the pre-Israeli state period of Zionist activism. ize theparticularformofZionistideologyandpractice a partoflargerundergraduatethesisseekingtocharacter medical staffinPalestinefrom1913–1940.Thisresearchis ties ofHadassahMedicalOrganization(HMO)nursesand ing” ofJewishwomeninPalestinebyanalyzingtheactivi- their people,physicallyinPalestine,spirituallyAmerica.” a twofold Zionist mission: “the healing of the daughter of sary, SzoldsummarizedHadassah’s enduring“purpose” as In the early twentieth century, when most Zionist Most histories of Hadassah reproduce the popular In reality, Szold did not need to be converted to In thispaper, IhoneinonHadassah’s “physicalheal- 3 Byanalyzingthecasestudyofpupilnursesat 4
1 OnHadassah’s 25thanniver 5 In - - 2
of her life. She was an early charter member of Baltimore’s primary targets of Hadassah’s Zionist work in Palestine were proto-Zionist Shavei Zion and Hervarat Zion societies in Jews themselves, particularly the Eastern European Jewish Baltimore, and perhaps more crucially, and she was an early women Hadassah recruited and trained as nursing staff. follower of the cultural Zionist Ahad Ha-am, even acting as 6 one of his first English-language translators. Szold identi- Wave One: Hadassah Nurses in Palestine, 1913–1915 fied with Cultural Zionism, the belief that Zionism held the potential to revive the spirit of Judaism. For Szold, Zionism In January of 1913, Hadassah sent its first two was not simply a project of territorial acquisition or nation- American nurses, Rose Kaplan and Rachel “Rae” Landy, to alist politics, but rather a movement for the cultural and Jerusalem to establish the first of a series of district nursing spiritual revival and modernization of Jews in the diaspora. settlements in Palestine. Strongly inspired by the Nurse’s Settlement in New York and the model of the American Szold delivered her first public support of Zionism in Settlement House, these early nurses dedicated their efforts a speech on the revival of the Hebrew language before the to educating Palestinian mothers and children in basic Baltimore branch of the National Council of Jewish Women healthcare and hygiene.12 These early ranks of Hadassah (NCJW) on January 26, 1896.7 In her speech, Szold refers nurses in Palestine were made up of entirely American to Zionism as “a movement that epitomizes the finest Jewish women, trained at American hospitals, under one- or two- impulses of the day.”8 Zionism, she continues, year contracts at most.
“[Is a] movement organized to extend practical aid Hadassah’s early of nurses acted as agents of Zionism to all inclined [to], I do not say return to, but to in two ways: first, as agents of hygiene and modern health- establish themselves in Palestine. Its promoters care in Palestine, and second, as agents of Zionist propa- advocate self-emancipation along with self-respect ganda in the United States. Hadassah nurses were charged and self-knowledge. It is their belief that the Jew can be a dignified member of human society only if with charged with civilizing the backwards Orient through he has a stable center towards which the scattered of the introduction of modern hygiene and medicine. Szold his nation shall gravitate in perilous times.”9 believed that that Zionists could not “hope to build up a sane, healthy life in Palestine until the problems of Palestine As we can tell from Szold’s earliest public address on are looked squarely in the eye and corrected in a mod- Zionism, Szold did not understand Zionism as a move- ern, systemic way.”13 Pointing to a lack of Western-style ment which necessitated the immigration of American Jews healthcare infrastructure— “but one maternity hospital in to Palestine. If Palestine could be established as a Jewish the whole of Palestine”— Hadassah argued that its nurses nation, it could serve as a “stable center” of Jewish diasporic acted as agents of Western-style civilization and modern- life. The “self-emancipation” Zionism offered, however, ization in the Orient.14 As Szold disclosed in her address to was not generated by the acquisition of Palestinian land, the 16th Annual Congress of the Zionist Organization of but through the transformation of “the Jew” to a “digni- America (ZOA): “We decided upon sending district visiting fied member of human society.”10 That Jews would remain nurses to Palestine in the hope that having trained women in diaspora was acceptable to Szold’s vision of Zionism. on the spot we should receive a collection of facts observed What was unacceptable was the lack of “self-respect” and with looking at matters with an American bias . . . if we are “self-knowledge” Szold and other cultural Zionists per- to work in Palestine we had better have facts presented to us ceived among contemporary Jews. from an American viewpoint.”15 In The American Journal of Nursing, Hadassah lauded its nurses for working “in an age In contrast to the mythologized account of Hadassah’s where magic was not a conjuring trick, but a determining origin, sources from Szold’s early life and personal writ- factor in the day-to-day lives of the women they were sent ing reveal that Szold understood Zionism, not simply as to serve.”16 Through the discourse of hygiene and public straightforward philanthropy in Palestine, but as a means by health, Hadassah was able to draw a racialized distinctions which to revive and modernize Jewish spiritual and cultural between unhygienic indigenous Palestinian populations and life, and by extension, a means by which to transform all modern, hygienic Jewish American nurses clad in green and Jewish people into “dignified” members of human society. white.17 In this sense, Hadassah nurses were seen as agents As Szold reflected at 60 years old, “I became converted to of modern civilization, “bring[ing] Jewish Palestine to the Zionism the very moment I realized that it supplied my front ranks of civilization” through medical care and educa- bruised, torn, bloody nation, my distracted nation, with tion in public health.18 an ideal that is balm to the self-inflicted wounds and the wounds inflicted by others.”11 This conception of Zionism Hadassah nurses also acted as agents of Zionist propa- as a form of “healing” for Jewish people is a crucial aspect ganda among American Jewish communities. In Hadassah’s of Hadassah’s Zionist ideology, because it explains why the first annual report in 1913, Szold claimed that “practical 51 52 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 paganda material.” to overstate“howvaluablelettersfromPalestineareaspro- Board tonursesKaplanandLandyexplained,itisdifficult worked withyourownpeopleyouwillbecomeaZionist.” with desire to adapt herself; we think that whenyou have want isanurse.We wantawomanwithinitiative,love, not a Zionist.” Unperturbed, Szold responded, “What we Kaplan reportedly told Henrietta Szold, “I am a nurse but of thefirsttwonursesHadassahsenttoPalestinein1913, tify asZionist.WhenRoseKaplanwasselectedtobeone surprisingly, manyofHadassah’s earlynursesdidnotiden- national Zionist supportfortheintervention ofhealthcare the health of Palestine’s Jewish communities rallied inter Wave Two: HadassahNurses’inPalestine, Post-1918 philanthropy exercisedinPalestine the ancienthome.” in thebettermentofconditionsamongtheirbrethren [Jews] whoareunsympathetic with Zionism to participate thus believedthatitwas“possibletostimulateeventhose still [had] a sentimental interest in the Holy Land,” and of practicalZionistpropaganda.Sherecognizedthat“Jews well. Szoldbelievedthatnursingcouldfunctionasameans believed thattheycouldbesubjectsofZionistpropagandaas viewed as agents ganda ontheirbehalf. long astheydidtheirjobs,reports would actaspropa- be ZionistsinordertoagentsofZionistpropaganda.So Hadassah membersbetweenmeetings. updates andvotedtosendextractsofthenurses’letters Board praisedtheirwork,butalsorequestedmorefrequent 8, 1913,andthattheyintendedtotreat9,000more.The had sofartreated10,000casesoftrachomaasSeptember Kaplan reportedtoHadassah’s BoardofDirectorsthatthey seven monthsafterarrivinginJerusalem,NursesLandyand than foritsimpactuponlocalpopulations.Forinstance, its abilitytoinspiredomesticsupportfortheZionistcause valued thesuccessoftheseearlynursesasmuchfortheir States, andinfact,Hadassah’s leadershipseemstohave as liaisonsbetweenJewsinPalestineandtheUnited the Jerusalemnurses’settlement. until 1915,whenWorld War Iforcedatemporaryclosureof offer labor, capital, andsocialsupporttotheZionistcause female philanthropists into dedicated Zionists, willing to people of Palestine, intimately transforming hard-working the bond between Jewish American women and the land and Working asanurseinPalestinewasintendedtostrengthen heart oftheZionistmovement.” the non-ZionistwomenonbehalfofPalestine,whichis woman theopportunity for thebestsortofpropagandawith In the wake of World War I, widespread concern for Although Hadassah’s firstwaveofnurseswerelargely of Zionist propaganda, Henrietta Szold 21 22 Hadassah’s earlynursesdidnotneedto Thisrevelationexplainswhy, perhaps 19 Hadassah’s nursesacted . 20 . . offerstheZionist Asaletterfromthe 23 -
Jewish Palestinetothefront ranksofcivilization.” could serveas“co-partnerswith otherpioneersinbringing to beinstructedin“theamenities oftheWest” beforethey trained nurses,however, thesenewnursingrecruitsneeded civilization. UnlikethefirstwaveofHadassah’s American- civilization, bring Jewish Palestine to the front ranks of to actasagentsofZionistpropagandaandWestern charged withthesametasksasHadassah’s earliestnurses: Safed. Jerusalem and10stationedfirstin Tiberias andlaterin trained attheHadassahNurses’Training Schools:30in had been augmented by a large number of pupil nurses six monthslater. ulum, recruitment, and mission in Safed, Palestine opened trained tobe“dignified membersofhumansociety.” Nurses’ Training Schools in Palestine, where they were European AshkenaziJewishwomentotheHadassah’s Hadassah wasabletorecruitasnurses. which greatly expanded the population ofJewish women allowed Hadassahtorecruitandtrainwomenasnurses, nities. services inPalestineservingArabandJewishsettlercommu- for HadassahhospitalsorinHadassah-affiliatedhealthcare Hadassah NursesTraining Schools.Mostwentontowork of educationforPalestinianwomen.” for womenare limited,” and third, “to raise thestandard open afieldofoccupationinPalestine,whereprofessions trained nurses for Palestine and the Orient,” second, “to Schools were necessary for three reasons: first, “to provide ment materials,HadassaharguedthattheNurse’s Training women fromEasternEurope.Inpromotionalandrecruit- the HadassahNurses’Schoolswerepoor, untrainedJewish at Americanhospitalsthemajorityofwomenrecruitedto Palestine, who were exclusively Jewish-Americans, trained significant departurefromHadassah’s firstwaveofnursesin health (physically andmentally)”inpossession ofa Jerusalem, Palestine. Hadassah organizeditsfirstNurses’Training Schoolin was desperateforskilledlabor, soinNovemberof1918, pital inJerusalemtobeheadedbyspecialists.TheAZMU which waswidely-laudedasthefirstAmerican-stylehos- was the 90-bed Meyer de RothschildHospital in Jerusalem, and hospitalsacrossPalestine.TheAZMU’s centerpiece which expandedtoincludevastnetworkofassociatedclinics of Americandoctors,nurses,andhealthcareadministrators Zionist MedicalUnit(AZMU),a44-membermedicalunit visiting nursestheHMOexpandedtoincludeAmerican professionals intoPalestine.Fromasmallsystemofdistrict year. women were typically selected to the Nurses’ Schools each an annualpoolofroughly100 applicants,30to35young 31 27 26 Successfulapplicants wererequiredtobein“perfect Hadassah specifically recruited poor, Eastern Thisnewsystemofhospitalsandnursingschools By1920,113youngwomenhadgraduatedfromthe 25 ByJune1919,theAMZUnursingstaff 24 Asisterschoolwithidenticalcurric- 29 Thesenurseswere 28 30 Ina Of Of “pleasing personality,” capable of being molded into civi- The use of Hebrew as the language of instruction at lized subjects.32 Hadassah’s Nursing Schools is a fact rendered more mean- ingful by the knowledge that, when the schools were first By virtue of their Ashkenazi ethnic background, founded, there were no Hebrew language nursing textbooks which they shared with many American Jews, Hadassah’s in existence. It took almost a decade to produce the first Eastern European nursing recruits were considered to have Hebrew textbook for nurses because the necessary technical 33 the “superior mental capacity and book education.” Yet medical terms did not yet exist in the Hebrew language. unlike Jewish American women, these old-world Eastern The first Hebrew language nursing textbook was published European nursing pupils lacked the “knowledge of the man- by the HMO in 1927.38 Entitled, The Eye, it was written 34 ners and habits of the Western world.” For instance, in by Dr. Aryeh Feigenbaum, the Chief Ophthalmologist of an article on the necessity of educating new mothers on the HMO.39 Thus, HMO did not simply instruct Nursing infant care, published in the March 1924 Hadassah News students in Hebrew, it also became the earliest publisher Letter, Hadassah officer Irma Kraft specifically cautioned of Hebrew language nursing textbooks. The dominance of that “superstitions— East European or West Asian— are no Hebrew in Hadassah’s Nurses’ Training Schools and medi- 35 substitute for knowledge.” Here, the side-by-side refer- cal institutions virtually assured that Hebrew, the language ence to “East European” and “West Asian” superstitions of the proposed Jewish state, would become the language demonstrates how Hadassah understood the civilization of of Palestine’s future healthcare system. It also created a its own Eastern European Ashkenazi staff as in the same common language shared by Ashkenazi Jewish settlers in terms as the civilization of non-Jewish Arabs. Yet because Palestine, assimilating the variety of diasporic languages, Hadassah was specifically invested in “Jewish Palestine,” the cultures, and traditions of Hadassah’s early nursing recruits civilization of Jews was a priority that far outweighed the into a single, cohesive Zionist model of cultural identity. civilizing of Zionism’s non-Jewish others.
Moreover, because Hadassah used a characterization Conclusion of Arab communities as backwards and nonhygienic to serve Until recently, most scholars have minimized the as evidence for the need for Zionist healthcare intervention, political character of Hadassah’s work in Palestine, char- any unhygienic or uncivilized behavior by Hadassah’s own acterizing the activities of the HMO as philanthropic Eastern European nursing recruits could pose a challenge to interventions Palestinian public health. In the past decade, Hadassah’s racialized distinction between native Arab popu- however, a new generation of feminist scholars have re-val- lations and Jewish nurses. Hadassah’s nursing school curric- ued Hadassah’s role in place in Zionist political and intellec- ulums of modernization and Westernization were intended, tual history, asserting the influence of the Hadassah School not only to function as medical training, but also to function of Zionism in shaping contemporary Zionist ideology and as a means by which to transform Eastern European Jewish practice, and pushing back against the characterization of women into modern, hygienic subjects, further cementing Hadassah as a purely philanthropic organization. From Hadassah’s claim that Ashkenazi Jews were racially distinct Szold’s own speeches, it is clear that Szold never intended for from, and superior to, indigenous Palestinian populations. Hadassah nurses to be philanthropists. As she argued before the 16th Annual Convention of the Zionist Organization of At the Hadassah Nursing Schools, Hadassah used America (ZOA): the Hebrew language as a means to consolidate the diverse cultural identities of its pupil nurses around a shared Jewish We Zionists have been fighting the word charity. language and to further solidify the divide between Jewish We do not care to have our movement connected and non-Jewish Palestinian residents. Although Hebrew was with philanthropic activity . . . [nor do we] pretend neither the spoken language of Palestine’s Arab population, to do this work as a piece of Palestinian work. We nor of Jewish women from Eastern Europe, Hadassah’s do it as a piece of Zionist work, for the reason that Nurses’ Training Schools insisted on Hebrew as the sole Zionism is a movement, and we wish to attach our- 40 language of instruction.36 Thus, prospective nursing stu- selves to a great movement. dents were required to demonstrate mastery of the Hebrew At a time when it was a widespread belief among male language. Once admitted, students were instructed in basic Zionists that women were simply incapable of conceptu- English so that they could work in English hospitals but alizing the intellectual, political, and philosophical tenants heard lectures in Hebrew by Hebrew-speaking physi- of the Zionist project, Szold was able to justify the place of cians, including Dr. Alfred Segal who served in the Zionist women in the Zionist movement by appealing to the belief Medical Unit, and received practical lessons in Hebrew at that women possessed an inherent capacity for philanthropy the Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem, itself maintained by and care work, and thus, that female Zionists in Palestine the HMO.37 acted as philanthropists rather than political actors. 53 54 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Palestine. time affordedtheprivilegeofan“Americanviewpoint”on be born outside of Hungary, and the only generation at the sisters werethemselvesthefirstgenerationofherfamilyto own professionalnursingstaff.HenriettaSzoldandher nically, culturally, andreligiouslyequivalenttoHadassah’s deemed lackinginmoderncivilitywere,bylarge,eth- In truth,theEasternEuropeannursingrecruitsHadassah but failtograsptheconstructednessofthisethnicdivide. ond-wave ofEasternEuropeanpupilnursesinPalestine, between Hadassah’s first-waveofAmericannursesandsec- demonstrate theperceivedethnicandculturaldifference the Hadassah’s Nurses’SchoolsinPalestine,forinstance, twentieth century. Face-value readings of the activities of race/ethnicity, andgendervarygreatlyfromthatoftheearly keep inmindthatthecontemporaryconceptsofZionism(s), United Statespossessedonaverage,slightlymoremoney. century wasthatJewswhowereabletoemigratethe to PalestineandtheUnitedStatesinearlytwentieth differences between Eastern European Jewish immigrants Western philanthropy and healthcare initiatives in shaping settler colonialism, racialization,andtherole of women-led study whichoffersrichinsights intoschemesofcivilizedand ideology andpracticeoftheHMO inPalestineisafieldof Western Europeanideal.ThefeminizedculturalZionist who had to transform themselves and their culture to fit the subjects oftheZionistcivilizing missionbeJewsthemselves, was adouble-edgedblade,whichdemandedthatthefirst nizers andthecolonized.Thisracializedthinking,however, which servedasaracializeddistinctionbetweenthecolo- to drawaracializeddistinctionbetweenJewsandnon-Jews discourse ofhygieneandpublichealth,Hadassahwasable need ofWesternization andmodernization.Through the Hadassah’s civilizingmissioninPalestineandassubjects ology, EasternEuropeanJewswereseenasboth agentsof under Hadassah’s formoffeminizedculturalZionistide- Training SchoolsinPalestine,Ihave demonstratedhow empire inthetwentiethcentury. according toWestern Europeannotionsofrace,nation,and fying newformationsofJewishethnicandculturalidentity organizations whichbecameinvestedinproducingandrei- settler configurations.HadassahwasoneofmanyZionist formations andthestructuralchangeswroughtbyZionist constituted, consciously articulated though shifts in social ethnic identitiesinPalestinethisperiodwerediscursively sive socialentitieswithvisibleracialtraitsordistinctcultures, Russia] orgotoAmerica.” people, asthosethathavesomecapitalstayathome[in the whole,currentofimmigrationbringsusonlypoor As theHebrewnewspaperHa-Yom reportedin1906,“On In studyingHadassah’s earlyhistory, itisimportantto Through thecasestudyofHadassah’s Nurses’ 41 Infact,oneoftheonlymajorsociodemographic 43 Farfrombounded,pre-discur 42 -
Endnotes the earlytwentiethcentury. and reifying colonial structures of race, class, and gender in 5 4 3 2 1 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 Lauren MortonandMarylandStateArchives,“HenriettaSzold Ibid. “The HealingoftheDaughterMyPeople:TheFirstAnnualReport Miller, “AHistoryofHadassah,”51;radioaddress28February1937, Henrietta Szold,“Hebrew:ACenturyofJewishThought”(Presented Erica B.Simmons,“MotheringtheNation: TheHadassah Ibid. “The HealingoftheDaughterMyPeople: TheFirstAnnualReport Dafna Hirsch,“‘InterpretersofOccidenttotheAwakening Orient’: Julietta K.Arthur, “ChildWelfare intheHoly Land:Hadassah’s Szold, “MissSzold’s Address,”204. These perceptionsweredrivenbyOrientalism,ahegemonicconcep- Henrietta Szold,“MissSzold’s Address,ReportoftheSixteenthAnnual “The HealingoftheDaughterMyPeople:TheFirstAnnualReport Fanny R.Adlerstein,“HerLifeBeganat60,”TheDetroitJewishChronicle Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Szold, “Hebrew:ACenturyofJewishThought.” Shargel, html/13568bio.html. maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013500/013568/ (1860–1945) (BiographicalSeries),”ArchivesofMaryland,https://msa. org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112037998777&view=1up&seq=133. no. 5(May1913):138,accessedApril30,2019,https://babel.hathitrust. of Hadassah,”TheMaccabæan:AMagazineJewishLifeandLetters23, (Skokie, Illinois:Varda Books,2001),326. andLetters ofHenriettaSzold:UnpublishedDiary Love, TheUntoldStory CZA/A125/213 (alsoinSL,Box1)ascitedBailaRoundShargel,Lost org.il/index.php?dir=site&page=articles&op=item&cs=3288. Baltimore: TheZionAssociationofBaltimore,1896),https://www.wzo. at theBaltimoreSectionofNationalCouncilJewishWomen, docview/305070534/abstract/AF92E30F61894A19PQ/5. February 16,2020,http://search.proquest.com/hnpjerusalempost/ 1960” (Ph.D.,UniversityofToronto (Canada),2004),25,accessed Organization’s Social Welfare ProjectintheYishuv andIsrael,1912– of Hadassah,”138. S001041750800011X/type/journal_article. February 16,2020,https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/ 50,no.1(January2008):229,accessed Studies inSocietyandHistory The JewishPublicHealthNurseinMandatePalestine,”Comparative www.jstor.org/stable/3415155. Nursing of Network ofPublicHealthacrossPalestine,”TheAmericanJournal the EastdespiteOrientalist’s anteriority. perspective, makingtheOrientalistatoncebothdefaultandexperton afforded totheWest inOrientalistthoughtprivilegestheWestern to Orientalbackwardness.AsSaid(1977)hasargued,thesuperiority the Western identity, culture,andhistoryisconceivedofassuperior tion ofanimaginedOrientincontrasttoalocalOccident,wherein trust.org/Record/100074143. (June 1913):203,accessedDecember16,2019,https://catalog.hathi Lipsky, June 22toJuly24,1913,”ed.CentralCommitteeofHadassahandLouis Convention oftheFederationAmericanZionists,Cincinnati,Ohio, of Hadassah,”137. digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djc.1942.04.24.001/9. and theLegalChronicle(Cincinnati,Ohio,April24,1942),9,https:// and Letters,321. The Maccabæan:AMagazineofJewishLifeandLetters23,no.7 40, no.4(1940):410,accessedFebruary20,2020,https:// Lost Love, The Untold Story of Henrietta Szold: Unpublished Diary ofHenriettaSzold:UnpublishedDiary Lost Love,TheUntoldStory 21 Gertrude Rosenblatt, Extracts from the Diaries of Mrs. Bernard A. 42 Gur Alroey, An Unpromising Land: Jewish Migration to Palestine in the Rosenblatt of the Years 1911–1914, n.d. as cited in; Simmons, “Mothering Early Twentieth Century (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2014), the Nation,” 25. 121–122. Mass immigration to Palestine only began when American 22 “The Healing of the Daughter of My People: The First Annual Report immigration quotas came into effect, closing the gates of the United of Hadassah,” 135. States to Eastern European immigrants in general and to Jews in particular. 23 Henrietta Szold, “Rose Kaplan,” The Maccabæan: A Magazine of Jewish Life and Letters 31 (1918): 37, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id 43 “Reshimot Eretz Israel,” Ha-Yom, 7 Heshvan 1906, 1. as cited in Ibid., =uiug.30112037998827&view=1up&seq=47&q1=rose.https://babel.hathi 122. trust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112037998827&view=1up&seq=47&q1=rose. 24 Zionist Organization of America., American Zionist Medical Unit for Works Cited Palestine: Maintained by the Zionist Organization of America and the Joint Distribution Committee of the American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers June, 1916-June, 1919 (New York City: Zionist Organization of America, Adlerstein, Fanny R. “Her Life Began at 60.” The Detroit 1919), 10, accessed February 24, 2020, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/ Jewish Chronicle and the Legal Chronicle. Cincinnati, Ohio, Record/100514523. April 24, 1942. https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/ 25 Ibid. djc.1942.04.24.001/9. 26 Ibid. 27 Junior Hadassah, A Primer on the Nurses’ Training School of Jerusalem, Alroey, Gur. An Unpromising Land: Jewish Migration to Palestine in Zionist Pamphlet [Microfilm] (New York City: Hadassah, The Women’s the Early Twentieth Century. Stanford: Stanford University Press, Zionist Organization of America, circa 1920), 3, SASB M1 – Dorot 2014. Jewish Division Rm 111, *ZP-*PZX n.c. 7, no. 6 [Microfilm], Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library Archives. Arthur, Julietta K. “Child Welfare in the Holy Land: Hadassah’s 28 Hadassah Medical Organization, “The Hadassah School for Nursing Network of Public Health across Palestine.” The American at Jerusalem,” The American Journal of Nursing 28, no. 11 (November 1928): 1094, accessed February 20, 2020, https://www.jstor.org/ Journal of Nursing 40, no. 4 (1940): 410–414. Accessed February stable/3409221 The majority of Hadassah’s pupil nurses emigrated 20, 2020. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3415155. from Russia, Poland, and Galicia. Szold, “Hebrew: A Century of Jewish Thought.” Hadassah Medical Organization. “The Hadassah School for 29 Junior Hadassah, A Primer on the Nurses’ Training School of Jerusalem, Nursing at Jerusalem.” The American Journal of Nursing 28, no. 2–3 Note: Here, the phrase “Palestinian women” refers not to indige- 11 (November 1928): 1093–1097. Accessed February 20, 2020. nous Palestinian women, but to female Eastern European, or Ashkenazi Jewish settlers in Palestine. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3409221. 30 Hadassah Medical Organization, “The Hadassah School for Nursing at Jerusalem.” Hirsch, Dafna. “‘Interpreters of Occident to the Awakening Orient’: The Jewish Public Health Nurse in Mandate 31 Junior Hadassah, A Primer on the Nurses’ Training School of Jerusalem, 3; Zionist Organization of America., American Zionist Medical Unit for Palestine.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 50, Palestine: Maintained by the Zionist Organization of America and the no. 1 (January 2008): 227–255. Accessed February 16, Joint Distribution Committee of the American Funds for Jewish War 2020. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/ Sufferers June, 1916-June, 1919, 11. S001041750800011X/type/journal_article. 32 Junior Hadassah, A Primer on the Nurses’ Training School of Jerusalem, 2. 33 Hadassah Medical Organization, “The Hadassah School for Nursing at Junior Hadassah. A Primer on the Nurses’ Training School of Jerusalem,” 1094. Jerusalem. Zionist Pamphlet [Microfilm]. New York City: 34 Ibid. Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, circa 35 Irma Kraft, “Mother O’ Mine in Jerusalem,” Hadassah News Letter, 1920. SASB M1 – Dorot Jewish Division Rm 111, *ZP-*PZX March 1924. n.c. 7, no. 6 [Microfilm]. Dorot Jewish Division of the New 36 At the end of the nineteenth century, Hebrew had had benefited from a revival, due in part to Zionist interest in Hebrew as the national York Public Library Archives. language of the future Jewish state in Palestine. In the United States, an increasing trend to supplant Yiddish with Hebrew as the language Kraft, Irma. “Mother O’ Mine in Jerusalem.” Hadassah News of Jewish Palestine was led by the powerful Federation of American Letter, March 1924. Zionists dominated by bourgeois German Jews. In the initial layout of the ZOA’s monthly publication, The Maccabee, for instance, each issue Morton, Lauren, and Maryland State Archives. “Henrietta Szold had concluded with a Yiddish section, but less than a year from the journal’s inception, the section was cut, and Hebrew became the default (1860–1945) (Biographical Series).” Archives of Maryland. language of Zionist activity among the ZOA and its partners, including https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/ Hadassah. (Imhoff, “The Courageous Diaspora: Masculinity and the sc3520/013500/013568/html/13568bio.html. Development of American Zionism,” 189.) 37 Junior Hadassah, A Primer on the Nurses’ Training School of Jerusalem, 2. Rosenblatt, Gertrude. Extracts from the Diaries of Mrs. Bernard A. 38 Hadassah Medical Organization, “The Hadassah School for Nursing at Rosenblatt of the Years 1911–1914, n.d. Jerusalem,” 1095. 39 Ibid. Shargel, Baila Round. Lost Love, The Untold Story of Henrietta Szold: 40 Szold, “Miss Szold’s Address,” 203–4. Unpublished Diary and Letters. Skokie, Illinois: Varda Books, 41 Ibid., 204. 2001.
55 56 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 “The HealingoftheDaughterMyPeople:TheFirstAnnual Zionist OrganizationofAmerica.AmericanMedicalUnitfor ———————. “RoseKaplan.”TheMaccabæan:AMagazineof ———————. “MissSzold’s Address,ReportoftheSixteenth Szold, Henrietta.“Hebrew:ACenturyofJewishThought.” Simmons, EricaB.“MotheringtheNation:TheHadassah 77&view=1up&seq=133. 2019. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.301120379987 and Letters23,no.5(May1913):135–139.AccessedApril30, Report ofHadassah.”TheMaccabæan:AMagazineJewishLife https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100514523. Organization ofAmerica,1919.AccessedFebruary24,2020. War Sufferers June,1916-June,1919.NewYork City:Zionist the JointDistributionCommitteeofAmericanFundsforJewish Palestine: MaintainedbytheZionistOrganizationofAmericaand cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112037998827&view=1up&seq=47&q1=rose. Jewish LifeandLetters31(1918).https://babel.hathitrust.org/ org/Record/100074143. 205. AccessedDecember16,2019.https://catalog.hathitrust. A MagazineofJewishLifeandLetters23,no.7(June1913):202– Committee ofHadassahandLouisLipsky. TheMaccabæan: Cincinnati, Ohio,June22toJuly24,1913.”EditedbyCentral Annual ConventionoftheFederationAmericanZionists, cs=3288. www.wzo.org.il/index.php?dir=site&page=articles&op=item& Baltimore: TheZionAssociationofBaltimore,1896.https:// AF92E30F61894A19PQ/5. com/hnpjerusalempost/docview/305070534/abstract/ 2004. AccessedFebruary16,2020.http://search.proquest. Israel, 1912–1960.”Ph.D.,UniversityofToronto (Canada), Organization’s SocialWelfare ProjectintheYishuv and Listening to Records of Resistance: A Methodology for Remembering the Legacies of Latinx DJs in Los Angeles Nestor Amador Guerrero, University of California, Los Angeles
Nestor is an aspiring multi-media storyteller from Whittier, CA began to impose policies that would further criminalize and a recent graduate from UCLA, where he studied Chicana/o and hyper-police low-income communities of color, such + Central American Studies and English, with a minor in as gang injunctions, the ‘three strikes law’ (1994), and the Digital Humanities. During his time in undergrad he was STEP Act (1996) (González & Portillos 2007). During heavily involved in student organizing and college radio, where this time, discursive resistance in the form of transgressive he ran his own show for two years centered on documenting subcultures allowed criminalized Black and Brown youth the oral histories of Latinx DJs based in Southern California. to transcend their racialized realities and restrained cir- Nestor was inspired to learn more about archival work through cumstances. Despite mainstream American media outlets’ his experiences doing community engaged research on LGBTQ+ designation of this scene as dangerous and delinquent, it nightlife in the greater Los Angeles area. offered disenfranchised Latinx teens a creative outlet for self-expression, a sense of familial kinship, and a temporary break from their realities of social immobility. Abstract The scene was characterized by the eccentricity and Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, transgressive creative efforts of Latinx youth— claiming, transforming, Latina/o/x subcultures emerged in the form of backyard and disrupting space along with the social status quo of their parties and underground raves, claiming its space and sound racialized reality. Within high schools that were predom- across the global city of Los Angeles. However, at the turn inantly composed of Latina/o students, truancies became of the 21st century, rampant commercialization of culture a common occurrence when Latina/o high school youth and privatization of space washed over the Latina/o/x topog- began organizing “ditch parties” (Arce 2016). The party raphies of Los Angeles. To counter the institutional amnesia crew scene further transgressed normative culture through surrounding the culCtural legacies of working-class Latina/ the eccentric fashion and styles of teenage “rebels” and o/x communities, this project documents the knowledge and “groovers.” The rave and party crew scene that surged histories embedded in the archives of Chicanx/Latinx DJs throughout Southern California in the 1990s was manifested and collectives in Los Angeles. How has record collecting by young Latina/o/x DJs who were disseminating the blar- and mixing been used as a method for self-preservation ing noises of Latin Hard House and Techno music. among Latinx communities in the face of historical erasure and displacement? I approach my inquiry through a mixed This project illuminates the stories of Latinx1 DJs methodology that involves documenting oral histories and in Los Angeles who lived through the Party Crew scene an analysis of ephemera (event flyers, vinyl records, photo- in hopes of remembering and remapping the stories and graphs). The focus of this project is to understand DJs as places that are archived in their music, memories, and bodies archivists who unearth underground Latinx sounds, histo- as they continue to resist cultural and hegemonic erasure ries, and geographies. in the realms of nightlife and club culture through their craft. Collecting, sharing, and mixing music has histori- cally been used as a platform for marginalized communities Acknowledgements to engage in discursive forms of resistance, communica- tion, and self-preservation. It is an active practice of spa- To all the amazing disc jockeys that are the lifeblood tial entitlement by occupying sonic space (Johnson 2013), of this project: Carlos Morales, Gabriel Vidal, Graciela connecting the past with the present, and passing down Lopez, Oscar Santos, Annie Loren, Karina Ramirez, Angela embodied knowledge. My research project explores the Ramirez, Andrew Jaramillo, and Isaiah Ramos. I appreciate following question: How may studying record collections your willingness to share your important narratives and of Latinx DJs based in Los Angeles help us in cutting across knowledge with me. Thank you for the great conversations, and pasting together lost Latinx geographies, histories, and music recommendations, and DJ tips. As an aspiring DJ, it narratives throughout the rapidly gentrifying, whitewashed means the world to have been able to make genuine friend- landscapes of Los Angeles? ships with you throughout this journey. Beyond the scope of this project, I also hope to gesture towards larger questions surrounding the process of knowl- Listening to Records of Resistance: A Methodology for edge production; specifically, where and how alternative Remembering the Legacies of Latinx DJs in Los Angeles forms of knowledge production can occur and be validated outside the realm of academia. I feel that it is imperative to In 1992, South Central Los Angeles was the site of acknowledge that as a DJ myself, I have formed personal a racially charged uprising after the acquittal of officers ties and relationships to the disc jockeys and collectives that who partook in the arrest and brutal beating of Rodney are included in this project prior to conceptualizing it. As King. Following the riots, LA legislators and policy makers 57 58 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 throughout the interview. Christian immigrants, playingvinylfromhis collection parties asaqueerpunkcoming fromafamilyofMexican up in the San Gabriel Valley and going to backyard house his musiccollection,Carlosshared hisexperiencesgrowing music andlearningtoDJ.Aswe dugthroughthecratesof of themostformativemoments inhisjourneycollecting memories ofhisadolescence,allowingmeinsightintosome record collection,werevisitedarchivedstoriesandcore rative processthatinvolveddiggingthroughhispersonal nections withinaqueerLatinxLosAngeles.Incollabo- and historiesoftransgressionallowustodiscovernewcon- party crews,weareabletounderstandhowthesemoments Crasslos), who grewup going to backyard punk shows and ship thatmusichastolocationandcollectivememory. through thecrates,”arehelpfulinarticulatingrelation- embedded intheactofcollectingvinylrecords,or“digging performance as dissemination; it recognizes how the poetics ing asaformofknowledgepreservationandtheDJ’s live brought tothesurfacethroughacknowledgingvinylcollect- ect prioritizesandvalidatesthewaysofknowingthatare experiences oftheDJasanarchivewithinitself.Thisproj- of a Latinx Los Angeles and understanding the embodied oral histories as a means of mapping thehidden histories ephemeral (memory) sites of memory, this project draws on and artists often-times feelintrusive,hierarchical,andutilitarian. a particularwayforanacademicinstitutiontovalidatecan documenting personal narratives and synthesizing them in pre-conceived subjectivity, especiallysincetheprocessof of the DJs who are the lifeblood of this project under a I activelytrytoavoidflatteningoutthevoicesandstories both aresearcherandaninsiderofthiscommunityDJs, strong foundationsoftrust. methodology indocumentingoralhistoriesandbuilding ceptualized inacademiabyrootingthemainarteryofmy knowledge production is commonly understood and con- project hopes to push the boundaries ofhow the process of treating these“subjects”asautilityandrepository. This of extractinginformationfromspecificgroupsfocusand produced withinthesocialsciencestendstobeinform validated. Oneofthemostcommonwaysthatknowledgeis hold amonopolyoverhowknowledgeisproducedand and inheritedinwaysthatstemoutsideofinstitutions explore howbodiesofknowledgeareco-created,archived, 2019)— them (Boyd &Ramirez2012, Blackwell 2016,AlvarezJr. Latinx communitiesandtheknowledgethatstemsfrom By exploring the oral history of Carlos Morales (DJ Through explorations of physical (vinyl records) and The approachofthisprojectisinspiredbyscholars I usetheplatformhavebeengivenasascholarto 3 who prioritize the embodied experiences of 4
2 Paranoid London.Henoted: scene wasatracktitled“Dub1”bytheAcidHousegroup came acrossduringourconversationaboutthepartycrew snuck him into teenage house parties. One of the records he cassettes hewasexposedtoasachildwhenhisoldersisters he collected at swap meets to the Techno and Rave music ious genres,rangingfromoldmixtapesofLatinOldies because Ineveridentifiedwith mainstreamqueerculture Crudos, MartinSorrendeguy. “Itmadesomuchsensetome most formativeinfluenceswas thequeerpunk-singerofLos he metintheLosAngeleshardcore punkscene.Oneofhis he foundhissenseofqueercommunity throughthepeople through myconversationswithCarlos,ashesharedthat the HardcorePunksceneandPartyCrewSubculture. and home outside of his conservative Christian family within Latinx youth like Carlos, who found a sense of community this HouseandTechno songresonatedwithfirstgeneration layered underthepulsating‘fouronfloor’structureof them out of their repressed realities. The poignant lyrics sense of place in transient moments that temporarily break their existence,youthofcolorinLosAngelesoftenfind stantly beingsurveilledunderapolicestatethatcriminalizes In atimewherefindingsenseofhomeislostwhencon- Photograph ofCarlosMorales.Retrievedfrom@crasslosonInstagram. formation ofhis bandLimpWrist embodiedtheemergence me,” hedescribes. PunkartistslikeSorrondeguy andthe Martin kindof becamelikeamentor, anolderfigure to In tellingthesestories,Carloswouldjumpfromvar Notions of kinship and chosen family emerged pulled astringwithme. home.’ ThefirsttimethatIeverhearditjust streets arewhereI’mfromitsIreallyfeelat They havethisonelineintheirsongthatsays,‘The .
.
- . . of queercore as a sub-genre in Los Angeles. Utilizing his primary desire was not to make it in the music industry, but commanding stage presence to spread messages of sexual rather to create a place for public self-expression. Similar liberation among queer punks of color, Sorrondeguey’s music to the way Latinx punk shows and party crews were charac- and performance pushed the heteronormative boundaries for terized by their D.I.Y. attitude and sensibilities, ‘La Disco’ marginalized identities within the subculture while simulta- provides a welcoming platform for people with minimal neously disrupting constructions of whiteness and homopho- experience into the craft of DJing. Parties like theirs aim to bia that were perpetuated within the punk scene. Meeting open up their platforms and make them accessible through people other who existed within intersections of their brown, “open tables,” bar nights that they host where they center queer, and punk identities was where Carlos was able to find QTPOC to play their own records. a sense of self. During the interview he would reminisce about Martin’s house parties and the music being played:
You would think ‘Oh yea, Martin Crudo’s house! They’re gonna play the best punk stuff’— all of a sudden you’d hear a Deep House song being played, like Ralphi Rosario’s ‘You Used to Hold Me,’ followed by Hi-NRG . . . that was the first time where I felt like I was part of a queer com- munity, which was inside a bigger community, the hardcore punk community.
The Chicago House single “You Used to Hold Me” con- trasts the harshness exhibited by punk music, a sound that explicitly channels its subversion of normative culture through the anti-establishment sentiments in its lyricism and short-lived nature of intensity in its music. Rosario’s track embodies something softer, yet still potent in its trans- gression within this context. It is reminiscent of the sounds that stem from queer Black and Brown communities5 (Van Langen 2010), offering Carlos a way to tap into queer forms of intimacy and embodiment that were not as accessible in the face of the punk scene’s internalized homophobia. These moments allowed him to imagine ways of being that not only disrupted the exclusivity of the white-heteropatriarchal punk scene and the violent sociopolitical projects of xeno- phobic America, but also to fathom new ways of preserving Digital flyer for “La Disco Es Qultura” March 2019. Retrieved from his selfhood and culture. @ladiscoesqultura.
Carlos is a founding member of ‘La Disco Es “It’s kind of funny, I have this fake ‘house’ called ‘The Qultura,’ a collective formed in 2016 that organizes monthly Haus of Crasslos.’” Carlos begins to laugh as he tells me queer parties at the Melody Lounge in Chinatown— known about the DJs that he’s connected with, taught, and learned for playing all vinyl sets and prioritizing emerging fellow from, in a half joking, half sincere tone. Although he refers QTPOC6 DJs. Driven by shared visions and mutual appre- to the “Haus” he made by connecting with younger, newer ciation for vinyl, their collective creates spaces that counter DJs as an inside joke, it still carries a reference to the historic the homonormative rhythm of queer Los Angeles nightlife; houses that exist in queer ballroom culture— it resonates spaces that prioritize and invest in queers of color. A ‘suc- with the intergenerational relationships they’ve formed cessful’ night for La Disco is not measured by the amount among and outside of their collective. Carlos encourages of money they make or publicity they get, but rather by individuals with no background in DJing to spin during the creative outlet one taps into when playing their own their nights at the Melody Lounge: “I’ve said to people, ‘Oh set— a perspective he gained in the punk scene as a teenager. come on just do it! Come over to my house a little bit we can Michelle Habell-Pallan explains that many of LA-based practice with my mixer a little bit and we can teach you and punk artists were not really concerned with the “politics you can just DJ’ . . . and they had a blast doing it. Like, some of destination,” but rather the construction of alternative of them still DJ.” Carlos offers the knowledge he has accu- routes to fathom and exist in “alternative worlds” where mulated and access to platforms of expression he engages they find a sense of agency through dissonance (2005). The with when giving space for aspiring DJs and community 59 60 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 There exist sonic constellations of archiving, preserving, and inheriting history and culture. The practiceofcollectingraremusicandrecordsisanact of creativesandartistshehashelpednurture. these spaces after his retirement through future generations sensibilities andpracticesasawaytosecurethefuturityof playing records.Heunderstandstheactofsharingthese members whoareinterestedinthecraftofcollectingand new worldsonthehorizon. realms ofthepastandgravitational pullneededtocreate embody theportalsthatallow us totapintooftenforgotten global pandemicbyvirtuallybroadcasting fromhome,they space. AstheseDJscontinue to rejecttherepressionofa and momentscansurvivethroughtheplatformofdigital the pandemicraisesquestionsabouthowthesecommunities less threadsofcommentssignalstheirunwaveringsupport, sonalized mixtapestolisteners.Althoughtheseeminglyend- on Instagramlive,whileothersaretryingtomailoutper Zoom partiesfromhome,afewstartedtostreamtheirsets section ofalivestream.Somethembeganhostingvirtual floor is now a mass text of heart emojis in the comment once the engulfingsound of cheers from a packed dance with audiencesfeels different forDJsthesedays— in placethroughoutCalifornia,engagement and interaction means ofsurvival.Sincethe“saferathome”orderswereput local entertainersandartists,whodependonnightlifeasa ity, apandemicthatseverelyimpedesonthelivesofmany ways thattheseDJsareadaptinginlightofourcurrentreal- nization. AsIconcludethisarticle,wanttogesturethe tling institutionalizedstructuresofviolenceandhomoge- When nurtured, these spaces have thepotential of disman- ining spacesofself-preservationinthefacetheirabsence. can lookandfeellike.Partofthisresistanceinvolvesimag- it providesanalternativerepresentationofwhatresistance and kinshipsamongchosenqueerfamily, butalsobecause ments howDJscreateroomforcollectivecommunitycare into anunderstudiedLatinxLosAngeles. trace backtomemories,moments,andnarrativesembedded in themakingofanarchivethatpreserveshistories collecting andsharingrecords,Carlosactivelyparticipates and culturalproductions.Throughhisongoingpracticeof catalyze theretellingofhistory, conjuringuntoldstories, This project is necessary not only because it docu weird ortakingthesechancesinwhattheyplay. these spacesandIdon’t wantpeopletostopbeing just stop,butIdon’t wantpeopletostopcreating much longerI’mgoingtokeepdoingthis.Icould eventually I’mgettingolder—andIdon’t knowhow The wholepointofthis[mentoringotherDJs]is, 7 —sounds that are able to what was - - Endnotes Francisco Alvarez,Eddy. “FindingSequinsin the Rubble:The Boyd, NanAlamilla,andHoracioN.RoqueRamírez.2012.Bodies Blackwell, Maylei.2016.¡ChicanaPower!:ContestedHistoriesof Arce, Virginia. 2016.“SplendidIntensity, SplendidSubversion: Works Cited 3 2 1 4 7 6 5 .1080/10894160.2019.1623600. ofLesbian Studies,July2019,pp.1–17.https://doi.org/10 Journal Journeys ofTwo LatinaMigrant LesbiansinLosAngeles.” Press. of Evidence:ThePractice Feminism intheChicanoMovement.UniversityofTexas Press. www.westernhumanitiesreview.com/fall-2016–70-3/. Special Issue:Prestige, TheMarkingofDistinction,70(3).http:// Transgression ontheDanceFloor.” Western HumanitiesAlliance LA-based artistandarchivistGuadalupeRosales’buildscounter- This projectborrowsframeworksexhibitedinChicana/o/xscholarship I usetheterm“Latinx”becauseDJsinthisprojectstemfrom In thisvein,IdrawfromHoracioRamirezandNanBoyd’s concept In consideringhowtodrawconnectionsbetweenDJcollectivesand Queer Trans PeopleofColor. The clubmusicgenresofNewYork Disco,ChicagoHouse,andDetroit map_pointz/. Party CrewsceneinSouthernCalifornia.https://www.instagram.com/ “Map Pointz”— narratives oftheLatinxpartycrewculturethroughherongoingproject 2019.1623600. of LesbianStudies,July2019,pp.1–17.https://doi.org/10.1080/10894160. The JourneysofTwo LatinaMigrantLesbiansinLosAngeles.”Journal realization. FranciscoAlvarez,Eddy. “FindingSequinsintheRubble: sense oftheirlivesandworktowardsownself-determination sites ofmemory, heattemptstounderstandhowTrans Latinasmake Latinx LosAngeles.Throughhisexplorationofphysicalandephemeral theory asameansofmappingandarchivingthehiddenhistories Sequins intheRubble.”Alvarez’s workdrawsonqueeroralhistory and QueerStudies— preserving culturethroughsharingtheirmusic. express theintentionofcreatingsafespacesfortheircommunitiesand Trans Latina/o/xidentifyingindividuals,whosemissionstatementsthat collectives andaffiliationscomprisedpredominantlyofQueer University Press. 2012. and researcher.” Boyd,NanAlamilla,andHoracioN.RoqueRamírez. establishing intimacyduring“thephysicalencounterbetweennarrator tionship betweentrauma,activism,andpublicmemory, butalsowhen history canbeespeciallyusefulnotonlywhendocumentingtherela- of doingoralhistory. Theyarguethattheirmethodologyofqueeroral bodily desires)isanimportant,indeedmaterial,aspectofthepractice of “body-basedknowing,”positingthatthesexualitybody(i.e., and thelargerhistoricaldevelopmentsthatarehappeningrightnow. seriously theintersectionsbetweenmarginalizedbodies’socialidentities allow ustotraceagenealogyofempowermentandenablestake struggle,” inwhichsheidentifiesandparsesthroughconnectionsthat and scholarGayeTheresaJohnsonherconcept“constellationsof choose toplay, Ireferbacktothetheoreticalworkofculturalhistorian communities (acrossgenerations)bytracingthegenrestheyintentionally club scenesinthelate1970sand1980s. Techno developedoutofpredominantlyBlackandBrownunderground . Oxford Bodies ofEvidence:ThePracticeQueerOralHistory a predominantlyvisual-baseddigitalarchiveofthe1990s particularly EddyAlvarez’s manuscript,“Finding . OxfordUniversity Queer OralHistory Habell-Pallan, Michelle. 2005. Loca Motion: The Travels of Chicana and Latina Popular Culture. NYU Press.
Juan Carlos González & Edwardo L. Portillos (2007) “The Undereducation and Overcriminalization of U.S. Latinas/os: A Post-Los Angeles Riots LatCrit Analysis,” Educational Studies, 42:3, 247–266, DOI: 10.1080/00131940701634643.
Johnson, Gaye Theresa. 2013. Spaces of Conflict, Sounds of Solidarity: Music, Race, and Spatial Entitlement in Los Angeles. Vol. 36. Univ of California Press.
Morales, Carlos. “@crasslos • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Accessed May 24, 2020. https://www.instagram.com/crasslos/.
Muñoz, José Esteban. 2009. Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity. NYU Press. Accessed May 24, 2020. www.jstor. org/stable/j.ctt9qg4nr.
______.1996. “Ephemera as Evidence: Introductory Notes to Queer Acts.” Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory 8 (2): 5–16. https://doi. org/10.1080/07407709608571228.
Rosales, Guadalupe. “Official Map Pointz Project (@map_pointz) Instagram Photos and Videos.” Accessed May 24, 2020. https:// www.instagram.com/map_pointz/.
Van Langen. P. 2010. “Last Dance: Dance Music Born out of Queer Communities.” Health 100, no.8: 1477–84. https://kabk. github.io/go-theses-19-peter-vanlangen/.
61 62 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 able teachingofhowtobeaninterdisciplinary scholar. find and develop myvoice, ultimately providingan invalu- Butler-Barnes. They championed me and encouraged me to Lerone Martin, Dr. Jonathan Fenderson, and Dr. Sheretta tion for my MMUF family and for my thesis advisors, Dr. you everystepoftheway. Ialsohavetheutmost apprecia- am grateful for all of you who allowed me to hear and see encouraging throughoutmyresearchandwritingprocess.I at thecenterofthisprojectwhowereopen,vulnerable,and Acknowledgements effectively practiceorganizing,advocacy, andleadership. are considered experts of their lived experiences and can establishing institutionswithintheschoolwherestudents tions empower Black girls’ by embracing their resistance and Ultimately, thispaperrecommendsthateducationinstitu- worlds by rejecting attempts to constrain their autonomy. tory observationshedlightonhowBlackgirlsimaginenew educational andsocialexperience.Interviewsparticipa- cipline, this study analyzes Black girls’ perceptions of their to previousscholarshipthatonlylooksattheratesofdis- tional institutionsandoppressivepowerstructures.Adding autonomy whilenavigatingmilitarizeddisciplineineduca- study seekstoilluminatehowBlackgirlsresistandestablish force ofthistropeandtheirmethodsresistance.This is devoted to Black girls’ experience with the oppressive and invalidatetheirunderstandings.Still,notmuchresearch tently weaponizedagainstBlackwomxnandgirlstosilence across thediaspora.TheangryBlackwomxntropeisconsis- an illustration of the oppressive constraints onBlack womxn trope, hasbeen thoroughly examined in multiplefieldsas Abstract mation ofvariousaspectsthecriminallegalsystem. hopes tousehersocio-legalresearch fortheabolitionandrefor in Blackandsociologicalstudies.Inhergraduateprogram,she law. NyaplanstoenrollnextfallinajointJD/PhDprogram and girls,particularlyatthenexusofrace,class,gender, andthe research focusesonthelivedexperiencesofmarginalizedwomxn doula.Her Initiative. Nyaisalsoacertifiedfull-spectrum Coordinator inthemuseum’s AfricanAmericanHistory currently worksattheMissouriHistoricalSocietyasOutreach Studies andWomen, Gender, andSexualityStudies.She St. Louis,where shemajored inAfricanandAmerican Nya Hardaway isarecent graduateofWashington Universityin Nya K.Hardaway,WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louis Resistant AngerinaSt.LouisPublicCharterSchool Anger asaUsefulTool: AnAnalysisofBlackGirls’ I wouldliketothankfirstandforemosttheBlackgirls The Sapphirestereotype,orangryBlackwomxn -
lives ofBlackwomxn Introduction time, attention,andsupport. similar persecutionbutarenot affordednearlyasmuch voices ofyoung Black girlswhoreceivethebrunt end of girls. Consequently, thispaperseekstomakespaceforthe regard anddiscoursetoanalyzing theexperienceofBlack experiences asadults.Thesescholars,however, devotelittle minating theaforementionedsubjugationofBlackwomxn’s cation scholarsdevotesignificanttimeandattentiontoillu- Threatening. Loud”(Prasad2018).Race,gender, andedu- they do,they’redeemedtobedomineering.Aggressive. “Black womenarenotsupposedtopushbackandwhen Professor Trina Jones respondedtoWilliam’s punishment, referee’s call, a behavior common in her sport (Prasad 2018). with a$17,000fineforbreakingherracquetinresponseto deemed asirrationalandinappropriaterageduringamatch In anotherinstance,Williams waspunishedforwhat Mayor describedObamaasan“apeinheels”(Prasad2018). irrational. Asanexample,BeverlyWhaling,aWest Virginia three repressivejudgments:ill-mannered,ill-tempered,and the intersectionofbeingbothBlackandawomxninto corners tens of millions of people whose identities live at where theyshowlittletonoangeratall.Societypersistently and pigeonholedasdangerous or irrational even ininstances Winfrey, andSerenaWilliams haveallbeenlabeled angry ships withandconstructionsofangerinBlackgirlhood. just asimportanttoprioritizediscourseexaminingrelation- particularly asitrelatestoschooldiscipline.Isuggestis pervasive natureofthetropenegativelyimpactsBlackgirls ies scholarshipasexclusivetoadulthood.Nevertheless,the Still, this limiting stereotype is characterizedinyouth stud- culture inallagegroupsrightuptothepresentmoment. woman trope,hasroots in the1950sanddominatespopular displaying anger. TheSapphirecaricature,orangryBlack and girlslearnconstructastheynavigatefeeling set ofactions,principles,andassumptionsthatBlackwomxn rather than“anger”asastandalone,tosignifythatthereare White communities.Iusethephrase“politicsofanger,” emotions areunderconstantsurveillancebybothBlackand adults and the institutions they traverse. Asa result, their heavily disciplinedandpunishedfortheirangerbyboth The politics of anger is a persuasive force within the Established womxnlikeMichelleObama,Oprah into being. sonal andinstitutional,whichbroughtthatanger potentially useful against thoseoppressions,per Every womanhasawell-stockedarsenalofanger 1 andgirls.Blackgirlsgrowupbeing —Audre Lorde - The examination of the experiences of Black girls Black Girls in Classrooms,” by Ohio University sociologist with anger gives rise to the following questions: How do Edward Morris (2007). Morris explains how teachers’ efforts Black girls experience and utilize anger as a tool? How do to encourage soft soundedness, which is more culturally Black girls perceive institutionalized or interpersonal power feminine behavior, limits Black girls’ academic potential. and attempt to disrupt efforts of domination? By neglecting By attending to sound, Morris and other scholars (Fordham the lived experiences of Black girls, we’re missing informa- 1993, Koonce 2012), push Black girls into two categories of tion on how societal behavior that produces the oppression existence: quiet or loud. Although Morris’s examination of of those both Black and female are duplicated within dis- treatment based on race, gender, and class expectations is crepancies surrounding discipline and control. Descriptive useful in identifying a unique experience, this paper pushes statistics are not sufficient guidelines to where and how to his analysis one step further by investigating how Black enact changes, nevertheless, Black girls’ voices and actions girls illuminate and challenge the harmful conditions to serve to enlighten our conversations and solutions. which they are subjected. Essentially, the focus of previous literature on the dichotomy of quiet/loud prevents the full In this paper, I first explain my methods for this understanding, without blinders, of how Black girls vocally research, culminating in my senior honors thesis, of which and physically defy oppressive forces. this article is an excerpt. Next, I discuss the relevant liter- ature on Black girlhood and the methods and principles The tendency to emphasize how Black girls are surrounding Black girls’ use of anger. Finally, excerpts of treated according to how they sound implies that the noise interviews demonstrate my findings on the uses of anger as level of Black girls’ voices is their most significant identi- resistance within Black girlhood that serve as a foundation fying factor as well as their main site of oppression. In the for my argument. place of scholarship that focuses solely on sound, the partic- ipants’ uses of anger and their teachers’ subsequent efforts Methods/Methodology to punish this anger reinforces the work of Connie Wun’s (2015) “Against Captivity.” In this piece, she illuminates In order to investigate the questions central to this that Black girls’ “defiant” behavior is a product of school work, I utilized a mixed-methods approach employing qual- conditions that violate Black girls and ignore their classroom itative semi-structured interviews and participatory obser- and life experiences with violence, punishment, and neglect vation alongside quantitative surveys. This project emerges (Wun 2015). The present study builds on Wun (2015) by from a four-month, IRB-approved study rooted in ethno- positing that attention must be given to the insights that graphic fieldwork at a public charter school in St. Louis, Black girls’ anger yields on how educational institutions rep- Missouri. I investigated the politics of anger and resistance licate practices of domination. Through this investigation, among Black girls ages 11–14. I conducted interviews with we expand the literature that identifies how Black girls face 25 girls and utilized participant observation three hours a disparate punishment and surveillance to include how they day for three days a week during this time. In this piece, challenge the root cause of this injustice. As a result, scholars I use pseudonyms for both the school, which I refer to as advance the capabilities of their fields by not only examining Marshall Prep, and participants’ names, to protect their institutional ills but also by reforming policies and practices identities. When assessed for test scores, rankings, school to rectify these harms. and district boundaries, student/teacher ratios, and ethnic makeup, Marshall Prep ranks 534, or in the 8.7th percentile, While I agree with Morris and other sociologists out of 585 Missouri public middle schools (School Digger that use intersectionality theory to examine the societal 2019). The following sections highlight my findings on treatment of Black girls, this study’s findings challenge the anger and resistance from data collected specifically from overall connection in his piece that stifling outspokenness interviews, observations, and field notes. impedes potential academic success (Morris 2007). Morris essentializes this connection between academic achievement Relevant Literature on Black Girlhood and the Uses of Anger and assertiveness. The participants’ narratives suggest that rather than simplifying perceived loudness as merely an Black Girlhood obstacle, Black girls are using their voices and anger to radically defy institutionalized oppression— beyond and Contemporary sociological and youth studies research in addition to pursuing academic achievement. As Morris has highlighted how schools can perpetuate the subjugation builds his argument strictly on sound, he disregards the of Black girlhood, particularly through emphasizing how many intricacies of Black girlhood that transcend the politics Black girls sound. For example, one of the few youth studies of sound. Essentially, most extant scholarship remains too articles centering the classroom experiences of Black girls concerned with how Black girls sound, disregarding what is “‘Ladies’ or ‘Loudies?’ Perceptions and Experiences of they are saying. 63 64 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 constant surveillance interrogates Black womxn’s tireless anger, “Why, under as aPraxis:Toward aMethodologyofAnger,” BetinaJudd power imbalancesandevenretrievepower. In“Sapphire participants explaintheiruseofangerasatooltocheck Rather than anger being merely adisplay of emotion, the as theyarepunishedandincreasinglysurveilledaresult. The UsesofAnger incite inequity. ability toaddressanddismantlepracticessystemsthat riences augmentsschooldisciplineandcriticalracescholars’ interrogating theconditionsofschoolsandBlackgirls’expe- first institutionstheyencounter— marked bothBlackandfemalebeginningwithoneofthe institutions padlocktheoppressionofthoseborninabody thought, wegarneramorecompleteunderstandingofhow Black girls,whoareleftonthemarginsoffeminist the valueofimpartingspecialtheorytoexperiences that facilitatetheiroppressionfrombirth.Byemphasizing as adultsareinfluencedbycircumstancesandconditions experience ofBlackmenunderstandthattheirexperiences of Black men (Brooms 2014). Scholars who explore the cence andchildhoodtoprovidecontextfortheexperience that featuresmasculinityandmanhoodchroniclesadoles- childhood. Fortheirmalecounterparts,however, literature class, itdoesnotextendpastwomanhoodtoadolescenceor feminist thoughtcentralizesthenexusofrace,gender, and how peoplecontendandoutlivepersecution.ThoughBlack their familiesandcommunitiesiscentralinunderstanding uation ofhowBlackwomxncontinuetosurviveandsupport gorical axis”(Crenshaw1989,140).Providingauniqueeval- subordination asdisadvantageoccurringalongasinglecate- conceptions ofdiscriminationconditionustothinkabout starting point,itbecomes more apparenthowdominant Kimberlé Crenshawasserts,“withBlackwomenasthe systems ofdominationalongrace,gender, andclasslines. value ontheexperiencesofBlackwomxninevaluating hood, Blackfeministthoughtbrilliantlysituatesandplaces dangerous. In turn,institutionsandindividuals make monic practices, schoolfacultygenerallydeem thiseffort surveilled andpunishedfordisplaying thisemotion. of whyBlackgirlsarepersistently angryevenwhenheavily question asitrelatestoBlack girls, resistance isattheroot sition. Usingthe participants’ narratives to answer Judd’s only as anemotion but as anactive performance of oppo- of anger. My findings affirm thatwe must consider anger not (Judd 2019,180).Judd’s questioniscriticaltotheparadigm angry anyway and do so in practice of deliberate selfhood?” The girlsofthisstudycontinuetodisplayangereven To avoidthislimitationasitrelatestoBlackwoman- Still, whenBlackgirlsuseanger tochallengehege- . . . [do]Blackwomengoaheadandbe primary schools.Thus, table education. circumstances that denyBlackgirls’righttoa safe andequi- participants’ narrativesanddisplays ofangerdissectharmful use ofangersupports this study’s investigationofhowthe doings (Lorde1981).Lorde’s explorationoftheproductive institutions andushersinsolutions torectifythesewrong- tion, isfilledwithinformation thatpinpointsthefailuresof 1981 explanationthatanger, servingone’s visionoflibera- Black girlsofthisstudyrespond.IdrawonAudreLorde’s insight ontheconditionsandunderstandingstowhich suggest thatangertranscendsemotionalintelligencetogive marker ofanintractable,unreasonableBlackgirl. and classforces.Anger, then,isnotmerelyanemotionora space toconfrontanddeconstructoppressiverace,gender, Prep arerecognizing problems and using anger tocreate and femininity. Similarly, Blackgirl participantsofMarshall fuels therejectionofnormativityrelatedtogenderroles Brown explicitlyillustrateshowtheangerofWhitegirls between angerandBlackgirlhoodsoincrediblypowerful. of wrongdoingandinjusticethatmakestherelationship being anemotionspecificallytiedtoaresponsefeelings to compoundingsystemsofcontrol.Itisthepoweranger are subjectedtonegativetropessurroundingrageinaddition leaves roomtointerrogatetheuseofangeramonggirlswho theirs” (Brown 1998, 127). Brown’s study of White girls pants “thepotentialforadifferentoutcomethatisrightfully femininity. Shewritesthatangergivesbacktoherpartici- White girls’ use of anger in refusing cultural expressions of Anger Lyn MikelBrown’s RaisingTheirVoices: ThePoliticsofGirls’ anger asaprimaryvehicleoftheaforementionedopposition. outwardly orexplicitlyusingangerasresistance. experiences ofparticipantswhoscholarsmaynotcodeas for resistancewithinBlackgirlhoodtobeinclusiveofthe ior. Fundamentally, thisdefinitionopens theuseofanger such as being quiet or not engaging in “defiant” behav otherwise notreceiveattentionfromscholarsduetofactors involves alargerspectrumofBlackschoolgirlswhomight Using dissentingfeelings,thoughts,andactionsasabase for enhancingtheunderstandingofBlackgirlsandanger. nized, collectiveactionmakesMaase’s definitionessential notion thatresistanceexistswithinmovementsororga- ful, unfair, orlimitingtheirautonomy. Thecommonlyheld power andpracticesthatthegirlsperceivetobedisrespect- marks a refusal to accept or comply withinstitutionalized thoughts, and actions.” Accordingly, resistance in my study (2017) definition of resistance as “oppositional feelings, ultimately agency. For this paper, I use Kaspar Maase’s criminalization tostifleBlackgirls’accessresistanceand considerable efforts through disciplinary infractions and (1998) Instead, thepresentinterviewsandfieldobservations As MarshallPrepAcademyStudents,participantsuse dissects thepowerofangerassheexamines - Findings on Black Girlhood and the Uses of Anger acting “black” or, you know, “ghetto” they try to [ignore in Marshall Prep Academy what you need] and be like ‘Oh, she doesn’t care’” (Kiarra, Grade 7). Unsupportive relationships between students and Tracy Robinson and Janie Victoria Ward (1991) pro- faculty can compromise student success and worsen the vide an important framework for understanding resistance impact of negative neighborhood or home environments for liberation in the context of the use of anger in Black girl- on the students’ educational achievement and approach to hood. They maintain that resistance for liberation encom- their education. passes Black girls recognizing problems, calling for change, and empowering themselves to dismantle oppressive forces Conversely, students who feel supported and cared (Robinson & Ward 1991). I adapt their framework in the for reach greater academic achievement than those who do application of my findings because the core of their argu- not (Hammond & Harvey, 2018). To better student-teacher ment illuminates the need to trace the organization of dom- relationships, the participants suggest that teachers have a ineering forces and the response to these forces throughout set of standards that facilitate their conduct, which would one’s life course. They find that opposition of these forces is include benchmarks for de-escalation, respect, and honoring a learned survival mechanism that begins in the educational the self-determination of their students. Likewise, I suggest pipeline and transcends into adulthood (Robinson & Ward that faculty create space for students to voice their curricu- 1991, 91). Rianna, an eight-grade participant, captured lar and extracurricular desires and needs in addition to the Robinson and Ward’s sentiments: “Black girls are taught standards for conduct. By treating the participants and their that you shouldn’t let people disrespect you, ‘cause they’re classmates as valued contributors to their education, the definitely gonna try it” (Rianna, Grade 8). Viewing anger as students will feel supported and engaged in their educational a form of resistance, it is important to pay attention to how experiences. Black girlhood is a site of constant confrontation of power impositions antithetical to the safety, autonomy, and support Nevertheless, on two occasions, I’ve observed teach- of Black girls. Discussing the theory surrounding Black ers respond to their Black girl students’ “attitudes” with girls’ use of anger limits the extent to which we can examine the sentiment that Kiarra explains above. “You’re show- the complexities of Black girlhood. By turning to the girls’ ing me you don’t care, so I don’t care either,” one seventh voices, we move past merely scrutinizing the interlocked grade math teacher remarked and subsequently ended a nature of practices and beliefs that create disparities in Black lesson with 20-minutes remaining. In another instance, girlhood. Rather, we empower Black girls by inviting them Ms. Swanson, an eighth-grade language arts teacher shared to be experts of their own experiences and to use their voices with her class that she “could care less” about their attitudes to enact change. because she “is still going to get her paycheck anyway” (Fieldnote, Swanson Grade 8). Schools significantly shape During one of my first visits to Marshall Prep, a sixth- students’ academic and personal goals and their self-worth grade instructor asked me in passing about my research. as they matriculate into adulthood. Instances such as those When I shared that I was doing a project on Black girls and aforementioned where instructors make it clear to the par- discipline, this teacher, a young Black woman, replied “you ticipants that they can be dismissed and unsupported at the came to the perfect place, the attitudes these girls have are drop of a hat only perpetuates the larger societal disregard ridiculous” (Fieldnotes 10/11/2019). I was taken aback that of the plight of Black girls. Because Black girls are more she perceived me, also a young Black woman, to be writing likely to be viewed as disobedient and intentionally harmful an exposé on the girls that both of us could have very well by teachers than White girls, faculty disproportionately been. In a school like Marshall Prep whose foundation rests trivialize Black girls’ educational needs and their innocence on rewarding and reprimanding behavior, an instructor that as children. Statistically, this dismissive attitude from teach- perceives their Black girls to have capricious attitudes, and ers fuels discrepancies in subjective disciplinary infractions have that be their defining characteristic, can be detrimen- leading Black girls to be more likely to receive more punitive tal to their education. Each week, students begin with 50 punishments than their Black male and White counterparts behavior points and have points added or subtracted by fac- (Epstein et. Al 2017, 10.) ulty depending on subjective assessments of their behavior. Teachers can ignore their students’ requests, send them out Many aspects of schools like Marshall Prep effec- of the class, or refuse their participation in events earned by tively suffocate the participants’ ability to access their agency high behavioral scores, such as independent reading time. through militarized disciplining and intense monitoring. To Kiarra explains how instructors dismiss her feelings and make matters worse, teachers and administrators often do educational needs following what Marshall Prep teachers not acknowledge or prioritize children’s right to self-de- might consider a display of ridiculous attitude: “If they know termination. Because the girls at the heart of this study live when you do something and the teachers think that you are in a society that assumes that adults and institutions “know 65 66 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 to merelyfallinline: trators disrespecttheirstudents andthenexpectthestudents rationality. Eternitymentionedthatteachersandadminis - ety, todoandsayasadultsdictate,regardless of justiceor children inMarshallPrep,andgenerallyAmericansoci- the standardsofwhatakidshoulddoorstay. Adults expect that tochallengethishierarchy, theymustnotconform to the issueofahierarchypower. Further, theyunderstand girls inouranalysisofoppressiveinstitutionsandimpetuses. we areempoweringandprioritizingthenarrativesofBlack resistance, andthereforeapracticaltoolforBlackgirlhood, a voicetoo”(Monique,Grade8).Byacknowledgingangeras girls havethecapacitytoexerttheirpower, “cause[they]got ment this use of anger produces a space within which Black disruption. Instead,asMoniquedemonstrates in herstate- This form of anger does not merely function as a tool of ers believe should follow after disciplining their students. means ofdenyingtheexpectedsubmissionthatmanyteach- resistant anger and agency. Resistant anger is a productive Monique’s declaration illuminates aconnection between with thefollowingstatement: instructors. Altasia’s classmate, Monique, furthers this claim disrupt exchangesofpowerbetweenthemselvesandtheir Essentially, Blackgirlsdisplayandemployresistantangerto eighth-grade stated: permission totransitionintothenextclass— ment thatquizzesday’s lessonandisarequirementfor social studies instructor rippedupherexitticket— for disruptingalesson.Recollectinganinstancewhereher work beingtornupinfrontofthemasaformpunishment participants atMarshallPrep,somegirlsexperiencedtheir cultivate theiridentities. important timesoftheirliveswhentheyareattemptingto best,” authorityfiguresmarginalizegirlsatoneofthemost The girlsatthecenterofthisprojectconstantlyraise As anillustrationoftheconstrainingconditionson or nothinglikethat. it allthewayupthere and treat you like an adult and you just gonna take Like, bro,Ijusttriedtotalkyou like anormalkid Tillman] justgetallthewayuptherewithme When Itrytorespondinanormal tone,[Mr. I gotavoicetoo. No you’renotgonnaraiseyourvoiceatme,‘cause for real,theythinkjustbecausethey’reteachers These teachersthinktheywon’t getcursedout,like me mypacketback.Iwasnotplayingwithhim. my paperandrewroteitonanothergave Imma fuckupyourclass.”Andwhathedo?Hetook I told him, “If you don’t tape my stuff back together, . . . Likeyou’renot superior Altasia ofthe . . an assign- . . . . that theyareimagining byresistingnormative structures cumstances that theyarerespondingtoandthe newworlds schools, wemustlistentowhat theyaresayingaboutthecir of Black girls by pushingthem out of the classroom and than improper behavior. Instead of neglecting the anger tain, is a methodof advocacy and self-determination rather exchanges ofpower. Resistantangeranddisruption, Imain- ited by their Black girls when they expose these harmful schools, andcommunitiestoembracetheagencyexhib- that elicitangryresponsesfromBlackgirls. diligence in evaluating and reformingthesetof conditions this silencingisracistandgenderedwefailtoexercisedue is outsized”(Martin2019).Ifwestopshortataffirmingthat of conditionsthattheyarerespondingto,theirreaction acting, thattheyarebeinghypersensitive,whateverset they don’t haveagood grasponreality, thattheyareoverre- Black womxnas“designedtodiscreditthemandsaythat an interview, describingtheweaponizationofangeragainst explains thesilencingofBlackwomxnandtheirangerin entail characterizingaBlackgirlasangry. BrittneyCooper Black girlsareangryaboutandnotjusttheracialbiasesthat and schooldisciplinescholarsmustpayattentiontowhat tional power(Judd2019,180).Sociologists,Blackfeminists, expose destructive impositions of interpersonal and institu- ahead and be angry anyway” in an attempt to disrupt and ultimately work against them. Even still, Black girls “go stand thattheirexpressionsofangercanbepunishedand institutionally padlockednatureofoppression. and liberationastheyincreasinglycontinuetochallengethe acts ofdomination,askillthatwillbenecessaryforsurvival learning forthefirsttimehowtoencumbersystemsand This findingnotablyilluminatesthattheparticipantsare faculty theabilitytocompletelycontrolparticipants. constructions ofpower. Theirdissentconsistentlydisallows girls’ actionsdemonstrateoppositiontospatialandverbal (Denise, Grade8).Theangerandagitationexplicitinthese body, becausetheygotthepart,areateacher” feeling liketheycouldjustgooffonanybodyandevery- when Iretrievepowerwiththeteacher, becausetheybe resistant anger. Shedescribesthesatisfaction:“Ifeelgood that shefeelsgoodafterreclaimingpowerthroughformsof of powerasarepossessionherownpower. Shementioned might otherwisechoosetodoso. it extremelydifficultforthemtoexercisetheirpowerasthey tant anger. Resistantangerchallengesauthorityandmakes Eternity’s interpretationisessentialtounderstandingresis- Conclusion Through thispiece,Iamencouragingscholars, According tothisstudy, manyparticipantsunder Similarly, Denisedescribesherdeliberatedisruption - - and practices. I feel strongly that schools should establish Judd, B. (2019). “Sapphire as Praxis: Toward a Methodology organizations, such as student advocacy boards, which allow of Anger.” Feminist Studies, 45(1), 178–208. doi:10.15767/ students to act as experts of their own experiences. Black feministstudies.45.1.0178. girls, then, can build leadership skills and effectively prac- Lorde, A. (2007). Sister Outsider: Essays And Speeches. Berkeley, CA: tice organizing and troubleshooting solutions. Through Crossing Press. this advocacy-based approach to responding to oppositional anger, institutions then empower Black girls to advocate for Maase, K. (2017). “Popular Culture, ‘Resistance,’ ‘Cultural themselves and collaborate with teachers on how to better Radicalism,’ and ‘Self-Formation’: Comments on the improve the institutional and interpersonal circumstances Development of a Theory.” In Larsen M. (Author) & Butler that impact them. M., Mecheril P., & Brenningmeyer L. (Eds.), Resistance: Subjects, Representations, Contexts (pp. 45–70). Bielefeld: Transcript As scholars and as a people, Black womxn are effec- Verlag. tively praising and supporting one another as we fight against Martin, M. (2019). “Harnessing The Power Of ‘The Angry all odds. The analysis and incorporation of Black girls within Black Woman.’” https://www.npr.org/2019/02/24/689925868/ our discourse on defying systems of domination must begin harnessing-the-power-of-the-angry-black-woman. earlier as a form of community building and productive examination to any applicable field. This present study, then, Prasad, R. (2018). “Serena Williams and the trope of the ‘angry holds significance in illuminating and centering a neglected black woman.’” Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/ narrative of Black girls who have ever been marginalized by world-us-canada-45476500. those that they will grow up to be. Encouraging a broader Robinson, T., Ward, V. (1991) “A Belief in Self Far Greater Than analysis of Black girlhood will bring more resources and Anyone’s Disbelief,” Womxn & Therapy, 11:3-4, 87–103, DOI: attention to how America is failing its Black girls specifically 10.1300/J015V11N03_06. and how to actualize and advance justice in the future. School Digger (2019). “Marshall Prep.” Retrieved from https:// Endnote www.schooldigger.com/go/MO/schools/0059103122/school. aspx. 1 The use of womxn is to be inclusive of transsexual, transgender, and non-binary people. Sunderman, G. L., Kim, J. S., & Orfield, G. (2005).NCLB Meets School Realities: Lessons From the Field. Thousand Oaks, CA: Works Cited Corwin Press.
ACLU (2018). “Missouri’s Pipeline of Injustice: From School to Prison.” ACLU of Missouri. Retrieved from https://www. aclu-mo.org/en/missouris-pipeline-injustice-school-prison.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). “Anger.” from https:// www.apa.org/topics/anger/control.
Brown, L. M. (1998). Raising Their Voices: The Politics Of Girls Anger. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, And The Politics Of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Cooper, B. (2018, March 15). “Black Womxn Are Not ‘Sassy’— We’re Angry.” Retrieved July 01, 2020, from https://time. com/5191637/sassy-black-woman-stereotype/.
______. (2019). Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower. New York, NY: Picador.
Epstein, R., Blake, J., & Gonzalez, T. (2017). “Girlhood inter- rupted: The erasure of Black girls’ childhood.” Center on Poverty and Inequality. Retrieved from http://www.law.georgetown.edu/ academics/centers-institutes/poverty-inequality/upload/ girlhood-interrupted.pdf. 67 68 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 the migration‘crisis,’ oftencharacterizedbylarge numbers brought thisissue totheforefrontofmainstream politics, Trump’s immigration policies and anti-immigrant rhetoric carceral systembeginninginthe 1980s.ThoughPresident fact, themassdetainmentofimmigrants isalong-expanding my work. service providers,andmyfriendsfamilyforsupporting Honors Collegeprogram,theinterviewedimmigration University UndergraduateResearchMajorGrant,theBing the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Stanford and Michael Rosenfeld, my mentor, HenryWashington, Services attheU.S.-MexicoBorderinTimes of‘Crisis.’” tion from the thesis, “PerpetualPrecarity:Immigration supported policy recommendations. This paper is a selec eliminating immigrantdetentionisoneofthemostbroadly with representativesof30borderorganizations,Ifindthat existence ofbetteralternatives.Drawingon36interviews imate growth, exploitative profit-based model, and the detention iswarrantedduetoitsunnecessaryandillegit- for immigrants. A significant dismantling of immigration migration and strengthens along-standing,carceralsystem complex necessitatesthecriminalizationofunauthorized immigration system.Ultimately, theimmigrationindustrial built upon,andsustainedby, afundamentallydysfunctional abilities to help asylum seekers. However, these issues are istration havedramaticallyaffectedimmigrationservices’ regulations, andlimitedresourcesundertheTrump admin- find thatadversarialbureaucracies,ambiguousandarbitrary ees, and government officials. In my larger thesis project, I immigrant-serving volunteers,attorneys,nonprofitemploy- U.S.-Mexico borderthroughthelensofon-the-ground, Introduction Acknowledgements Abstract and Citizenship. SubcommitteeonImmigration Fellow withtheHouseJudiciary Prize. KimikonowworksasaJohnGardner PublicService Undergraduate ThesisandAlbertM.CamarilloSeniorPaper Award theSociologyDornbusch istration andearned forBest attheU.S.-Mexicoborderservices undertheTrump admin- Race andEthnicity. Herhonorsthesisexaminedimmigration with bachelor’s degrees inSociologyandComparativeStudies Kimiko HirotagraduatedfromStanford Universityin2020 Kimiko Hirota,StanfordUniversity in Times of‘Crisis’ from ImmigrationServicesattheU.S.–MexicoBorder Ending Detention:ARadicalPolicyRecommendation The ‘migrantcrisis’ is not new to the United States. In Thank youtomyadvisors,ClayborneCarson This paperexaminesthe‘migrantcrisis’at - (Domínguez, Lee, andLeiserson2016). tion policiesviolate U.S.responsibilitiestointernational law (Guterres 2015). Researchhasindicatedthat recent deten- asylum anddiscouragestheuse ofdetentionasadeterrent migration policiesmustprotect people’s legalrighttoseek Nations HighCommissioner for Refugeesadvocatesthat (Noferi 2015;Ackermanand Furman 2012).TheUnited accessibility, andabandonment oflegitimateasylumclaims ical harm and physical abuse, issues with legal assistance detention centers facilitate increased risks for psycholog- been extensivelydocumented:scholarshavefoundthat Background without arelianceondetention. border, regardlessoffluctuating ‘crises,’canbemanaged tence ofbetteralternatives.ImmigrationattheU.S.-Mexico mate growth,exploitativeprofit-basedmodel,andtheexis- detention iswarrantedduetoitsunnecessaryandillegiti- article, Iarguethatasignificantdismantlingofimmigration lack accesstolegalcounselandfacethecourtalone.Inthis tions profitbillions.Thevastmajorityofthosedetainedalso substandard conditions and mistreatment, while corpora- of peoplearedetainedformonths,typicallyexperiencing grants attend all hearings (Eagly 2018). Instead, thousands court proceedings, but thevast majority of releasedimmi- detention byarguingthatimmigrantswillnotshowupfor Enforcement 2019). Immigration enforcement justifies and BorderPatrolcustody(U.S.ImmigrationCustoms average of50,000immigrants held dailyinICEorCustoms Immigration andCustomsEnforcement(ICE),withan ple wereapprehendedattheU.S.-Mexicoborderby Project 2016).Infiscalyear2019,nearly1millionpeo- gration detentionsystemintheworld(GlobalDetention seekers (Edwards2011;Kandel2019). domestic andinternationallawforrefugeesasylum ing familiesandunaccompaniedchildren,whichviolates prosecution” forallunauthorizedbordercrossings,includ- the Department of Justice introduced the policy of “100% Then inJuneof2018,under the Trump administration, American internmentduringWorld War II(Williams 2017). most expansivefamilyincarcerationsystemsinceJapanese ing asylumattheU.S.-Mexicoborder. Thissystemisthe private prisoncorporations,toanincreaseinfamiliesseek- the creation of new detention centers, built and run by example, the Obama administration (2008–2016) attributed (Mountz and Hiemstra 2014; Pallister-Wilkins 2016). For restrictive immigrationandborderenforcementpolicies power of‘crisis’ismobilizedtopromotetheemergence developed over decades. Scholars argue that the political of peoplecrossingintotheUnitedStatesfromMexico, The humancostsofourimmigrationsystemhave Today, theUnitedStatesoperateslargestimmi- Despite these human costs, immigration detention it relates to the current ‘migrant crisis,’ and it derives critical expands through privatization and bureaucratization, as well insights from on-the-ground immigrant-serving workers. as the polymorphic nature of border enforcement. Private prison corporations run the vast majority of Immigration Methodology and Customs Enforcement facilities and massively profit from its operations, in addition to having significant politi- This study examines how immigration organizations cal lobbying influence (Fernandes 2007; Flynn and Cannon adapt their services under changing border practices and 2009). Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon (2017) illus- federal policies through interviews with 36 people from 30 trate how immigration detention’s proliferation is also due to organizations based in Houston, San Antonio, McAllen, bureaucratization, which serves as a “process of obfuscation” Brownsville, Harlingen, and Austin, Texas— cities and towns that “produces a morass of individuals and organizations at both at the U.S.-Mexico border and further north that are different levels of government and society who play a role impacted by increased numbers of asylum seekers. These in detention.” This obfuscation serves as a mechanism that confidential and semi-structured hour-long interviews seek effectively conceals responsibility and curtails accountability to elicit workers’ attitudes and opinions about the immi- for unethical practices in detainment and its expansion itself. gration system and its changes as well as how, or if, they are able to adapt accordingly. Participants work at advocacy At the macro level, some scholars have conceptualized and/or direct service nonprofits, legal services nonprofits, the actors and relationships sustaining immigration deten- private law firms, Congress, local government, shelters, and tion as the ‘immigration industrial complex’ in the United churches. I collectively call interview participants “immigra- States (Doty and Wheatley 2013; Cervantes et. al 2017). tion services workers” or “immigration service providers” The interdependence of state power and private power can as a generalized term to encapsulate their many roles and contribute to and legitimize detention regimes. Thomas expertise in the field. Gammeltoft-Hansen and Ninna Nyberg Sørensen (2012) have proposed the term ‘migration industry’ to refer to My interview protocol consists of about 40 open- the commercialization of immigration and the relationship ended questions, divided into the following categories: daily between immigration enforcement and service providers. work, organization policy, other organizations, treatment/ This dynamic significantly affects borderland communities, interaction with migrants, migrant rights, and migrant pol- which can become reliant on the migration industry for icies. Each organization received a $30 donation if possi- their local governments and economies. ble; government officials and private immigration attorneys refused or could not receive donations. While analyzing the complex web of immigration enforcement and services at the U.S.-Mexico border, it As rooted in grounded theory, I analyzed my inter- is crucial to address the extensive racialized history of view data as it was collected to direct my next interviews, immigration in the United States that continues today. taking cues from the concepts that frequently arose (Corbin Predominantly Latino detention can be connected to several and Strauss 1990). I used automatic transcription software to other racialized detention contexts, including Japanese and transcribe all recorded interviews. As I reviewed transcripts Japanese Americans during World War II, Haitian refugees and listened to audio recordings, I used open coding to at Guantanamo Bay, and Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims compare similarities and differences between pieces of data in the aftermath of 9/11 (Hernández 2008). For decades, to create new conceptual labels (Corbin and Strauss 1990). restrictive immigration policies have been fueled by crisis In total, I used 30 codes in Nvivo, a qualitative data analysis narratives about ‘illegal aliens’ and a Latino threat, perpetu- software, re-coding as I re-read throughout the process. I ating a constant system of emergency that is now manifested performed iterative coding by going back into the digital in a militarized border and mass detention across the coun- recordings for review and direct quotes as necessary. try. Instead of the comprehensive immigration reform that numerous scholars, experts, and advocates suggest, the fed- The On-The-Ground Policy Recommendation: eral government’s response is often increased investment for End Detention larger detention capacity and the scapegoating and reduc- tion of rights of immigrants in the name of national security. Although immigration service providers spend sig- Despite their support for demilitarizing the U.S.-Mexico nificant time coping with changes in policy and practices border and ending detention, immigration service provid- as directed by the Trump administration, almost all inter- ers have only witnessed the development of a burgeoning viewees recommended changes that fundamentally alter the detention economy between the public and private sector. United States immigration system itself. Along with provid- This paper examines the immigration industrial complex as ing universal representation in immigration court, ending immigration detention was the most frequently proposed 69 70 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 render themremovable fromtheUnitedStates” (Smith non-U.S. nationals “arrestedforimmigration violations that can requiretheDepartmentof Homeland Securitytodetain Immigration andNationality Act of1952authorizesand facilities, astatutorybackbone reinforcesdetention.The like paroleorsupervision,aswell asthepoorconditionsof ing itas“whateverthatlookslike.” as something unimaginable in the current system by describ- misaligned withimmigrationdetention,referencingjustice related issues,shehaslearnedthatjusticeisfundamentally administrations. Inherfiveyearsworkingonimmigration nizes immigrationdetention’s expansionunderprevious and lowpayoffsystem.Additionally, thisattorneyrecog- statement, shehighlightsdetentionasanoutsized,costly, legal groundsforeliminatingimmigrationdetention.Inher that therecontinuetobehumanrights,economic,and In the above excerpt, this attorney voices her frustration summarizes: dramatically reduceinsize.AprobonoattorneyHouston agreed that the immigration detention system should end or Accordingly, almosteveryimmigrationservicesworker tion are less expensiveandmore humane (Edwards 2011). stateless persons, determining that alternatives to deten- of avoidingthedetainmentrefugees,asylum-seekersand upon release,anditcomplieswiththeUNHCR’s principles percent ofasylumapplicantscomplyingwiththeconditions (UNHCR) evaluation,theprogram is effective,withupto90 Based onUnitedNationsHighCommissionerforRefugees enrolled out of 3 million in the same category (Singer 2019). 2004. InJuneof2019,ATD had100,000foreignnationals an AlternativesTo Detention,orATD, programsince uses acrossthecountry. Forexample,Congresshasfunded Immigration and Custom Enforcement overwhelmingly icy expertshavedeemedmoreeffectivethanthemethods ported alternativestodetentionthatresearchersandpol- conditions. Furthermore, there are existing, evidence-sup- expanding size,andconcernswithmanagementliving tion system’s connectiontoprivateprisons,illegitimately detention centersisentirelyunwarrantedduetothedeten- change byparticipants.Intervieweesreasonthattheuseof Despite the effectiveness of alternative measures, gration detention. “justice,” whatever that looks like, without immi tions, moredueprocessperiodandquote, from likeaneconomicperspective. rights piece, but likeifpeople are coming at this it’s adrainonmoney. Sonotjustlikethehuman think thatalternativestodetentionwork esty the expansionofimmigrationdetention,it’s atrav- this administration but even previously, like just It doesn’t havetobethisway. .
.
. there will be more due process protec . . . Imeanthestudiesshow, I . . . Notjustunder . . . And - - thousands more BorderPatrolagentsandCBP officersand Trump’s first few months of office has led to the hiring of (Kelly 2017).Aseriesofexecutive ordersissuedinPresident categories ofremovablealiens from potentialenforcement” states that the Department “no longer will exempt classes or public safety, butSecretary Kelly’s memorandum explicitly DHS usedtoprioritizecases that risknationalsecurityor the governmentandhedoesnot presentathreattosociety. the governmenttosurvivewhilefatherisdetainedby is inthissituation,consideringthatfamilymustrelyon This attorney’s anecdoteshowshowunjustifiabledetainment example: but ICE willnotrelease them, andshe shares thisasan Antonio hasmanyclientswhodonotneedtobedetained immigration laws” (Kelly 2017). Now, an attorney in San specified classorcategory ofaliensfromenforcementthe not beexercisedinamannerthatexemptsorexcludes mentation memorandumthat“prosecutorialdiscretionshall Homeland SecuritySecretaryJohnKellystatedinanimple- during thefirstweekofhispresidency, thenDepartmentof Public SafetyintheInteriorofUnitedStates,wasissued After PresidentTrump’s ExecutiveOrder13768,Enhancing detainment hascontinuedtoevolveinthelasttwoyears. detention, immigrationserviceprovidersdescribedhow ubiquitous partofasylumseekers’experienceinthesystem. work withinimmigrationservicesdaily, detentionisnowa detention istheleadrecommendationformanypeoplewho Davis 2001;Jenningsv. Rodriguez2018).Althoughending have failedincourt(Demorev. Kim2003;Zadvydasv. has beenraisedasunconstitutional,butthesechallenges tive orderofremoval”(Smith2019).Mandatorydetention and whetherthealienhasbeenissuedafinaladministra- committed certainenumeratedcriminalorterroristacts; lawfully admittedwithinthecountry;whetheralienhas the alienisseekingadmissionintoUnitedStatesorwas authorize ormandatedetention,dependentupon“whether and ImmigrantResponsibilityActof1996,fourprovisions U.S.-Mexico border. SincetheIllegalImmigrationReform affecting the population at the heart of the ‘crisis’ at the to Section235(b)oftheImmigrationandNationalityAct, out inspectionwhoappearsubjecttoremoval,according at a port of entry or have entered the United States with- 2019). In particular, detention is required for those arriving In additiontodiscussingtheunethicalnatureof six months.Ihavethatcase.Can’t get theguyout. food stampsanddetainyoufornoreasonlike for theirsupport.Let’s putthemonMedicaidand a wife who all are here and like depend on you So itdoesn’t matter if you have six children and exercise prosecutorial discretion favorably.” Right. Trump administrationisthat, “we’re notgoing to . one ofthefirstthingsthathappenedunder an increase in detainment (U.S. Government Accountability And then to buy food, they have to work to get that Office 2018). In November of 2019, nearly 70 percent money . . . So the detention center kitchen staff of detainees had no prior criminal conviction and were has something like 22, you know, people work[ing] being held longer for an average of 60 days (Hauslohner at slave labor wages and you know, three supervi- sors that are actually paid employees. So they’re 2019). The expanding detainment system does not reflect saving on all their staffing costs by forcing people an increase in crime among immigrants or a new national into those jobs because they need to get the money security concern; rather, it demonstrates private and pub- to pay for the food that they have a right to in lic investment in a large, profitable carceral system, moti- the first place. That’s not a problem with congres- vated by an anti-immigrant agenda at the highest levels of sional funding. That’s a problem with having pri- government. vate prison for profit companies running detention centers. The majority of participants specifically discussed the immorality of the federal government contracting private, Resisting the notion that ICE lacks funding to improve for-profit companies to operate detention facilities, creat- detention conditions, this attorney demonstrates how an ing a multibillion-dollar industry. While private companies exploitative system using detained people’s labor has already are responsible for 9 percent of the prison population in been set up to cut costs. Hiemstra and Conlon (2017) exten- the United States, they detain up to 73 percent of immi- sively outline the relationships across the public-private grants (Haberman 2018). Companies like GEO Group and lines that participate in immigration detention for daily CoreCivic spent millions on lobbying efforts in the 2016 operational needs. This attorney’s critique reiterates the and 2018 elections supporting mostly Republican candi- pervasive and sinister nature of the immigration indus- dates and causes (Alvarado et. al 2019). Since the Trump trial complex that profits off of the mass detention of asy- administration took office, private prisons have benefitted lum seekers and other immigrants. Increased congressional from an increase in the criminalization of immigrants and funding for the Department of Homeland Security, under the Justice Department’s reliance on these companies to the guise of improved facilities, has proven itself nonsensical house them. Although “immigration’s had its own prison and unproductive, when the private companies that DHS system for a long time,” as a Brownsville attorney stated, the partners with take its profits to shareholders instead. Private industry’s economic boom, newly built facilities, and newly companies actively seek out federal detention contracts signed long-term contracts, indicates that ending detention because ICE can pay up to 300 dollars per detainee, with as run by private companies is a challenging task for future children and families as most profitable (Alvarado et. al administrations. 2019). Besides a humanitarian and ethical incentive, there is little incentive for private companies to do anything but Similar to the conditions of the private prison indus- detain as many people as possible for as long as possible. trial complex, the private companies detaining immigrants are using their own detainees as labor to manage facilities, Conclusion paying them $1 a day (Williams 2019). These voluntary work programs allow detainees to cook, serve food, wax My research examines immigration services workers’ floors, and wash clothing to pay for things like calling a most commonly recommended policy change: an end to loved one or buying more food and warm clothing. Some immigrant detention. According to these 36 interviewees, people see the conditions of facilities and assume there is one of the most needed changes requires a radical revision not enough funding for healthy food and heating. However, to the immigration system itself. Considering how abruptly a low bono and pro bono attorney in San Antonio outlines and extraordinarily immigration has transformed under the the issue with fighting for increased resources to improve Trump administration without changes to immigration law, conditions, rather than advocating for the elimination of the the possibility for a new and more humane system under facilities altogether: new political leadership is worth consideration. Despite the lack of power and resources that local governments have in The problem . . . is that the private prison compa- comparison, cities and states continue to serve as convincing nies are taking a big chunk out of their funding for profits for their shareholders. So they’re not spend- examples of these solutions that the federal government can ing the money on the food, which is what they’re look to for guidance. Overall, only five states have taken supposed to be doing. And . . . it’s a really, I mean, steps to eliminate private detention facilities. The legal seemingly corrupt, I don’t want to go so far as to grounds for the protection of human rights has already been say this, system because then they charge people established. Now, an end to mass immigrant detention must to buy food from the commissary. So people have be enacted before we see human rights protected. to buy food to supplement the fact that they’re not getting enough food provided by their detention. 71 72 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Fernandes, Deepa.2007.Targeted: HomelandSecurityandthe Edwards, Alice.2011.“BacktoBasics:TheRightLibertyand Eagly, Ingrid, StevenShafer, andJanaWhalley. 2018.“Detaining Doty, RoxanneLynn, andElizabethShannonWheatley. 2013. Domínguez, Lara,AdrienneLee,andElizabethLeiserson. Demore v. Kim,538US510(2003). Corbin, Juliet,andAnselmStrauss.2008.Basicsofqualitative Cervantes, AndreaG.,CeciliaMenjívar, andWilliam G.Staples. Alvarado, Monsy, AshleyBalcerzak,StaceyBarchenger, Jon Ackerman, AlissaR.,andRichFurman.2013.“The Works Cited Business ofImmigration.NewYork, NY: SevenStoriesPress. Nations HighCommissionerforRefugees . Asylum-Seekers, StatelessPersons andOtherMigrants.”United Security ofPersonand“AlternativestoDetention”Refugees, in-family-detention). research/detaining-families-a-study-of-asylum-adjudication- 26, 2019(https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/ Detention.” Families: AStudyofAsylumAdjudicationinFamily PoliticalSociology7(1):426–443. International “Private DetentionandtheImmigrationIndustrialComplex.” tion_detention_-_final_-_20160620_for_publication.pdf). system/files/area/center/schell/human_rights_first_-_immigra- School, June20.Retrieved10March2019:(https://law.yale.edu/ HumanRightsClinicofYaleK. 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73 74 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 ernment isdetermined tooppressthem. of blackpeople’s self-reliance,especiallywhena whitegov- to restoring the black image and articulate the importance These movementsareimportant becausetheycontribute itive imaginationsofbeingblack havealongglobalhistory. negative narrativesaboutblack peopleandbringaboutpos- support. family andfriendsfortheirunconditionalunwavering surance andencouragementwhenIfeltuncertainmy paper together, Dr. Chilenga-Butaoforherconstantreas- providing mewithvaluableassistanceinputtingmyresearch pages oftheBlackReview. fore madeitpossibleforwomentotakeupmorespaceinthe within BCMthatreiteratedtheideologyofandthere- Black Reviewwasduetoformationofawomen’s organisation of blackwomenwasmorevisibleinthefinaledition opposition tothelaws.Thesecondreasonactivismwork Review had to report on theactivismof women voicing their government passed laws that were so draconian, that the in thepenultimateissueofReviewwhenapartheid editions of the the workofwomenactivistswithinBCM.Inlasttwo first twoeditionsoftheBlackReviewdidnotmakevisible in South Africa in the 1970s. This paper argues that the a publicationoftheBlackConsciousnessMovement(BCM) focuses onthevisibilityofblackwomeninBlackReview, white supremiststatetheyfoundthemselvesin.Thispaper their compatriots together with racism and sexism in the women havehadtoenduremisogynyattheirhandsof oppression intermsofraceonly. Thismeansthatblack of thisresistancebythesemovementshasoftenarticulated supremacy anditsinstitutions.However, thearticulation our understandingofresistancebyblackpeopletowhite Introduction Acknowledgements Abstract degrees. forwards topursuingaPhDandmergingherlawpolitics at theUniversityofWitwatersrand. Inthefuture shelooks in the1960sand1970s.Sheiscurrently pursuingalawdegree passion fortherolethatwomenplayinBlackPowermovements the Witwatersrand withanHonoursinPolitics.Shehasakeen Sinazo Magadlelahasrecently graduatedfromtheUniversityof Sinazo Magadlela,UniversityoftheWitwatersrand to StandintheSun How theWomen intheBlackReviewFoundaWay Black LiberationMovements thatseektocounter I wouldliketothankmysupervisor, Dr. Dubefor Black Liberation Movements are a critical part of Review women become more visible, first 1 Thesemovements Programmes (BCP).InpublishingtheReview, of BCM’s activismorganisations,theBlackCommunity be overcome. that didnotunderstandsexismasasystemneededto to navigatebeingblackinaracistcountryandmovement I amhopingtopayparticularattentionwomenwhohad heyday. ByfocusingonthisperiodinSouthAfrica’s history in SouthAfricathe1970s,whereapartheidwasits publication oftheBlackConsciousnessMovement(BCM) a will lookat thevisibility ofwomen inthe Black Review, understanding oftheworkthesemovements.Thispaper light blindspotsofthesemovementsandprovideanuanced doing thiswecancelebratethesemovementsbutalsohigh- women orblackandqueerworkingclass.By of blackpeopleinthesemovementswhowereand ant work.However, wealsoneedtolookattheexperiences deserve praisebecausetheywereandarestilldoingimport- how itfitsinto thehistoryofresistancetoapartheid South cerned withwhat BCMlookedlikeasanorganisation and and the Prophets: Black Consciousness in SouthAfrica, is con- of theliterature,suchasDaniel Magaziner’s bookTheLaw movement inwhichtheywere involved. as activistsandbothofthosethings mustbevisibleinany race whentheirgenderandarepartofidentities erasure ofwomenandthehabitfocusingsolelyontheir tion tothevisibilityofwomen.Indoingsowecanavoidan of BCM and it is therefore necessary to pay particular atten- BCM. Women areanimportantpartoftheactivismwork nuanced understanding of the activism of women within issues oftheReview.Theintentionistoprovideamore have ledtotheincreasingvisibilityofwomeninvarious sideration, one canrevealthe possible reasoning that could mentioned andtakingthecontextofperiodintocon- where womenarementionedandinwhatcapacitythey This paperarguesthisbylookingattheBlackReviewtosee women to take up greater visibility in the Black Review. that reinforcedthegoalsofBCcreatedanopportunityfor munities andtheintroductionofawomen’s organisation government resultinginoutrageblackandwhitecom- laws thatindefinitelydetainedthoseresistingtheapartheid of theReview.Thispaperarguesthatintroduction they weredoinggainedmorevisibilityinvarioussections two womenhadbeenitseditorsandthework doing, however by time theReview little mention of womenandtheactivism work they were community allacrossSouthAfrica.TheReviewinitiallyhad ible accountoftheactivitieshappeningwithinblack black peopleforpeople,itwassupposedtobeacred- the blackcommunity. Becausethereportwaswrittenby wanted toreportonthevariousactivitieshappeningwithin The There isawidevarietyofscholarship onBCM.Some Black Review wasajournalpublishedbyone stopped being published,
the BCP Africa.2 The Black Consciousness Reader, for example, looks at this meant that racial oppression was the main focus and how BCM fits into the work of Black Resistance movements undoing racial oppression was the main goal. Class stratifi- around the world both historically and contemporaneously.3 cations were therefore not considered significant and gender Literature such as Time to Remember: Reflections of the Women was also not recognised as a site of oppression. The South of the Black Consciousness Movement is a personal reflection by African Students Organisation did not grapple with the the women involved in BCM on what their experiences were racial and class divisions, the articulation of race and class as BCM activists.4 This paper contributes to literature on oppression, or how gender and race and class interacted women in BCM and looks at how women were a visible part with one another leading to a particular social context in of the activism work carried out by BCM. Women were an South Africa. The idea that the most important organising important part of BCM and it is necessary that their activism principle of South African society was race and colour did is recognised within BCM. Where women’s activism is not not come out of a vacuum but was rather a prevailing norm visible, this paper also seeks to analyse how their invisibility in the country until the mid-1970s. came about. Although SASO/BCM’s primary focus on racial The Black Consciousness Movement considered oppression was the norm at the time, there were harmful racial oppression as the most pressing issue to resist and consequences. First, in the movement itself through the consequently side-lined other identities, such as gender, misogyny that the women experienced. Second, in South which resulted in the marginalisation of women. Some Africa they were black and women at the same time, which BCM-affiliated women such as Oshadi Mangena did not meant that BCM women experienced racism from the apart- think it necessary to refer specifically to the marginalisation heid state and its various ways of treating black people as of women and believed that the success of dismantling racial second-class citizens.8 At the same time, they would also oppression would lead to the breakdown of gender oppres- experience sexism from their peers who invoked cultural sion. Other women like Mamphela Ramphele and Deborah traditions that expected subservience from women which Matshoba were aware that because of their gender they were included cleaning and cooking for the men. treated differently and wanted to address those concerns within the movement. This paper will show that despite the Women in Black Consciousness (BC) apprehension to women being a recognised group within BCM, women were able to gradually gain visibility in the Because BC considered the main site of oppression Black Review. to be racial, the space for women’s only movements in BC would be limited. Furthermore, attempts to address other South African Students Organisation (SASO) and BCM sites of oppression in BC, for example, class-based or gen- dered, were considered divisive. An example of this was The South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) recounted by Deborah Matshoba, an activist within BC. was formed by Steve Biko in 1968 as a response to a non- In the late 1960s and the early days of SASO, Deborah racial student organisation National Union of South African Matshoba and the other women students of SASO proposed Students (NUSAS) that served as a platform to denounce the formation of the Women Student’s Organisation (WSO) apartheid. Biko argued that NUSAS was unable to respond to address issues that were specific to them as women stu- to the particular way in which racism affected black students dents, but they were outvoted by their male counterparts.9 differently to their white counterparts. White students who The men’s rationale was that by forming WSO the women were part of NUSAS could retreat back into their privi- would be part of two organisations, SASO and WSO. This lege once their show of solidarity was finished, whilst black was not the case and Matshoba explained that WSO was students continually experienced racism and had no such intended to form part of SASO and the broader BC move- reprieve. Once the students of SASO graduated from the ment. Subsequently when women tried to form an women’s University of Natal, they formed BCM in the early 1970s. organisation, they made it clear that their organisation was The Black Consciousness Movement would in turn form a part of BCM and the women in that organisation were smaller activist organisations under the BCM umbrella. committing themselves to upholding the BC ideology. The Black Consciousness Movement articulated a rejection of an alliance with white liberals in favour of self-reliance This organisation was called the Black Women’s by black people.5 The foundation of the BCM ideology was Federation (BWF). The Black Women’s Federation was that “Africans had to create for themselves a convincing formed in 1975 and was short-lived. The Black Women’s new identity and a new pride which could liberate them Federation was banned by the apartheid government in 1977 10 from their subservient attitudes.”6 In their analysis of the along with numerous other BC-affiliated organisations. apartheid South African society in 1960, SASO saw race as The conference that formed this organisation would feature 7 prominently in the 1975/6 edition of the Black Review. the “primary line of cleavage.” For SASO and later BCM 75 76 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 tion.” the that alotofactivistsandcommunitymembersconsidered exact impactisintangible,itsreportsandinterviewsshow that theywereseekingtobringthefore.Althoughits Black Reviewwerecriticalforthetypeofconscientisation the employeesandactivistsofBCP, publicationslikethe It was usedby BCM to realise its self-reliance ideology. For provide blackcommunitieswiththetoolstobeself-reliant. sation formedundertheBCMumbrellathatwasmeantto 1972, 1973,1974/5,and1975/6.TheBCPwasanorgani- the nameofeditor. lished, itdidnothaveauthorslistedandinsteadpublished worked ontheBlackReviewbutwhenwaspub- people such asAisha Moodley and ThokoMpumlwana who not haveastrictpublicationschedule.Therewereseveral various activities happening in the black community and did to beestablished throughwhichblackswould realisetheir to establishan “all-inclusiveblackpolitical organisation tioned earlierintheReviewassupportingamotionbySASO tive blackperspective.” Black CommunityProgramme(BCP)deemedanauthorita- “‘activity byandagainsttheblackcommunity’fromwhat which werenecessarytocarryoutitsgoalsofself-reliance. meant tofoster “self-confidence andcriticalconsciousness” The and 17 December 1972 inHammanskraal. isation within BCM, at its first conference held between 16 the chairof the Black People’s Convention, another organ- prominent womanisWinnie Kgware.Shewaselectedas Part 1 1975/6 editions. of theBlackReviewandPart2willlookat1974/5 two parts: Part 1 will look at the 1972 and 1973 editions Thus, thispaperwillsplitanalysisoftheBlackReviewinto have identifiedthatthechangeoccursin1974/5edition. substantive and account for why this change occurred. I a changeinvisibilityofthewomenfromminimaltomore the have chosentextualanalysisbecauseitallowsmetoanalyse where womenarementionedineacheditionoftheReview. healthcare oremploymentonitsown. that the black community was indeed capable of providing revolutionary inthatitcounteredthisnarrativeandshowed as thoughtheywereinferiortowhitepeople.BCMwas for so long denigrated black people and made them feel This wasimportantbecausetheapartheidgovernmenthad Black Review acredible“sourceofinformationandinspira- Black Review 12 Between 1972and1976,theBlackReviewreportedon In the1972editionofBlackReview,most In thispaper, textualanalysiswillbeusedtoanalyse TheworkandknowledgeproducedbyBCPwasalso Review asitpertainstowomenandalsoidentify 11 TheReviewconsistedofreportson There wereeditionsfortheyears 14 Kgware is men- 13 I
and the “promotion of activity amongst women.” that IDAMSAlooksatamong other thingsis“youth work” Federation (IDAMF). TheReviewmentionsthat the work pre-cursor to the Interdenominational African Minister’s African Minister’s Association(IDAMSA).IDAMSAwasthe Christian Association(YWCA)andtheInterdenominational There isreferencetotwoorganisations:theYoung Women’s cally theestablishmentorworkofthoseorganisations. through the reporting on women’s organisations, specifi- chair theBPCandhergenderwascoincidental. This waslikelynotmeanttobeaslight.Sheelected before genderwithinBCishighlightedhereonceagain. of theblackpoliticalorganisation.Theideathatracecomes up intheBPCaswellhersupportforestablishment less todowithhergenderbutthepositionsheistaking aspirations.” section, thereis anefforttolayoutthegrievances ofthe the BC andtheblackcommunity at large. various waysinwhichwomen areinvolvedintheworkof part. Thereisnoefforttocomprehensively setoutthe these womenaredoingandhow manyofthemaretaking bands thento“women’s activities”butnomentionofwhat them inasupportiveroletotheorganisationoftheirhus- on womeninthe1972editionmovesbetweenmentioning they refusedapayriseproposedbytheiremployer. home followingcollectionoftheirjobcards.Thiswasafter Consolidated Woolwashing andProcessingMillweresent Natal, roughly 300 African and Indian women sorters at the to R10 aweek. On the same day, in Pinetown, KwaZulu- The womenweredemandingapayraisefromR4,50week factory employed22womenwhodidweavingandmending. Natal, goonstrikecausingworkatthefactorytostop. S. PedlarandCo.inNewGermany, modern-dayKwaZulu- place. On29January1973,womenwhowereemployedby women’s organisationstofocusingonwomeninthework- sion thatwomenarenotvisibleinthe1972edition. combined takesuparoundtwopagesleadingtotheconclu- mention ofbothMrs.Kgwareandthewomen’s activities ing on.The1972editionisabout227pageslongandthe very well form part of these issues that IDAMSA was report- imental farming.”Youth workandwomen’s activitiescould syllabi, unity, buildingofcentres,nurseryschoolsandexper been handling:“factionfighting,scholarships,education and theyrecountthe“issues”thatvariousbrancheshave reports onanIDAMSAconferenceheldinUmtata1972 are involved.Furtheralonginthepublication,Review no mentionofwhattheseactivitiesentailorwhichwomen Review In the restof 1972 Review,womenarevisible In thefirsttwoeditionsweseethatreporting The 1973editionshiftsitsreportingonwomenin focuses onwomen intheworkforceandthat 15 Her mention at this point in the The 1973editionof 16 Review has There is 17 The - women and as well as how many women are involved in the been if the consciousness and pride of black people can be strike action. Although this section is detailed, compared raised, women will also benefit from this and there is no to subsequent editions of the Review, the work that black need to pay particular attention to their work because it women are doing does not take up a significant portion of formed part of the broader BC agenda of self-reliance. I the Review. There is no follow-up of the women’s activities think that Mangena was mistaken in this regard. Racism and and it is unlikely that these activities would have come to a sexism are not interchangeable and the abolition of the one complete halt. The lack of visibility of women is concerning cannot guarantee the abolition of the other. Although racism because if the Review wants to be an authoritative source and sexism are both oppressive, they do not have the same of activities in the black community, it was not serving its goal. Racism seeks to create and maintain the supremacy own cause by not including details on the work which black of white people at the expense of those who are not white. women were performing in the community. Sexism seeks to uphold the patriarchy and the dominance of men over women. Her argument also ignores that black There could be several reasons for the lack of promi- men benefit from patriarchy in ways that black women do nence of women in the 1972 and 1973 editions. Going back not. White women can also benefit from racism in ways that to the formation of BCM, the language used to develop black women cannot. If specific attention is not paid to the the philosophy of BC was highly gendered. In his writings liberation of black women both in terms of their gender and Biko states that: “The black man is subjected to two forces race, they will continue to lose out and that is why it was 18 in this country . . . ” Biko goes on to say that, “Black necessary for BCM to reject an articulation of liberation Consciousness is in essence the realisation by the black man based on race only. of the need to rally together with his brothers around cause of their operation— the blackness of their skin— and to The first two editors of theReview were two men, operate as a group in order to rid themselves of the shackles Bennie A. Khoapa in 1972 and Mafika Pascal Gwala in that bind them to perpetual servitude.”19 This gendering is 1973. This could also have influenced the direction that not accidental. Central to BC conceptualisation is an anxi- the Review would take, considering the close relation for ety around the emasculation of black men and their desire BC between racism and black masculinity and the idea that to reclaim a “positive” masculine identity to counter that women formed part of the broader black community and counters this anxiety. Understanding the centrality of black development of the black community would mean progress masculinity illuminates why the rhetoric of BC seems to for black women as well. place women in the periphery. Additionally, it makes it easier to understand how women would be expected to take part Part 2 in BC to the extent that their actions provide “psycholog- In the first two editions of the Black Review, the ical and material supports in male-orientated struggles.”20 prevailing norm is an acknowledgement that women are In the context of the Review, the lack of prominence could involved in either in women’s activities or strike action but be because the work of women particularly as it relates to there is little in-depth coverage on their activism work. In “women activities” is secondary to the broader work of BC the 1974/5 edition, this changes and we begin to see greater and dedicating a significant part of theReview to their work detail on the coverage of women’s activism work. Significant does not drive the black community forward in ways that parts of the Review dedicate significant portions of the publi- other information in the Review would have. cation to the efforts of women in the fight against apartheid. Another reason for the lack of prominence of women The 1974/5 edition of the Black Review includes a section 23 in Part 1 is that BC grouped woman as part of the broader called “White Reactions.” This section was included after black community and the black community’s gains would several people, mainly black men and women, had been also be black women’s gains. Oshadi Mangena, a woman BC detained by the Security Police and were subsequently activist argues that although BC was not organised along charged under the wide-reaching Terrorism Act. The Act gender issues, it “tacitly endorsed” concerns that women allowed the indefinite detention of those suspected to be might have had.21 She cites the appointment of Mrs. Kgware terrorists, engaging in terrorism, or hiding information as the first president of the BPC as well as the later formation about terrorism. Under this Act, the courts were also unable of the Black Women’s Forum which was part of the BCM to order any action taken in terms of the Act invalid or order umbrella. She goes on to say that those in BC were focused the release of persons detained in terms of the Act. These primarily on the fight for black people’s liberation regardless actions naturally generated a lot of outcry in both the black of their gender. According to Mangena, this would result and white community in South Africa and the international in gender struggles being “blurred and dissolved into the community. The 1974/5 Review includes a march organised larger and deeper struggle for the liberation of the Black by the Black Sash, a white women’s organisation on Jan people.”22 In the context of the Review, the idea would have Smuts Avenue in Johannesburg. The Review reports that the 77 78 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 pottery, beadworketc.” destitute women“incrafts[such]ascrocheting,embroidery, Centre. TheCentreranaprogrammewhichinstructedlocal also reports on activities at the Edendale Lay Ecumenical sections ofthe1974/5issueReview. State President. According totheReview,petitionwasalsogiven demanding thatthosedetainedbereleasedimmediately. Justice, Police and Prisons, denouncing the detentions and a petitionaddressingthePrimeMinisterandof included intheReview.Roughly700blackwomensigned There were also responses from black women that were called forthosebeingheldtoeitherbechargedorreleased. women held up placards condemning the detainment and ing. Mentioning the establishment of the BWF is relevant apartheid government toprovidethemwithclose tonoth- munity toupliftitselfbecauseof thedeliberateeffortsof and its desiretoprovide opportunities for the black com- education system.Thisreflects backontheaimsofBCP programmes andundertaking the viabilityofanalternative communities anddevelopingit intheformofempowerment ture andmemory. of theblackfamily”andtheirroleaspreservercul- objectives whichrecognisesblackwomenasthe“custodian eration struggle.Thisisevidentinoneoftheiraimsand women seethemselvesassupportersofthebroaderlib- position inBCandthebroaderblackcommunity. These their organisationarearticulatinginownwords Africa were present at the conference. The women through women on behalfof41organisationfromall over South December 1975byblackwomenacrossSouthAfrica. its establishment.BWFwasfoundedataconferencein the mainfocusonwomenrevolvesaroundBWFand involved intheactivities. on what this worked entailed and how many women were was labelledsimplyas“women’s activities”withnodetail the work that women were doing in their communities This isanimprovementfromthe1972edition,inwhich of otheractivismworkhappeningintheblackcommunity. Act, theReviewincludesnames,numbers,andexplanations tion toincludingtheresponseofwomenTerrorism activism workfromminimaltomoresubstantive.Inaddi- to thebeginningofachangeonreportingwomen’s of thesedetailsintheReview 52 womenhadcompletedtheprogramme.Themention sought totrainwomenbecomemidwives.Sinceitsstart meaning neighbourliness, which was established in 1973 and the programme.ThesecondprogrammeisMakhelwana, The women how todesignpatternsand to make dresses. Review reportsthat86womensuccessfullycompleted The increasedvisibilityiscarriedoninsubsequent In the 1975/6 andfinal edition ofthe 26 Theyarealsotakinguproles intheir 24 Theprogrammealsotaughtthe is necessarybecauseitspeaks Black Review, The Review 25 210 itself attherisk ofbeingbanned. and alsorecordresistancetothe apartheidwithoutplacing there wassolidarityfromthose outsidetheblackcommunity it allowedtheReview Publishing theeffortsofwomen wouldbestrategicbecause resistance effortswithoutthe Reviewbeingbanneditself. banned organisationsandindividuals whowereinvolvedin made itimpossiblefortheReviewtopublishnamesof the statetobanorganisationsandindividuals.Itwouldhave In addition,TheSuppressionofCommunismActallowed protest because,unlikethemeninBC,theywerenotjail. lic resistance.Thewomenwerebestsuitedtorespond who arealsomarchingandengaginginotherformsofpub- and theirorganisationsaswelleffortsbyblackwomen in, inthatitchoosestoincludeinformationonwhitewomen indicates achangebasedontheenvironmentBCfindsitself ordinarily nothavebeenincludedintheBlackReview.This Black Sash and other white peopleand organisations would largely anorganisationrunbywhitewomen.Theeffortsof like themarchesorganisedbyBlackSashwhichwas the blackcommunityandReviewincludesinformation, detentions forseveraldayswithoutbeingchargedtranscends the editions.In1974/5editionoutragetomass the black community appears to be driven by the events in dealing withtheresponsebyblackpeopletodetainment. and the subsequent picketing is also covered in a section women coupledwiththeattempttohandpetitionover of women present apetition signed by several hundred are alsoreportedintheReview.Thefactthatanothergroup tions. AttheBlackSashmarch,messagesonplacards and includes numbers of women attending these demonstra- in parliamenttodemonstrations.Thecoverageisthorough the massdetainment.Theseresponsesrangefromspeeches covers theresponseofwhitewomenandblackto compiled theReview significant experiencehavingworked aspartoftheteamthat Review waspublished.Inaddition,thetwowomenalsohad but becausethepreviouseditorshadbeenbannedonce Their appointment as editors was not based on their gender in whichtheworkofwomenwasreportedjournal. Moodley respectively, and this might have impacted the way are editedbywomen,ThokoMpumlwanaandAisha apartheid. that contributes to thebroader liberation struggle against well aswhatBWFistryingtoachievewithinBCandhow with detailsinmembershipandwhoholdswhichpositionas full pagesinthisissueoftheReviewdedicatedtoBWF the firsttwoeditions.Itisalsosignificantthatthereare because itspeakstothechangeinvisibilityofwomenfrom The shifttowardsthoroughreportingofwomenin The 1974/5 and 1975/6 editions of the to encouragetheblackcommunity that in previousyears.The1974/5edition Black Review In the 1975/6 edition, the Black Women’s Federation Endnotes is the main highlight and I think this is because it was cen- 1 Gail Gerhart, Black Power in South Africa: The Evolution of an Ideology. tral to the work of BC. I posit that the inclusion of BWF Perspectives on Southern Africa (Berkeley: University of California Press, in such a big way is deliberate. The women are dedicating 1978), p. 286. themselves through this organisation to preserving the black 2 See Daniel Magaziner, The Law and the Prophet: Black Consciousness in family by supporting their communities, working together South Africa, 1968–1977, Athens: Ohio University Press, 2010. 3 See Baldwin Ndaba, Therese Owen, Masego Panyane et al. The Black as black women towards “the fulfilment of the Black people’s Consciousness Reader, Cape Town: ABC Press, 2017. 27 social, cultural, economic and political aspirations.” They 4 See Sumboornam Moodley, Time to Remember: Reflections of the Women were effectively echoing the ideology and ideals of BC but of the Black Consciousness Movement, Sumboornam Moodley, ed., South were putting it on themselves as black mothers and women Africa: Women for Awareness, 2018. to realise those goals insofar as the black family was con- 5 Ibid., 262. 6 Ibid., 271. cerned. Including this section as a main part of the Review 7 Ibid. fell right into the intentions of BC and so it makes sense that 8 Apartheid was a system of governance between 1948 and 1994 that clas- it was included. It is also re-enforcing the role of women as sified people into four main racial groups, black, white, coloured, and it pertains to the black family as conceptualised by BC when Indian. The classification of a person into one of these groups affected the ideology was being formulated. every facet of that person’s life from where they could live, their educa- tion and prospects of employment as well as what public areas they could access. The classification was hierarchical and white people sat at the Conclusion top of the hierarchy. Indian and coloured people were in the middle and black people were at the bottom of the hierarchy. For more information see The Rise and Fall of Apartheid by David Welsh and South Africa: The The greater visibility which women enjoy in the last History and Legacy of the Nation from European Colonization to the End of two editions of the Black Review is not deliberate. BCM main- the Apartheid Era by Charles River Editors. BCM ideology did not follow tained its insistence of race as the primary line of oppression the apartheid system of classification and considered coloured and Indian people as Black. throughout its lifespan. In addition, the women activists 9 Amanda Alexander and Andile Mngxitama, “Interview with Deborah did not insist on greater coverage of their activities in the Matshoba” in Biko Lives! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko, ed. Andile Review. The change in visibility of women seems to have Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander and Nigel Gibson (New York: Palgrave arisen due to a change in what was happening both in South Macmillan, 2008), p. 279. 10 Cherryl Walker, Women and resistance in South Africa. (Cape Town: New Africa and the Movement itself. The apartheid government Africa Books, 1979), p. 275. introduced another set of draconian laws that impressed 11 Ibid. on the black and white community that a civic response 12 Leslie Hadfield,Liberation and Development: Black Consciousness was necessary in order make it known to the government Community Programs in South Africa. African History and Culture. (East that the people considered the government’s actions to be Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2016), p. 63. 13 Ibid. wrong. It would not have served the Review well to leave 14 Black Review 1973, Digital Innovation South Africa Archive [online], p. this information out of its publication. Be that as it may, it 14. is also important to appreciate the efforts of the Review to 15 Ibid. give detailed and comprehensive information pertaining to 16 Ibid., 8. the activism work of women, especially when in the first 17 Black Review 1974, p. 133. two editions, this information was lacking. The establish- 18 Steve Biko in Desiree Lewis, Gender Politics and National Liberatory ment of the BWF and the Review’s inclusion thereof is also Movement in South Africa: 1950–1990. South Africa: The Dynamics and Prospects of Transformation (1900–1994). (Harare: SAPES Books, 1995), p. important because it reveals an accommodation and implied 123. acceptance that black women have a distinct and significant 19 Ibid. role to play in the liberation struggle beyond just being black 20 Ibid. activists. I think that the ability of women to take up space 21 Oshadi Maphefo Jane Mangena in in Biko Lives! Contesting the Legacies of in the BCM as women is a necessary part of women’s history Steve Biko, ed. Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander and Nigel Gibson (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), p. 255. in South Africa. The ability of these women without a direct 22 Ibid., 260. intention, to make their presence known to the black com- 23 Black Review 1975, p. 94. munity through the Review reveals a tenacity and resilience 24 Ibid., 127. that is important when trying to defeat any system of power 25 Black Review 1977, p. 109. that relies on the oppression of a particular group of people 26 Ibid. for that system to survive. 27 Ibid., 134.
79 80 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Walker, Cherryl.Women andresistance inSouthAfrica . CapeTown: Mangena, OshadiMaphefoJane.“TheBlackConsciousness Movementin Lewis, Desiree.GenderPoliticsandNationalLiberatory Hadfield, Leslie.LiberationandDevelopment:BlackConsciousness Gerhart, Gail.BlackPowerinSouthAfrica:TheEvolutionofan Black Review1977,DigitalInnovationSouthAfricaArchive Black Review1975,DigitalInnovationSouthAfricaArchive Black Review1974,DigitalInnovationSouthAfricaArchive Black Review1973,DigitalInnovationSouthAfricaArchive Alexander, AmandaandAndileMngxitama.“Interviewwith Works Cited New AfricaBooks,1979. pp. 254–265.NewYork: PalgraveMacmillan,2008. by AndileMngxitama,AmandaAlexanderandNigelGibson, 1980” inBikoLives!ContestingtheLegaciesofSteve,edited Philosophy andtheWoman’s QuestioninSouthAfrica:1970– of Transformation (1900–1994).Harare:SAPESBooks,1995. South Africa:1950–1990.TheDynamicsandProspects Culture. Community ProgramsinSouthAfrica.AfricanHistoryand California Press,1978. Ideology. Africa.Berkley:Universityof PerspectivesonSouthern [online]. [online]. [online]. [online]. Nigel Gibson,275–283.NewYork: PalgraveMacmillan,2008. Steve Biko,editedbyAndileMngxitama,AmandaAlexanderand Deborah Matshoba”inBikoLives!ContestingtheLegaciesof East Lansing:MichiganStateUniversityPress,2016. “Love or Eugenics?”: Marital Bliss in the Eugenic Union Ben Maldonado, Stanford University
Ben Maldonado is a recent graduate of Stanford University were for naught. As Popenoe put it when reflecting on his where he studied History. He focuses on the history of eugenics time with the Institute of Family Relations, “I began to in the United States and he has written extensively about realize that if we were to promote a sound population, we Stanford’s own history with eugenics. He plans to apply to history would not only have to get the right people married, but we graduate programs in the near future to continue his studies. would have to keep them married.”2 Divorce, sexless mar- riages, impotence— these all threatened eugenic progress. Ensuring the “right” populations were happily married and Abstract happily reproducing was vital to the eugenic conscience. To achieve these happy and productive marriages, eugenicist Between 1900 and 1940, marriage education was marriage educators transformed the discourse around happy booming, providing advice on how to achieve the most marriages into explicitly eugenic discourse, applying their perfect and happiest union. At the same time, eugenics framework to pre-existing concerns in an attempt to form a was expanding rapidly throughout the United States, both voluntary eugenic framework. Through the analysis of mar- legally and culturally. Drawing from the writings of mar- ital education texts, the interplay between marital happiness riage educators and researchers, I argue that early twentieth and racial health, choice and coercion, and love and eugenics century marriage experts attempted to foster a eugenic con- becomes clear. By examining how eugenicists portrayed the science— a voluntary adherence to eugenic principles— by happy marriage as the eugenic marriage (and vice versa), our framing happy marriages as inherently eugenic and vice understanding of eugenics can expand beyond legal mea- versa. This voluntary and cultural approach to eugenics sures and coercive violence to encompass complex questions complicates the way we think about the racist and ableist of choice and desire. science of human improvement.
* * *
Acknowledgements Stretching back to the late eighteenth century, I’d like to thank Estelle Freedman and Jennifer Burns romance and sentimentality had been an aspect of the white for their mentorship on this project, as well as everyone else American marriage. However, by the early twentieth cen- who helped make it possible. tury, sexual desire and mate selection took on a new impor- tance. As men and women began interacting more and more as the ideology of separate spheres collapsed, new rituals of “Love or Eugenics?”: Marital Bliss in the Eugenic Union courtship appeared. During the late 1910s, these “dates,” as they began to be called, left the home and entered the In 1930, Paul Popenoe, prominent marriage edu- public sphere: restaurants, movie theaters, long drives to cator and so-called father of marriage counseling in the infamous lovers’ lanes. Historians have estimated that at United States, opened the Institute of Family Relations, least a third of young woman coming to age in the Roaring one of America’s first organizations dedicated to promoting Twenties engaged in sexual activities prior to marriage.3 By successful and happy marriages. The Institute provided the dawn of the 1930s, this system of courtship and dating couples pamphlets and classes on the basics of family life, was entrenched within American society as American men providing advice to help solve any potential marriage issue. and women competed against each other to find the most By the 1960s, the Institute claimed to have saved the mar- attractive and popular partners and to, hopefully, find love.4 riages of over seventy-five thousand couples and Popenoe had become a minor celebrity, frequenting radio shows Many Americans, however, believed that eugenics and family life magazines to present the newest advice for stood in direct opposition to courtship and dates and selec- America’s families. Popenoe even appeared on television, lis- tion based on romantic attraction. Those who questioned tening to the qualms of unhappy couples before sharing with the new science argued that eugenic policy— from ster- them the scientifically-backed secrets of a happy married ilization to eugenic marriage certificates— removed love life. Why did Popenoe dedicate his life to fixing marriages and emotion from marriage. Many newspaper headlines and promoting marital bliss? Because Paul Popenoe was a decried the loss of love: “Cupid Sneers at Eugenics” and 5 eugenicist, and a radical one at that.1 “No Sterilized Cupid.” Cartoons emphasized the conflict between love and eugenics, such as one in Life that depicted Like other eugenicists of the early twentieth cen- a fit woman lifting weights kicking Cupid from her life with tury, Popenoe valued happy marriages for eugenic reasons. the caption “eugenics.”6 While, unsurprisingly, criticism Happy marriages meant more sexual intercourse and thus of forced sterilizations was uncommon in this context of more children, and if desired populations were not repro- Cupid’s demotion, the fear that individual choice would be ducing, then even the most sophisticated eugenic theories sacrificed in the name of eugenic progress was widespread. 81 82 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 strains inthefamilywhichsheisthinkingofentering.” to learnwhetherornotthereareanyconstitutionallyweak discussions today, andeveryyoungwomanshouldendeavor science ofeugenicsistakingaprominentplaceinpublic there wasnohereditarydisabilityintheirbloodline:“the riage shouldonlyoccuroncethecouplecouldbecertain and health educator Bernarr MacFadden taught that mar the 1918Womanhood andMarriagebynotable bodybuilder promoted eugenicconsiderationinmarriage.Forinstance, roles, andsexualpleasure,marriagemanualsguidesalso United States. Alongside information on courtship, gender was commonlyavailabletomost white households in the 1920s aftertheFirstWorld War, maritaladviceliterature was booming— and criticism of eugenics, the marital advice literature genre appallingly greatthattheyshouldneverbetaken.” or womanmateswithoneoftheblackyellowraceareso taught readersthat“chancesofdisasterwhenanywhiteman Horace J.Bridges’1930TheFineArtofMarriage,too, in anywayshandicapped— we havenorighttobringchildrenintotheworldwhoare avoided “for it means putting a handicap on the child and example, arguedthatinterracialreproductionoughttobe ist William J.Robinson’s 1928Sex,LoveandMorality , for eugenically unfit: popular physician and birth control activ- that theoffspringofmix-racedunionswereboundtobe anti-miscegenation rhetoric, teaching their white audience a wideaudienceeagertothinkabouthealthandwellbeing. culture, MacFaddenandhisteachingsoneugenicsreached Popular among proponents and practitioners of physical selection, echoingawiderquestioningofeugeniclove. lampooned thenegativeinfluenceofeugenicsinmarital appearance (likelyamalestudentindrag),theshorttune woman singerproudlyadmiringherhomelyandmuscular heart aflame or lovefrom aprophylactic dame,” andwith a Eugenics.” Featuring lyrics such as “kisses that set your for theannualPrincetonTriangle Showtitled“Loveor F. ScottFitzgeraldwroteandperformedamusic-hallditty Similarly, in1914,duringhistimeatPrincetonUniversity, basis fortheperfect marriagelaidthegroundwork forthe tions throughthe lensofscientificinquiry. This scientific work and unhappy marriages fail, analyzing these ques- resources tostudyingthefactors thatmadehappymarriages and 1930s.Professionalssuch asPaulPopenoededicated research intothepsychologyof marriageduringthe1920s marriage manuals were reliant on theexpandingscientific throughout maritaladviceliteratureforwhiteAmericans. and eugenic fears of miscegenation persistently appeared However, simultaneouswiththischangeincourtship Similarly, other marriage manuals enforced a strict The proliferation and content of these eugenic and promotingvoluntaryeugenics.Bythe physically, mentallyorsocially.” 10 Racism 7 - 9 8 reproduce. all, foranunfitcoupletoseparatethanstaymarriedand was notaninherentlydangerousthing:itbetter, after it asapotentialracialthreat.Forthesescientists,divorce concerned withthisincreaseindivorcebecausetheyviewed divorce. were dismayedathowmanyfit rates duetobadtemperamentsandlowintelligence,they eugenicists expectedunfitpopulationstodivorceathigh ual one;sexual acts andidentitiesotherthan heterosexual ants. Theeugenic marriagewas,bydefinition, aheterosex- intended toidentifypossiblehomosexual andsexualdevi- and Femininity,co-publishedin1936withCatherine Miles, romantic happiness,SexandPersonality:StudiesinMasculinity on sexuality andmarriage.Hisfirstforayinto thefield of was no less as influenced by eugenics, namely his studies the sterilizationofpeoplewithIQscoresunder70. its hierarchical ranking of human ability. State laws allowed of forcedsterilizationreliedonStanford-BinetIQtest,with the feeble-minded,idealandproblem.Theprocess able trait, his IQ test intended to locate both the gifted and Understanding intelligenceasasimpleMendelianinherit- to psychometricsasamethodfacilitateracialprogress. Society andothersimilarorganizations,Terman wasdrawn Binet IQtestin1916.AmemberoftheAmericanEugenic Terman isbestknownforthedevelopmentofStanford- cinated bythequestionof(un)happymarriages.Today, University, wasperhapsthemostinfluentialeugenicistfas- the ratefromfortyyearsprior. chance ofmarriageendingindivorcewasonesix,double rates terrifiedmanymarriageeducators.Bythe1920s, a vacuum: during the twentieth century, a rise in divorce bilize thefamilyandthusdestabilizereproduction. the contrary), increased divorce rates threatened to desta- the traditional family structure (despite critics’ claims to that requiredhappymarriages. needed togetmarried,theyalsostaymarried.And eugenically” abouttheirmaritalunion. a blissfulmarriagetoencouragepossibleparents“think the period.Instead,manyeugeniciststhoughtallureof from thehappymarriagedesiredbysomanyAmericansof eugenicists andmanualauthorswasnotmuchdifferent the eugenicframework,happymarriageenvisionedby marriage wasnotnew, however. Besidestheadditionof were citedbythem.Thescientificimageofahappyeugenic marriage manuals,whichbothcitedtheseresearchers and Terman’s otherresearch,though not asinfluential, Lewis A.Terman, apsychologyprofessoratStanford Eugenic interest in marriage was not conceived in 14 Itsoonbecamecleartothatfitcouplesnotonly 12 However, sincemosteugenicistsdeeplyvalued * 11 15 Eugenicistswereespecially marriages alsoendedin 13 16 While were unacceptable.17 Terman developed his M-F test as a quasi-psychological tips to “scientifically” increase happi- method to rank aspects of masculinity and femininity objec- ness, often drawing from Terman’s findings. tively to detect sexual or gender deviancy. Using methods from multiple choice questions to Rorschach inkblots, the For Wiggam, the happy marriage was a eugenic M-F test could, according to Terman, locate the “healthy marriage, a connection he drew even more explicitly than heterosexual” and the “homosexual invert.”18 By identifying Terman. Wiggam fully believed that eugenic marriages the pathologized homosexual threats to the heterosexual between fit partners tended to be far happier than others, (and reproductive) family, Terman sought to strengthen the emphasizing emphatically that eugenics was “not a plan for 28 race by stabilizing the family.19 taking romance out of love.” While some eugenicists of the time scoffed at physical attraction and often portrayed Two years later Terman published Psychological Factors attractive people (especially attractive women) as dim-witted in Marital Happiness, in which he outlined the factors neces- and dysgenic, Wiggam saw physical attraction as not only a sary for happy heterosexual marriages. Expanding on Sex and desirable trait but also one often connected to other traits Personality, Terman argued that the happiest marriages were such as intelligence and morality.29 “Beauty is as deep as the ones that adhered to gender roles. Happily married women human soul,” he argued, “as deep as evolution.”30 Wiggam did “not object to subordinate roles” while aggressive women feared that American women were becoming less and less tended to be unhappy in marriage.20 Other factors for happy beautiful and argued that eugenics could change that tra- marriages included childhood background, relationship with jectory.31 He encouraged his readership to find attractive parents, and relative sexual pleasure (though Terman, unlike partners, to cultivate a culture of beauty admiration, for some sexual educators of the period, concluded that the lack “every increase of beauty will mean an increase of physical of female orgasm was not a “major cause of unhappiness in and mental energy.”32 marriage”).21 For the most part, the book received praise from sexual educators, who saw it as a way to approach Furthermore, Wiggam argued that eugenic mar- marriage education in the most scientific manner.22 Robert riages were the happiest marriages because of their fit chil- Latou Dickinson, for instance, wrote Terman that “nothing dren, arguing that disabled children caused unhappy and whatever has happened to practical marriage studies more failed marriages: 23 important than your book.” Eugenicists also sought to Can anything more completely blast the romance utilize the findings in their project of racial improvement. of love than defective, neurotic and uncontrolla- A review in the Eugenics Review, for instance, noted that ble children? Does any thing keep the romance in Psychological Factors was of “particular value to eugenicists.”24 love more permanently than healthy, happy, well- The Journal of Heredity, a eugenics research publication born children?. . . [W]hen they see that a marriage founded by Popenoe, similarly gave the book a glowing into strong, healthy, stock means sound intelligent review, which claimed that marriage education ought to be children, and a marriage into bad stock may mean divided into “‘before Terman’” or ‘after Terman.’”25 Sexual defective children, it is bound to elevate the dignity, 33 educators and eugenicists alike saw Terman’s findings as a responsibility and beauty of marriage. way to save marriage and, possibly, save the race. The eugenic baby was not just good for the race, it was In 1939, Albert E. Wiggam published an article in good for individual couples as a foundation for marital Good Housekeeping sharing Terman’s conclusions, titled, fit- bliss. Wiggam, alongside many other writers, conflated the tingly, “Science Blueprints Marital Happiness.” Wiggam eugenic marriage with the happy marriage, encouraging was a popular advice writer on various topics of science, readers to chase this ideal relationship. religion, psychology, and love. He was also one of the To reach these eugenic and happy marriages, Wiggam most influential proponents of eugenics for everyday white believed, necessitated the development of a eugenic con- Americans, writing popular texts espousing racial better- science through widespread education. He reasoned that ment such as The Fruit of the Family Tree (1924) and The just as public health education about microbes increased vol- New Decalogue of Science (1923).26 Wiggam was a firm pro- untary sanitary measures such as handwashing, so too could ponent of the eugenic conscience. In 1934, he published widespread racial education lead to voluntary mate selection “Wanted: A Eugenic Conscience” in Bernarr MacFadden’s through a lens of racial betterment.34 Through the teach- Physical Culture magazine, in which he presented the impor- ing of eugenic science, he believed, a new morality could tance of good mate selection and encouraged readers to be constructed, a new religion with a creed that called for find a partner with “happy, healthy, and congenial germ- acting in a manner that benefitted the health of the race.35 cells.”27 Like Terman, Wiggam obsessed over the psycho- metric quantification of happy relationships. Later in his With these eugenic concerns for happy marriages in life, he became somewhat of a happiness-monger, providing mind and the presence of racial rhetoric within the genre, 83 84 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 tive, reproductive justiceisthe“thehumanright tomaintain Defined in1997 byLorettaRossandtheSisterSong collec- from theBlackFeministtradition: reproductivejustice. lyze thiseugenicframework of desireandchoicestems of racialbetterment. with ableism,andpersonalchoice witheugenicsintheirgoal riage manuals sought toalignpleasure with racism, desire the promotionofaeugenicconscience,modernmar unattractive, andtherootofunhappymarriages.Through people asunfit— tion. Marriageeducatorsdidnotsimplyportraydysgenic Americans desired,tocorrecttrendsoffaultysexualselec- project wasanattempttotransformwhat— merely providingprescriptions.Attheverycoreoftheir or non-white people, marriage manual authors were not to marrythefittestcandidateandavoiddisabled,diseased, betterment. Byinstructingtheirwhitemiddle-classreaders science wouldmolddesire itselftosupportagendasofracial ing choice. It was far more complex: the ideal eugenic con- ics but,intheeyesofsome,required forracialbetterment. and sexualhappinesswerenotonlycompatiblewitheugen- ern marriagemanuals,revealabeliefthatloveandromantic such asTerman, PopenoeandWiggam, alongsidethemod- alized acoldandrationalapproachtoreproduction,writers individual maritalbliss.Despiteclaimsthateugenicistside- which could improve not only the race but also improve modern marriage manuals presented a eugenic conscience, By rebrandingthehappymarriageaseugenicmarriage, Progressive fashion,sciencenowprovidedthoseanswers. longer wasreligionthesourceofmaritalknowledge.Ina ing from researchers such as Terman and Popenoe. No tific changed radically. Marriage manuals now provided scien eth century. Andyet,theframingofhappymarriage commonly acceptedhappymarriageoftheearlytwenti- and marriage manual authors was no different from the practical way, norwasthemaritalidealofTerman, Wiggam, the race,shouldbeencouragedtoreproduce. article belongtothisclass,”theclasswhich,forsakeof Marry?” stated,“themajorityofyoungpeoplewhoreadthis As one Good Housekeepingarticle entitled “Who Should more: white,middle-toupper-class, respectablefamilies. the exact demographic eugenicists encouraged to breed race. Theaudienceoffamilyadviceliteraturewas,afterall, project withthegoalofbetteringor, atleast,stabilizingthe the marriagemanualasawholecomesintofocuseugenic analyses onhowtooptimizemaritalhappiness,draw- Perhaps the most useful lens through which to ana- Nor was the eugenic conscience simply about shap- This eugenichappymarriagewasnotnewinany authors depictedthemasundesirable, * and who— white 36
- - intent ofracialpurity. people theyinfluence,havebeenconsciouslybuiltwiththe ful eugenicmarriage,whileoftenallbutinvisibletothe These structures,liketheeugenicconscienceandbliss- to unhappiness. In theend,nochoice is madeinavacuum. did notfitintothiseugenicmoldwasbyitsnaturedoomed heterosexual, reproductive, and white. Any marriage that a eugenicend:thehappymarriagewas— marriage educationandeugenics,desireitselfwasshapedfor tary eugenicsofhappyfitmarriages.Duringthisperiod she argued. of pressurecanmakeadecisionunacceptablyinvoluntary,” hardly a choice at all due to the external pressure: “forms mental contraceptive,andconcludesthatthischoicewas women into“voluntarily”receivingNorplant,anexperi- tions andthestatelegallyeconomicallycoercedBlack inspects an incident in which an alliance between corpora- Roberts interrogatesfurtherthisquestionofchoice.She limit truechoice. make thosechoicesfreeofoppressivestructuresthatmight one’s bodyandreproductivecapabilities,buttherightto Endnotes munities.” and parentthechildrenwehaveinsafesustainablecom- personal bodilyautonomy, havechildren,not 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Paul Popenoe,“Divorce andRemarriagefromaEugenicPoint ofView,” Kline, See PaulPopenoeandRoswellHillJohnson, AppliedEugenics(New Coontz, Horace J.Bridges,TheFineArtofMarriage (Chicago:HoraceJ.Bridges, William J.Robinson,Sex,LoveandMorality:ARationalCodeofSexual Bernarr MacFadden,Womanhood andMarriage (NewYork: MacFadden F. ScottFitzgerald,Fie!Fi-Fi!:AFacsimileofthe1914ActingScript A. B.Walker, “Eugenics,”Life,Jan21,1915. “Cupid SneersatEugenics,”TheWashington Post , Jan07,1917;“No Beth L.Bailey, FromthePorchtoBackSeat:CourtshipinTwentieth (NewYork:Stephanie Coontz,Marriage,AHistory PenguinBooks, Quoted inMollyLadd-Taylor, “Eugenics,SterilisationandModern See Wendy Kline,BuildingaBetterRace:Gender, Sexuality, andEugenics Social Forces12no.1(Oct,1933): 48–50. York: TheMacMillanCompany, 1926),pp.200–201. 1930), p.31. Publishing, 1928),p.150. Ethics BasedontheHighestPrincipleofMorality(NewYork, Eugenics Publications, 1918),p.112. 1996), pp.66–69. and theMusicalScore (Columbia:UniversityofSouthCarolinaPress, Sterilized Cupid,”TheAtlantaConstitution,Jan16,1914. 25–27. America(Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,1989),pp. Century 2006), pp.199–202. 13,no.2(2001):300. History Marriage intheUSA:TheStrangeCareerofPaulPopenoe,”Gender& California Press,2001), from theTurn totheBabyBoom(Berkeley:Universityof oftheCentury This sameprincipleappliestotheseeminglyvolun- Building aBetterRace , 97. , p.202. Marriage, AHistory 37 38 Itisnotsimplytherighttomakechoicesabout
In Killing theBlackBody(1997),Dorothy pp. 141–149. and hadtobe— fit, 15 For examples of well-known eugenic couples filing for divorce, see 36 Ellsworth Huntington, “Ought I to Marry?” Good Housekeeping, “Eugenic Bride Packs up Her Belongings,” Boston Daily Globe, Jul 29, November 1937. 1913; “Failure in Eugenics,” The Washington Post, Aug 24, 1913. 37 “Reproductive Justice,” SisterSong Collective. www.sistersong.net/ 16 Alexandra Minna Stern, Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better reproductive-justice. Breeding in Modern American (Berkeley: University of California Press, 38 Dorothy Roberts, Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the 2016), 19, pp. 93–99. Meaning of Liberty (New York: Pantheon Books, 1997), pp. 135–137. 17 For a discussion on homosexuality, sexology, and deviancy, see Jennifer Terry. “Anxious Slippages between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’: A Brief History of the Scientific Search for Homosexual Bodies,” inDeviant Bodies: Critical Works Cited Perspectives on Difference in Science and Popular Culture, ed. Jennifer Terry and Jacqueline Urla (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1995), “American Woman is becoming Ugly, says Biologist.” The Atlanta pp. 129–169. Constitution. October 20, 1923. 18 Sexual inversion, the theory that homosexual women had the essence of males and vice versa, was the reigning theory regarding homosexuality Bailey, Beth L. From the Porch to the Back Seat: Courtship in during this period and the basis for Terman’s test identifying both gender Twentieth Century America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University and sexual identities. For more on sexual inversion theory, see George Chauncey, “From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Press, 1989. Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance,” Salmagundi no. 58/59 (Fall 1982–Winter 1983): 119. Bridges, Horace J. The Fine Art of Marriage. Chicago: Horace J. 19 Kline, Building a Better Race, pp. 135–139. Bridges, 1930. 20 Quoted in Kline, Building a Better Race, p. 141. 21 Lewis Terman, Psychological Factors in Marital Happiness (New York: Chauncey, George. “From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1938), pp. 304–305. Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female 22 One notable critic of Terman’s findings was Alfred Kinsey, who argued Deviance.” Salmagundi no. 58/59 (Fall 1982–Winter 1983): that in his own works that the conclusions of Psychological Factors were 114–146. questionable at best. Kinsey placed much more emphasis on sexual plea- sure than Terman, as well. See Peter Hegarty, Gentlemen’s Disagreement: Coontz, Stephanie. Marriage, A History. New York: Penguin Alfred Kinsey, Lewis Terman, and the Sexual Politics of Smart Men (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), pp. 49–53. Books, 2006. 23 Quoted in Kline, Building a Better Race, p. 141. “Cupid Sneers at Eugenics.” The Washington Post. January 07, 1917. 24 Ibid. 25 Henry C. Link, “The Way to Marital Happiness, as Diagrammed by “Eugenic Bride Packs up Her Belongings.” Boston Daily Globe. July Lewis Terman: A Review,” Journal of Heredity 30 no. 6 (June 1939): 286–287. 29, 1913. 26 Daniel Siemens, “The ‘True Worship of Life’: Changing Notions of Happiness, Morality, and Religion in the United States, 1890–1940,” in “Failure in Eugenics.” The Washington Post. August 24, 1913. Fractured Modernity: America Confronts Modern Times, 1890s to 1940s ed. Thomas Welskopp and Alan Lessoff (Munich, Germany: De Gruyter Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi!: A Facsimile of the 1914 Acting Oldenbourg, 2013), p. 52. Script and the Musical Score. Columbia: University of South 27 Albert E. Wiggam, The Fruit of the Family Tree (Garden City, New Carolina Press, 1996. York: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1924), 168; Albert E. Wiggam, “Wanted: A Eugenics Conscience,” Physical Culture (August, 1934), p. 16. Hegarty, Peter. Gentlemen’s Disagreement: Alfred Kinsey, Lewis 28 Albert E. Wiggam, The New Decalogue of Science (New York: Blue Ribbon Terman, and the Sexual Politics of Smart Men. Chicago: Books, 1922), p. 283. Wiggam was not alone in the assessment that University of Chicago Press, 2013. eugenic marriages were the happiest marriages. Many physical cultur- ists too echoed this sentiment that fit (both eugenically and physically) marriages were the happiest. See “Never a Divorce for Physical Training Huntington, Ellsworth. “Ought I to Marry?” Good Housekeeping. Alumni, Say Rodgers,” New York Tribune, Dec 10, 1912. November 1937. 29 Ibid., pp. 278–279. For an example of the eugenicists criticizing conven- tional attractiveness, Amram Scheinfeld’s 1939 You and Heredity featured Kline, Wendy. Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics juxtaposed images of the conventionally attractive woman with “no from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom. Berkeley, CA: ‘deep’ intellect” and the stouter and more homely eugenically desirable University of California Press, 2005. woman. Amram Scheinfeld, You and Heredity (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1939), p. 394. Ladd-Taylor, Molly. “Eugenics, Sterilisation and Modern Marriage 30 Wiggam, The New Decalogue of Science, p. 283. in the USA: The Strange Career of Paul Popenoe.” Gender & 31 “American Woman is becoming Ugly, says Biologist,” The Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 20, 1923; “Women to be Homely and Dumb, is History 13, no. 2 (2001): 298–327. Warning,” The Washington Post, Nov. 6, 1925. Link, Henry C. “The Way to Marital Happiness, as Diagrammed 32 Wiggam, The New Decalogue of Science, p. 279. by Lewis Terman: A Review.” Journal of Heredity 30, no. 6 (June 33 Ibid., 296–297. 1939): 286–287. 34 Ibid., 298. 35 Wiggam was quite drawn to the interplay between eugenics and religion, often using religious language and frameworks when discussing the MacFadden, Bernarr. Womanhood and Marriage. New York: topic. See Christine Rosen, Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the MacFadden Publications, 1918. American Eugenics Movement (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 129–132. “Never a Divorce for Physical Training Alumni, Say Rodgers.” New York Tribune. December 10, 1912. 85 86 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 “Women tobeHomelyandDumb,is Warning.” TheWashington —————————. “Wanted: AEugenicsConscience.”Physical —————————. Wiggam, oftheFamilyTree. AlbertE.TheFruit GardenCity, New Walker, A.B.“Eugenics.”Life.January21,1915. Terry, Jennifer. “AnxiousSlippagesbetween ‘Us’and‘Them’:A Terman, Lewis.PsychologicalFactorsinMaritalHappiness.New Stern, AlexandraMinna.EugenicNation:FaultsandFrontiersof Siemens, Daniel.“The‘True Worship ofLife’:ChangingNotions Rosen, Christine.Preaching Eugenics:ReligiousLeadersandthe Scheinfeld, Amram.You andHeredity. NewYork: FrederickA. Robinson, William J.Sex,LoveandMorality:ARationalCodeof Roberts, Dorothy. KillingtheBlackBody:Race,Reproduction,and “Reproductive Justice.”SisterSongCollective.www.sistersong.net/ Popenoe, Paul.“DivorceandRemarriagefromaEugenicPointof Popenoe, PaulandRoswellHillJohnson.AppliedEugenics.New “No SterilizedCupid.”TheAtlantaConstitution.January16,1914. Post. November6,1925. Culture. Ribbon Books,1922. York: GardenCityPublishingCo.,Inc.,1924. 129–169. Bloomington,IN:IndianaUniversityPress,1995. Popular Culture , editedbyJenniferTerry andJacquelineUrla, In DeviantBodies:CriticalPerspectivesonDifference inScienceand Brief HistoryoftheScientificSearchforHomosexualBodies.” York: McGraw-HillBookCompany, Inc.,1938. California Press,2016. American.Berkeley:Universityof Better Breeding inModern 43–60. Munich,Germany:DeGruyterOldenbourg,2013. 1890s to1940s,editedbyThomasWelskopp andAlanLessoff, Times,1940.” InFractured AmericaConfrontsModern Modernity: of Happiness,Morality, andReligionintheUnitedStates,1890– Press, 2004. American EugenicsMovement.NewYork: OxfordUniversity Stokes Company, 1939. Eugenics Publishing,1928. Sexual EthicsBasedontheHighestPrincipleofMorality.NewYork: Meaning ofLiberty.NewYork: PantheonBooks,1997. reproductive-justice. View.” York: TheMacMillanCompany, 1926. Social Forces12,no.1(October, 1933):48–50. August, 1934. The NewDecalogueofScience.York: Blue Shirley Caesar, DJ Suede, “You Name It!”: Evaluating the Challenges of Song Sampling Christoph’ McFadden, Claflin University
Christoph’ McFadden is a recent graduate of Claflin University in attracting listeners, a common problem with sampling is where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Music when the sample contorts the music’s original message and (Voice) and was a UNCF Mellon Mays Fellow. McFadden limits artists’ control in representation. is currently a first-year PhD student in ethnomusicology at Harvard University. His scholarly interests include African A prime example of issues in sampling centers around 2 American gospel traditions, the Black Christian experience and Shirley Caesar’s sermonette-song, “Hold My Mule.” This music and spirituality more broadly. Additionally, McFadden is song experienced a national resurgence in 2016 when it was interested in studying the ways African American musical genres remixed by popular DJ and social media personality, DJ influence pop culture and social movements in the United States. Suede the Remix God. The remix, which went viral, focused Outside of his research, Christoph’ is a singer, published creative on a single sentence of Caesar’s story. Following the remix’s writer, minister, and is passionate about mentorship. release, the “You Name It” challenge incorporated dance interpretations to the remixed song. Originally, the song was about a man who experiences piercing ridicule for his Abstract expression of faith; however, the remix of the tune and the social media response highlight themes that extend beyond Song sampling is a popular trend in the American Caesar’s message and brand as an internationally known music industry. Although effective in attracting listeners, gospel singer, Christian pastor, and evangelist. a common problem with sampling is presented when the sample contorts the music’s original message and limits In the following study, I analyze the sampling of artists’ control in representation. Such adverse effects are Shirley Caesar’s work in 2016 and the larger implications seen in DJ Suede The Remix God’s 2016 remix of the gospel of this sampling. I argue that the remix, and subsequently classic, “Hold My Mule” originally recorded by Shirley social media’s “You Name It Challenge(s),” harmed Caesar’s Caesar. This essay analyzes the sampling of Shirley Caesar’s brand by obscuring the Christian messages she shares with work, Caesar’s response, audience reactions, and discusses her global audience. larger implications of song sampling. This paper indicates the remix and subsequent social media #UNameItChallenge(s) Sampling highlight the significance of African American artistic con- tributions while simultaneously harming Caesar’s brand by In their 2012 book, David and Tim Baskersville dis- obscuring the message she shares with her global audience. cuss the field of music publishing, its subfields, and details for musicians and business owners to consider when enter- ing the industry.3 According to the authors, sampling has Acknowledgements two definitions that further classify “sound” and the pro- cesses of reutilization. First, it is the “process by which I would like to thank Heather Buffington-Anderson amplitude and frequency of some sound waves are mea- for her continued mentorship and instrumental support over sured and reproduced.”4 The second definition is broader the years. I would also like to thank Christopher Prince and and refers to different recordings of existing music being Elizabeth Perten for their useful feedback on this paper. inserted into new music. This technique more succinctly Finally, I express my sincere gratitude to Alison McLetchie, describes the sampling in DJ Suede’s remix and is the defi- the late Roosevelt Ratliff, Claflin University and the Mellon nition I adopt for the context of this paper. Moreover, The Mays Undergraduate Fellowship for spurring my scholarly American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers interests and facilitating this esteemed opportunity. (ASCAP) further indicates what defines “existing music” into two distinct categories. “The Song Itself” is the actual Advanced technology has become the music indus- musical composition and “The Master Recording” is the try’s leading asset and, simultaneously, its leading obstacle. particular recording (solely featuring instrumentation) the Recording hardware has downsized, allowing for portability, sampler seeks to use. A combination of this is called “The 5 and recording software continues to make user-friendly Master Recording and the Song.” advances, allowing novices and professionals alike to expe- Business lawyer Sam Mollaei explains that because of dite the production of polished compositions. The Internet these separate components, negotiations must be made with alone has increased society’s ability to create and share these both the copyright owner of the song, usually the songwriter compositions on a global platform. When technological and music publisher, and the copyright owner of the master advances are coupled with musical borrowing, the product recording, usually the recording company that produces the is sampling. A sample, as defined by Oxford Music Online, record. Utilization of either requires negotiation of permis- is “sound [that] is taken directly from a recorded medium sions (including a licensing fee) and other payments, such as 1 and transposed onto a new recording.” Although effective 87 88 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 can beheardonplatformswithouttheirconsultation. trol artistshaveontheirrepresentationifvoiceorwork erally speaking,thisagreementdramaticallyaffectsthecon- course, contractsvaryfromcompanytocompany, butgen- publishers andlabelsrepresenttheminthismatter. Of typically involvedinnegotiationswiththesamplerbecause music. Therefore,theartistsoforiginalworkarenot and gives them permission to promote and release their the recordingartistispaidanadvancefrompublishers between thepublishers,label,andartist.Typically, sion fromtheartist.Thisisduetocontractualagreements removal oftheirsampledwork. charges forthedamages,injunctionsagainsttheirmusic,and song. Without formalpermission,thesamplermayface both the publisher and recording company of the original to becorrectlysampled,permissionmustgrantedfrom with theBaskervilles’work;theyemphasizethatforasong Thompson CommunitySingers— Shirley CaesarWith ReverendAndThe MiltonBrunson originally recorded“HoldMyMule”in1988onheralbum recording. African American Gospel singer Shirley Caesar the analysisofDJSuedeRemixGod’s remixofCaesar’s You NameIt!(#UNameItChallenge) mechanical royaltiesforeverycopysold. fortunate enough tobeableharvest.Hedeclares, “Igot be exuberantin church,hementionsallofthe cropsheis in herrepertoire. sermonette-song onlivetelevision, positioningitasastaple the years,ShirleyCaesarhasre-recorded andperformedthe choir inthegospelclassic,“IFeel LikePraisingHim.”Over that shealsofeelslikeShoutingJohnandthenleadsher church, holdmymule.I’llshoutrighthere.”Caesarinserts which tobethankful.Johnthensays,“IfIcan’t shoutinyour is aroundeighty-sevenyearsoldandhasmanythingsfor an oldmule.Whenconfronted,Johninformsthemthathe find Johnoutsideplowingthefieldsofhisfarm-homewith church if he does not keep calm in the services. The deacons John’s housetowarnhimthathewouldbeforcedoutofthe acts asthanksgivingtohisGod. Christian Bible.Johnjoinsthischurchandperformsthese and notbelievinginthegiftoftonguesasdescribed filled withdignitaries,notwelcomingtodancing,shouting, joined “adeadchurch.”Caesardescribesthechurchascalm, story of“amancalledShoutingJohn.”John,sheclaims, My Mule” is a sermonette-song in which Caesar tells the Sources do not,however, mentionreceivingpermis- Understanding sampling regulations is essential to In the song, as John explains the reasons he has to The churchbecamedisgruntledandsentdeaconsto Live . 6 In Chicago. Thisiscongruent 7 “Hold incorporate twerking, the milly rock, the hit dem folks, and incorporate twerking, themillyrock,hitdem folks,and on November 15, 2016. It features several styles of dance that What You CookingForThanksgiving,” waspostedbyhmm entitled, “You NameItChallengeCompilation—Grandma the mostviewed#UNameItChallenge posts.Thefirstvideo, two keyYouTube videoscompilationsshowcaseseveralof tion the#UNameItChallenge garnered aroundthecountry, cafeteria, atparties,andinotherfacetsofcampuslife. students atClaflinUniversityplayed“You NameIt”inthe radio, and television created a viral sensation. For example, streaming services.Theremix’s presenceonsocialmedia, media, theaudioofremixwasalsoreleasedonmusic #UNameItChallenge. Sometimeafteritsreleaseonsocial Brown isresponsiblefornamingthecreativemovement music. According toInstagram user, @_icomplexity, Chris remix orsyncingpreviouslyrecordeddancingclipstothe accounts thatfeaturedtheminvariousshotsdancingtothe ticipated inthetrend.TheypostedvideostotheirInstagram and singerChrisBrownwere among thecelebritieswhopar party, anddancescenes. also videointerpretationsthatdisplayalcoholconsumption, not focusedondancecenteredaroundfood.Thereare became thechorusofremix.Manyparodiesthatwere and maderapversestogoalongwithCaesar’s line,which themselves dancingtothebeat.Sometookchallenge in thebackgroundwithsocialmediauserspostingvideosof day. Otherparodyvideosincludedthe“You NameIt”remix African Americangrandmothers,werecookingfortheholi- November andparodiedwhatmanyhomes,specifically remix and @_icomplexity’s video were both released early dances syncedtotherhythmsofremix.TheDJSuede’s featured severalclipsofcelebrityreactions,actingscenesor In thevideoandothersubsequentvariants,@_icomplexity Reception the “You NameIt”remixas a responsetothe question. Grandma: tion “Me:Grandma,whatareyoucookingforThanksgiving? remix withavideocompilation/memethatincludedthecap- hats, drumrolls,andanorganloop. faster thantheoriginalandaddsan808bass,triplethigh- it” andloopsitforthedurationofsong.Theremixis It.” TheremixtakesJohn’s listofcropsendingin“youname Through theCityandreleasedremixtitled,“You Name My Mule”onCaesar’s album,After40Years StillSweeping God sampled this line from the 2007 re-recording of “Hold chicken, rabbit, you name it!” In 2016, DJ Suede The Remix beans, greens,potatoes,tomatoes,lambs,rams,hog,dogs, As anindicationofthesignificant andlastingatten- Actress JadaPinkett-Smith(withtheSmithfamily) Instagram user, @_icomplexity superimposed the . . . ”followedbythevideocompilationfeaturing - 8 other forms of hip-hop dance moves. Some users personified aesthetic.12 Instead of establishing a clear definition of aes- animals, grandmothers, choir directors, or praise dancers. thetic, Williams-Jones works through the idea of defining A few users performed dances that included what appeared the Black aesthetic through reliance on the “black gos- to be sexually suggestive motions in rhythm with the music. pel church and the music associated with it.”13 The idea The second video is entitled, “U Name It Challenge Video of African American gospel music being “pleasing to the Compilation| Thanksgiving Anthem,” posted by Desroy senses” is relevant in understanding the reasons behind the White on November 22, 2018; this compilation features sampling of gospel music as well as why such samples are many of the same dance moves as the former. The latter popular.14 post also includes clips of American National Basketball Association (NBA) stars dancing at their games with “You Black gospel derives and incorporates features from Name It” synced over the video. Jada Pinkett-Smith’s video, the African diaspora; these distinct features include “spir- which included her family, was also included in the compi- ituals, ring shouts, jubilees, chants, and camp meeting[s].” lation video. One user recorded her rendition in a bedroom, Williams-Jones points out that while these characteristics wrapped in a towel, and featured twerking and pelvic thrusts embody many Africanisms, “the process of syncretism” to the beat of the remix. The comments on these two videos causes the music to sound Afro-American and not solely 15 from viewers are primarily positive. Some of the comments derivative of African culture. Additionally, Williams-Jones on the first video celebrate African American contributions lists other unique features of Black gospel that highlight its to popular culture, while others point out their favorite ren- distinct differences outside of Anglo-American gospel tradi- dition in the compilation. tion. In part, these features include the following:
In the weeks following the #UNameItChallenge’s 1. The use of antiphonal response initial virality, several reports indicated that Caesar filed a 2. Varying vocal tone lawsuit against DJ Suede the Remix God for improper use of 3. Endless variation on the part of the lead singer her song. Theroot.com and several other news sites falsely 5. Religious dancing or “shouting” claimed that Pastor Caesar was attempting to sue DJ Suede 6. Percussive-style playing techniques for 5,000,000 dollars.9 Caesar released a statement via her 9. A dramatic concept of the music Facebook account denying the lawsuit. There was, however, 10. Repetition legal action that Caesar felt was necessary to protect her 12. Communal participation 16 property and image. According to the statement, “DJ Suede, 14. Oral transmission of the idiom Empire Records, and another party” released the remix for Williams-Jones showcases these characteristics as profit without the knowledge or consent of Caesar. The evidence of Black gospel’s “self-identity” and asserts that statement reported that an accompanying music video, also this identity can be maintained while it simultaneously released by DJ Suede, highlighted alcohol abuse, negative “nourishes” other cultures beyond the United States.17 imagery, and misogyny.10 After multiple failed attempts to Holistically, Williams-Jones asserts that these features are rectify the situation, Caesar and her lawyer thought it best able to embody the Black aesthetic due the genre’s unique to file a temporary injunction to “remove the video as well as combination of various Black art forms. Whereas other cease and desist sales” in order to “protect Pastor [Caesar’s] art forms can be viewed as singular, Black gospel must be legacy.” Moreover, Caesar claimed the “illegal release of the viewed as plural as it includes “black oratory, poetry, drama song has also prevented her from releasing a Thanksgiving- and dance [and therefore] is indeed a culmination of the Christmas holiday album she recently recorded.”11 The black aesthetic experience.”18 Williams-Jones calls for “the receptions of Shirley Caesar and social media users reveal acceptability, respectability and universal receptivity of the lack of control and subsequent unintentional damage Black gospel music.”19 She states that it is “imperative that sampling can impose on artists. black gospel maintain strong self-identity and continue as the positively crystallizing element in the emerging black Aesthetics aesthetic.”20 In order to fully understand the implications of DJ As Williams-Jones’ article was published in 1975, it is Suede the Remix God’s sample of Caesar’s song, one must important to compare her agenda with the current reception consider the reasons why the incorporation of Caesar’s song and disposition of Black gospel music in society. Williams- into “You Name It” is so successful. In Pearl Williams-Jones’ Jones speaks on the idea of establishing what the Black aes- article, “Afro-American Gospel Music: A Crystallization of thetic is. Today, forty-three years after publication, the Black the Black Aesthetic,” Jones discusses how Afro-American aesthetic has been well established, as is evident through the gospel music preserves African culture and simultaneously advancements made in African American entertainment, spearheads the establishment of the Afro-American cultural 89 90 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 witout AfricanAmericanslol. first videonotedabovethatreadsinpart,“imagineAmerica cept isupheldinoneofthetop-ratedcommentsunder particularly marketableforDJSuede’s platform.Thiscon- aesthetic value,which,therefore,madeherimageandvoice oretically confer Caesar as a deposit of African American According toWilliams-Jones’ claim,thetitle wouldthe- music repertoireregardheras“TheFirstLadyofGospel.” as nosurprisethatmanypeoplefamiliarwiththegospel largely foundinShirleyCaesar’s music.Therefore,itcomes aforementioned list of aesthetically pleasing attributes are development of the #UNameItChallenge.Williams-Jones’ music toappealtheiraudience.Thisisevidentinthe range of branding teams and marketers seek to use this most targetedartforms infused inpopularmedia.Awide for manyotherartforms. due toWilliams-Jones’ ideaofgospelbeingthemeltingpot tain aestheticvalueintheutilizationofgospelmusicislikely American church culture found in popularmedia. The cer pel genre andincreased references and samples of African international performancesoftheAfricanAmericangos- larger globalaudience.Thisisevidentthroughincreased Additionally, AfricanAmericangospelmusictodayhasa Black beautyis,therebycreatingthe“Blackaesthetic.” tributions tothesefieldshave helpedtoestablishwhat recognition andreceptionoftheAfricanAmericancon- from herself. value and another that essentially ostracizes Shirley Caesar in recognitionandappreciationofAfricanAmericanartistic the sample and creates a juxtaposition of two images: one looking againtoShirleyCaesar, complicatestheeffectsof or reasontheyareviewedasbeautiful.Suchdisagreement, party holding the aesthetic value does not agree with the way nature of this type of representation can be harmful if the embodies “Black aesthetic value.”However, theholistic Williams-Jones’ conclusionthatBlackgospelcreatesand in theseartisticexpressions,theuser’s commentalignswith community. Consideringtheelementsofgospelembodied in thevideohaveasarepresentationofAfricanAmerican addresses thevaluethatmusicandotherartisticexpressions dent inDJSuede theRemixGod’s remixofShirley Caesar’s made ithighly sought-after inmanymarkets. Thisisevi- value thatrests in thegenreofAfricanAmerican gospelhas loved aroundtheworld.Themelting potofBlackaesthetic Black Gospelmusichasevolved intoagenrethatisheardand confines oftheBlackChurch, AfricanAmericanGospelor Conclusion various “Black art forms” Williams-Jones listed. politics, education,science,fashion,and,ofcourse,the Today, AfricanAmericangospelmusicisoneofthe Once aseverelymarginalized genre, keptwithinthe . . . .” Suchacomment 21 Society’s - Endnotes its successandstrippedCaesarofcontroloverherbrand. texts of DJ Suede’s remix stifled Caesar’s relationship with of “You NameIt”andthe#UNameItChallenge,con- sented artists. In spite of the virality, longevity, and acclaim plications ofmusicsamplinganditsimplicationsonrepre- users. Still,thiscase-studyhighlightstheinterwovencom- gauging thelimitsonfreedomofexpressionforsocialmedia not songwriters.Furtherresearchwillalsobebeneficialin artists’ rightsonabroaderscale,includingartistswhoare a casepresentstheneedforfurther research thataddresses audio isagainaccessiblethroughstreamingplatforms.Such between CaesarandDJSuederemainsunclearastheremix’s tested by Caesar. Moreover, the extent of legal action whose videosalsodisplaysomeofthesameimagerycon- media. This includes the creative work of @_icomplexity that featureDJSuede’s remixareaccessiblethroughsocial unavailable online; however, severalothervideocompilations the RemixGod.Atpresent,DJSuede’s musicvideoisstill ing thepublicofneedforinjunctionagainstDJSuede released astatementconfirmingthesedetailsandinform- usage agreementswerenotdefined.Caesarandherlawyer were notinitiallytaken,andthereforeimagevideo steps forlegalsamplingandexchange(accordingtoASCAP) assessment. Thisisattributedtothefactthatappropriate representations ofCaesar’s brand,accordingtoCaesar’s own craze ofsocialmediaopenedthedoortowidelysharedmis- YouTube, Facebook,andothervariantsofthehashtag. #UNameItChallenge onInstagramalone,notincluding riety, asisevidentinthe43,000+postswithhashtag in howthesamplecausedDJSuedetogainmuchnoto- The powerofgospelembodyingBlackaestheticisrevealed “Hold MyMule,”whichbirthedthe#UNameItChallenge. 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 @_icomplexity. “Me:Grandma, whatareyoucooking .” Shirley Caesar, “HoldMyMule,”trackB1onShirleyCaesarWith Mollaei Law—#1HighestRatedBusiness Lawyer. “HowtoGetSample Todd BrabecandJeffBrabec,“Sampling(PartI),”www.ascap.com, 2007, Ibid., 78. David BaskervilleandTimothy Baskerville,MusicBusinessHandbookand Shirley Caesar, “HoldMyMule,”track B1onShirleyCaesarWith Will Fulford-Jones,“Sampling,” GroveMusicOnline,s.v. accessed BMxvEqqjmNX/?igshid=1fk10gldqyz9s. Instagram video,November13,2016. https://www.instagram.com/p/ In Chicago,RejoiceRecords, Reverend AndTheThompson CommunitySingers— MiltonBrunson 15, 2016.https://www.youtube.com/watch?=312&v=pS7NUvkiV_0. Clearance toUseaSampleinSong?” YouTube video,5:12,February articles-advice/ascapcorner/corner10.aspx. 1, accessedApril12,2019,https://www.ascap.com/Home/Music-Career/ Inc, 2012). Career Guide.Tenth edition.(ThousandOaks,Calif:SAGEPublications, Reverend AndTheThompsonCommunitySingers— MiltonBrunson November 27,2019,http://www-oxfordmusiconline-com/. In Chicago,RejoiceRecords, While socialmedia’s responsewasmostlypositive,the 1988, Vinyl/discogs.com. 1988, Vinyl/discogs.com. Live . Live .
9 Staff, The Root. “Shirley Caesar Sues Atlanta DJ for $5,000,000 Graakjaer, Nicolai. Analyzing Music in Advertising: Television Over #UNameItChallenge.” The Root, December 10, 2016. https:// Commercials and Consumer Choice. 1 edition. New York: thegrapevine.theroot.com/shirley-caesar-sues-atlanta-dj-for-5-000–000- Routledge, 2014. over-una-1790902704. 10 Caesar, Shirley, and James Walker, Jr. 2016. “NO LAWSUIT.” Goggin, Kayla. “Shirley Caesar Sues Atlanta DJ Over Viral Song.” Facebook, December 9, 2016. https://www.facebook.com/Pastor. ShirleyCaesar/posts/no-lawsuit-hello-family-i-just-got-a-call-from- Courthouse News Service (blog), January 4, 2017. https://www. someone-asking-me-about-a-lawsuit/10157846007770335/. courthousenews.com/shirley-caesar-sues-atlanta-dj-over-viral- 11 Goggin, Kayla. “Shirley Caesar Sues Atlanta DJ Over Viral Song.” song/. Courthouse News Service (blog), January 4, 2017. https://www.courthouse news.com/shirley-caesar-sues-atlanta-dj-over-viral-song/. hhm. “You Name It Challenge Compilation—Grandma What You 12 Pearl Williams-Jones, “Afro-American Gospel Music: A Crystallization Cooking For Thanksgiving.” Accessed April 25, 2019. https:// of the Black Aesthetic.” Ethnomusicology 19, no. 3 (1975): 374, https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNOSLYVCbAg. doi.org/10.2307/850791. 13 Williams-Jones, “Afro-American Gospel Music.” 373. Mollaei Law—#1 Highest Rated Business Lawyer. How to Get 14 For the purposes of this paper, I consider aesthetic the “conception of Sample Clearance to Use a Sample in a Song? Accessed April beauty or art: a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses and especially sight.” “Definition of Aesthetic.” Accessed February 25, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS7NUvkiV_0. 22, 2019. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/aesthetic. 15 Williams-Jones, “Afro-American Gospel Music.” 378. “Sampling (Part I).” www.ascap.com, 2007. http://www.ascap.com/ 16 Ibid., 378. music-career/articlesadvice/ascapcorner/corner10. 17 Ibid., 373. “Shirley Caesar—After 40 Years . . . Still Sweeping Through The 18 Ibid., 376. City.” Discogs. Accessed April 25, 2019. https://www.discogs. 19 Ibid., 384. com/Shirley-Caesar-After-40-Years-Still-Sweeping-Through 20 Ibid., 378. The-City/release/12156056. 21 Ibid., 374.
“Shirley Caesar With Reverend Milton Brunson* And The Works Cited Thompson Community Singers—Live . . . In Chicago.” Discogs. Accessed April 25, 2019. https://www.discogs. “Analyzing Music in Advertising: Television Commercials and com/Shirley-CaesarWith-Reverend-Milton-Brunson-And- Consumer Choice.” ResearchGate. Accessed February 22, The-Thompson-Community-Singers-Live—InChicago/ 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289371369_ release/6867581. Analyzing_music_in_advertising_Television_commercials_ and_consumer_choice. Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. Third edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. Baskerville, David, and Timothy Baskerville. Music Business Handbook and Career Guide. Tenth edition. Thousand Oaks, Staff, The Root. “Shirley Caesar Sues Atlanta DJ for $5,000,000 Calif: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2012. Over #UNameItChallenge.” The Root, December 10, 2016. https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/shirley-caesar-sues-atlanta-dj- Brabec, Jeff, and Todd Brabec. “Licensing Hit Songs For for-5-000–000-over-una-1790902704. Advertising Commercials.” www.ascap.com. Accessed April 25, 2019. http://www.ascap.com/music-career/articlesadvice/ Williams-Jones, Pearl. “Afro-American Gospel Music: A ascapcorner/corner14. Crystallization of the Black Aesthetic.” Ethnomusicology 19, no. 3 (1975): 373–85. https://doi.org/10.2307/850791. Caesar, Shirley, and James Walker, Jr. “Pastor Shirley Caesar OFFICAL STATEMENT.” Facebook, December 9, Instagram Posts 2016. https://www.facebook.com/Pastor.ShirleyCaesar/ posts/10157846007770335. @_icomplexity. “Me: Grandma, what are you cooking . . . ” Instagram video, November 13, 2016. Creative Commons. “About The Licenses—Creative Commons.” Creative Commons. Accessed April 25, 2019. https://creative https://www.instagram.com/p/BMxvEqqjmNX/?igshid= commons.org/licenses/. 1fk10gldqyz9s.
“Definition of AESTHETIC.” Accessed February 22, 2019. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/aesthetic.
Desroy White. U Name It Challenge Video Compilation | Thanksgiving Anthem | #unameitchallenge. Accessed April 25, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_qP13iJZig.
91 92 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 support. Medel, andmybestfriendEliasSanchezfortheirunyielding Orlando Garcia and Esther Garcia, my sister Geovanna their brilliancewithme.Finally, thank youtomyparents Mellon MaysUndergraduateFellowshipfamilyforsharing guidance atvariousstagesofthisstudy. Thank you tomy you toDr. Leisy AbregoandDr. PatriciaBolingfortheir Because ofher, Iknow Ihaveaplaceintheacademy. Thank Charlene Villaseñor Black forheraffirmingmentorship. I havemanypeopletothank.MydeepestgratitudeDr. truth thatwecangomuchfurtherwhentogether. necessary toeradicateit. FI onthiscampusand,consequently, thestructuralchanges results bid us to ponder the nuanced, structural nature of The findings largely correspond with my hypotheses. These to an open-ended, optional portion of the questionnaire. aspect isananalysisofrecurringthemesin130responses the IBMSPSSStatisticsSoftware.Thisstudy’s qualitative question representsitsown variable whichImeasureon Agree toStronglyDisagreeorfromAlwaysNever. Each have studentsrankindicatorsofFIonascalefromStrongly White counterparts.Throughanonlinequestionnaire,I color will have the lowest meal plan than their Non-Hispanic meal plans and experiences of FI and that more students of size thattherewillbeastrongercorrelationbetweenlower University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). I hypothe- undergraduate students who have lived on-campus at the these questions,Iconductamixed-methodsstudyof399 do students respond to this meal plan system? To answer university? How, ifatall,isthisprocessracialized?How students’ experiencesoffood insecurity (FI)atalarge,public do differentuniversitymealplanscorrelatewithresidential Acknowledgements Abstract Studies. of study, RachelplanstopursueaPhDinSociologyorAmerican and environmentaljustice.Whilesheiscurrently exploringfields of herresearch interests includeraceandethnicity, foodjustice, Arts inChicanaandChicanoStudiesPoliticalScience.Some Rachel Medelisarecent graduateofUCLAwithaBachelor Rachel Medel,UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles A CloserLookatResidentialMealPlansandRace Food InsecurityataLarge,PublicUniversity: The publicationofthisstudy is a testament to the This studyinvestigatesthefollowingquestions:how structural conditions on campus— highlights mealplanrecipients’behavior, trivializingthe swipes (Woerden etal.1).Themealswipesusageapproach a collegecampusfocusesonstudents’usageoftheirmeal that explorestherelationshipbetweenmealplansandFIon plan system structure. The only study to my knowledge largely disregardedstudentswithmealplansandthe it. Theresearchonfoodinsecuritycollegecampuseshas issue, itisequallyimportanttoidentifytherootcausesof understand thegravityofissue,inordertoeradicatethis (Weaver etal.1).WhileknowingtheeffectsofFIhelpsus weight loss,anemia,andothercardiovascularcomplications dents whoexperienceFIhaveahigherprevalenceofobesity, and overall health status (Hughes et al. 29). In addition, stu- impacts academicperformance,mentalandsocialhealth, decade. TheexistingresearchinformsthatFInegatively of agrowingbutlimitednumberstudieswithinthelast (FI) oncollegeanduniversitycampuseshasbeenthefocus students respondtothismealplansystem?Foodinsecurity university? How, if at all, is this process racialized? How do students’ experiencesoffoodinsecurityatalarge,public do differentuniversitymealplanscorrelatewithresidential dents andifstudents aremoresusceptiblealong raciallines. a clearerunderstandingofhow FIpermeatesresidentialstu- FI (M.Anderson113). To eradicate FI on campus, we need we cantransformhowview therootsofandsolutionsto 8). Byframingfoodsecurityas afundamentalhumanright, rity is a fundamental human right of all people (Rodriguez the theoryoffoodjustice,whichisbeliefthatsecu- public universitycampus.Igroundedthisinvestigationin nature of FI among the residential community at a large, of FIbeyondthehousehold-level,allowingustoexplore Anderson 1576).Thisdefinitionextendsthephenomenon acquire acceptablefoodsinsociallyways”(S. adequate andsafefoods,orlimiteduncertainabilityto FI asthe“limitedoruncertainavailabilityofnutritionally ever, Iutilizethe Anderson(1990)definition,whichdefines (USDA) definitionofFI.Forthepurposethisstudy, how- States utilize the United States Department of Agriculture system andracism— Introduction This studyinvestigatesthefollowingquestions:how Many broader population FIstudies intheUnited The freedomtostarve?” If youarefreeinapoliticalsensebuthaveno “The ideaoffreedomisinspiring.Butwhatdoes food, what’s that? it mean? that mayfosterFI.
—Angela Y. Davis such as the meal plan Background White counterparts. In the responses to the open-ended, optional portion of the survey, I expected to find recurring This study was undertaken at the University of themes of frustration and resourcefulness from food-inse- California, Los Angeles (UCLA). UCLA is a large, public cure respondents. institution in an urban location. The racial makeup of the undergraduate student body on this campus is the follow- Methods ing: 28 percent Asian, 27 percent Non-Hispanic White, 22 percent Hispanic or Latinx, 12 percent International, To test these hypotheses, I conducted a mixed-meth- 6 percent two or more races, 3 percent African American, ods study of 399 undergraduate students who have lived in 2 percent unknown domestic, less than 1 percent Pacific the university’s on-campus housing. I designed an online Islander, and less than 1 percent American Indian or Alaska questionnaire, basing many of the questions after the Native (“Quick Facts”). The residential meal plan system USDA survey questions to assess household food security on this campus relies on “swipes.” Every quarter, on-cam- (“Measurement”). I modified them to reflect how FI mani- pus residents pay for a weekly preset number of swipes that fests on a college campus. All questions were asked on a scale grant them access to any dining hall or one entree, side, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree or from Always to and beverage at any of the to-go restaurants. The meal plan Never. I asked students who lived on campus to select which options this campus offered for the duration of this inves- racial or ethnic categories they identify with and what meal tigation were the following: 11, 14, 14 Premier (14P), 19, plan they purchased during the most recent school year they and 19 Premier (19P) (“Meal Plans”). The numbers indicate lived on campus. Each question represented its own variable. the baseline amount of preset university-guaranteed swipes To account for the modified housing and dining operations per week. The Premier meal plans give students the ability due to COVID-19, I asked students to base responses on to swipe more than once during a meal period and allow experiences from before the operations changed. unused swipes to carry over from week to week until the end of the quarter (“Meal Plans”). I sent the questionnaire to 51 undergraduate majors and minors departments’ student affairs officers or under- A few factors might explain why food insecurity graduate advisors via email to be shared with students. exists among on-campus residents, an otherwise presumed To incentivize student participation, I linked a separate, food-secure population, at this institution. One factor is optional form that respondents could fill out upon complet- that the lowest number of preset weekly meals on-campus ing the questionnaire to be added to a drawing for a $150 residents can purchase is 11. This number is just above the US dollar gift card. maximum number of weekly meals (approximately 10.5) stu- dents with meal plans can receive to be eligible for CalFresh, To measure the variables, I utilized the IBM SPSS the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Statistics Software. I cross-tabulated the meal plan variable otherwise known as SNAP (“ECFR—Code of Federal with different indicators of food insecurity. This cross-tab- Regulations”). The university states this meal plan exists for ulation allowed me to compare the racial compositions of students who are off-campus on weekends (“Meal Plans”). each meal plan. It also allowed me to compare how respon- Another factor is that, while there are a few on-campus food dents within each meal plan rated food insecurity indicators pantries, there are no accessible kitchens at the on-campus and experiences. To analyze the 130 free verse responses, I housing. A third factor is that students who live on campus sorted through each response and grouped recurring themes. are ineligible for campus meal voucher programs. These programs collect swipes that students donate and redis- Results tribute them as single-use meal vouchers to food-insecure students. Students with a meal plan, regardless of which one, The racial makeup of the sample was as follows: 42 are ineligible to receive meal vouchers. percent of respondents were Latino/x, 28 percent of respon- dents were Non-Hispanic White, 15 percent of respondents Hypothesis were Asian or Asian Indian, 11 percent of respondents were Multiracial, less than 2 percent of respondents were Black I hypothesized that there would be a stronger cor- or African American, less than 2 percent of respondents relation between meal plans with a lower baseline number were Middle Eastern or North African, less than 2 percent of meals per week (i.e., 11 and 14 meal plans) and expe- of respondents marked Other, less than 1 percent of respon- riences of food insecurity (i.e., utilizing on-campus and dents were American Indian or Alaskan Native. Of the 399 off-campus food resources, relying on snacks to fuel through students sampled, roughly 51 percent of respondents had the day, etc.). I also hypothesized more students of color the 14 Premier meal plan, roughly 21 percent of respon- would have the lowest meal plan than their Non-Hispanic dents had the 19 Premier meal plan, roughly 11 percent of 93 94 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 dents whohad the 11mealplanstronglyagreed. dents agreed with the statement. 0percent of the respon- In contrast,roughly35percent ofthe11mealplanrespon- of thosewiththe19mealplan agreedorstronglyagreed. or stronglyagreedwiththestatement. Similarly, 84percent had the19Premiermealplan, roughly83percentagreed strongly agreedathigherrates. Oftherespondentswho to eat,”respondentswiththehighestmealplansagreedor agreement withthestatement,“Iconsistentlyhadenough agreed at 33 percent. When asked to rate their level of respondents withthe19Premierplanagreedorstrongly agreed or strongly agreed at 45 percent. In comparison, programs orservices,”respondentswiththe11mealplan have benefittedfromCalFreshandothergovernmentfood to ratetheirlevelofagreementwiththestatement,“Iwould percent forrespondentswiththe19Premier. Whenasked 55 percentforrespondentswiththe19mealplan,and59 68 percentforrespondentswiththe14Premiermealplan, roughly 82percentforrespondentswiththe14mealplan, and upgradestoPremier. Forexample,thispercentagewas centage steadily declined as meal plans increased in numbers they trackedmealswipesusageoftenoralways.Thisper cent ofrespondentswiththe11meal plan responded that how frequentlytheytrackmealplanswipes,roughly90per strongly correlatedwiththelowestmealplans.Whenasked the 19mealplan,to12percentforPremier. decreased to15percentforthe14Premier, 13percentfor 20 percent of the 14 meal plan recipients, that percentage percentages. While Asian or Asian Indian respondents were Asian orIndianmealplanrecipientsdecreasedin meal plans increased in numbers and upgrades to Premier, respondents were overrepresented in the 11 meal plan. As portion tobeing42percentoftheoverallsample,Latino/x being roughly66 percent of the meal plan recipients. In pro- 83 percentofthe11mealplan,withLatino/xrespondents In contrast, Asian and Latino/x respondents constituted were overrepresentedinthe19andPremiermealplans. of theoverallsample,Non-HispanicWhiterespondents the 19Premiermealplan.Comparedtobeing28percent 37 percentforthe19mealplan,andfinallyto39 the 14mealplan,25percentfor the 14Premiermealplan, Hispanic White, that percentage increased to 24 percent for percent ofrespondentswiththe11mealplanwereNon- plan recipients increased inpercentages. Whileonly14 bers andupgradestoPremier, Non-HispanicWhitemeal across different meal plans. As meal plans increased in num- respondents hadthe11mealplan. respondents hadthe14mealplan,androughly7percentof respondents hadthe19mealplan,roughly10percentof Responses toinstancesofFIrevealthatismore The sampleresultsdemonstrateclearracialpatterns - - for CalFresh. dents, and making FI students who live on campus eligible to waste,makingswipesdirectlytransferablebetweenstu- so allunusedswipesgotofood-insecurestudentsinsteadof pus isimplementinganautomaticswipedonationprogram mitigating theissueofFIamongstudentswholiveoncam- to “spreadthewealth.”Somesuggestionsstudentshadfor have enoughswipes,withonestudentencouragingothers said theywouldswipefriendsorotherstudentswhodidnot to do.”Inanactofsolidarity, severalfood-securestudents dining halls.Intheirwords:“You havetodowhatyou student revealed“finessing”entiresandwichesfromthe the dininghallstohaveforbreakfastnextday. Another student disclosedregularlysneakingfruitorsnacksoutof food fromthedininghallsagainsthousingpolicy. One other studentstoswipethemintodininghalls,andtaking larger quantities in fewer sittings, rationing swipes, asking students shared were becoming resident assistants, eating swipes. Somestrategiesfordealingwithfoodinsecurity Several studentsrecalledskippingmealsduetoalackof feeling stigmatizedorhumiliatedforneedingfoodresources. food-insecure, takingoutloanstoupgrademealplans,and having moretoeatoncampusthanathomedespitebeing narratives respondentssharedwereaboutrationingswipes, themselves shortorhavingtowasteswipes.Somepersonal not offerstudentstheflexibilitytheyneed,sooftenfind food waste.Onestudentsharedthatregularmealplansdo the mealplansystem,feelingrestricted,andconcernsover mon opinions respondents shared were discontentment with opinions, narratives,strategies,andsuggestions.Somecom- optional portionofthesurveyrevealsfourrecurringthemes: tions ofstudents whohaveexperiencedorwitnessed this The opinions, personal narratives,strategies, andsugges- of FIamongthestudentpopulation wholivesoncampus. a racializedprocessonthiscampus. it maynotbeintentionallydesigned thisway, mealplansare counterparts. Together, thisinformationreflectsthat,while experience food insecurity than their Non-Hispanic White percentages ofAsianorIndianandLatino/xstudents students havethelowestmealplan.Thisimpliesthathigher higher concentrationsofAsianorIndianandLatino/x meal plansoncampusarearacializedprocess,oneinwhich lowest mealplans.Thesampleresultsalsodemonstratethe that experiencesofFImorestronglycorrelatedwiththe hypotheses. Responses to the online questionnaire reveal Responses Discussion An analysisofthe130responsestoanopen-ended, The qualitativedatahelpspaint amuchfullerpicture The studyfindingslargelycorrespondedwithmy phenomenon help us better understand the reality of being American, Native American, and Middle Eastern or North assumed food-secure at the university and state govern- African students were roughly proportionately represented ment levels while not necessarily being food-secure. These in the sample, the low number of responses may not accu- insights illustrate that this space of nuance is a space where rately represent the larger groups’ experiences. Finally, this both frustration and resilience co-exist. It is a space where study’s results may not reflect experiences of FI on cam- students fight for their will and right to eat and show up for puses with different meal plan systems or different student one another. demographics.
These results bid us to ponder the nuanced, struc- Conclusion tural nature of FI on this campus and, consequently, the structural changes necessary to eradicate it. To combat the I came to this project through my work with the issue of FI among the student population who lives on cam- Office of Residential Life at UCLA. While working closely pus, I propose a few solutions. In line with the food justice with the residential Latino/x community, I witnessed food theory tenet that food security is a fundamental human insecurity among students who lived on campus with meal right, I propose eliminating Premier plans at the university plans, a generally presumed food-secure demographic. I level. Instead, the university should offer students three wondered if these experiences were the same for students meal swipes a day to use at their discretion. In addition to across different meal plans and varying racial or ethnic this, the university should allow students to pay for this plan groups. I also wondered what the affected students had to in smaller payments. An alternative solution I propose is say about the experience. While this study’s findings answer reducing the lowest meal plan option to 10 meals a week, much of the initial questions I had, they still give us much so students who live on campus are eligible for CalFresh. to consider. Can the current meal plan system coexist with This solution splits the onus of guaranteeing the human food security for all students? If it can, why has it not? What right of food insecurity between the state government and changes need to be made? What are we going to do with this the university. In conjunction with that solution, I propose information? introducing communal kitchens on campus so students can prepare meals from groceries they purchase with CalFresh. This study’s significance lies in its foundational prem- To amplify the student voices who suggested this solution, ise that food is a fundamental right of all people and can I also propose making swipes directly transferable between exist in places where we least expect it. This unequivocally students and automatically donating all excess swipes to food includes students with meal plans. A better understanding of security programs on campus at the end of each quarter. what conditions foster this issue helps us create more effec- These measures would be a good place to start but cannot tive solutions instead of defaulting to treating the symptoms substitute structural change to the meal plan system. of FI through meal voucher redistribution programs and food pantries. In light of the recent national conversations Note: For the 2020–2021 academic year, the univer- about racial justice and inequality, I bid the university to take sity has added an 11 Premier meal plan option, a solution a more critical approach to eradicate FI on campus. If the many respondents suggested. It should be noted this option university does not reconsider its current meal plan system, was not offered the year this study was conducted. While I remain hopeful that the student body will demand their this is a step in the right direction and may provide students fundamental human right to food security on campus. more flexibility around planning the meals they do have, it does not tackle the root of the issue. Works Cited
Limitations Anderson, Molly D. “Beyond Food Security to Realizing Food Rights in the US.” Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 29, 2013, pp. It is possible that participation in this online study 113–122., doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2012.09.004. may have been more appealing to food-insecure or at Anderson, S.A. (1990) “Core indicators of nutritional states for risk of being food-insecure students. While the economic difficult-to-sample populations.”The Journal of Nutrition, 120 class has a large bearing on FI, this study does not assess (11S), S1559-S1560. how household income played a role in these results. In addition, different departments have different protocols “ECFR—Code of Federal Regulations.” Electronic Code of for sharing questionnaires with their students. Only four Federal Regulations (ECFR), National Archives and Records departments confirmed forwarding the questionnaire to Administration’s Office of the Federal Register (OFR), the their students. Consequently, Latino/x students were over- Government Publishing Office (GPO), 2020, www.ecfr.gov/ represented in the sample, while Asian or Asian Indian cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=c8f1f1c74c9a5db16dd7503f905bd382&mc students were under-represented. While Black or African =true&node=pt7.4.273&rgn=div5#se7.4.273_110. 95 96 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Woerden, IreneVan, etal.“FoodInsecureCollegeStudents Weaver, RobertR.,etal.“UniversityStudentFoodInsecurityand Rodriguez Saryta.FoodJustice:APrimer.SanctuaryPublishers, “Quick FactsAboutUCLA.”UCLAUndergraduateAdmission, “Measurement.” “Meal Plans.”UCLAHousing,17Apr. 2020, Hughes, Roger, etal.“StudentFoodInsecurity:TheSkeleton Nutrients, vol.11,no.4,2019,p.904.,doi:10.3390/nu11040904. and ObjectiveMeasurementsofTheirUnusedMealPlans.” 2019, pp.1–7.,doi:10.1080/07448481.2019.1600522. ofAmericanCollegeHealth , Academic Performance.”Journal 2018. campusprofile.htm. UCLA UndergraduateAdmission,www.admission.ucla.edu/ food-security-in-the-us/measurement/. Sept. 2019,www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/ Department ofAgricultureEconomicResearchService,4 portal.housing.ucla.edu/dining-services/meal-plans. 2011, pp.27–32.,doi:10.1111/j.1747–0080.2010.01496.x. in theUniversityCloset.”Nutrition&Dietetics,vol.68,no.1, USDA ERS—Measurement, UnitedStates “They stole our story”: Intersectionally Conscious Feminist Perspectives on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale as Told Through Twitter Alexis M. Paulin-Edwards, Hunter College, CUNY
Alexis M. Paulin-Edwards is a Hunter College Class of 2020 Introduction Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate. Alexis majored in Political Science and Thomas Hunter Honors and On June 8th 2019, reality television star Kylie Jenner minored in Human Rights and Women and Gender Studies. threw what has been called a “Handmaid’s Tale Themed Much of her collegiate research focused on the socio-cultural and Birthday Party” (LeSavage 2019) and posted photos of the socio-political impact of black women’s historical and modern celebration on social media. People roundly condemned experiences with intersectionality. Jenner’s actions, pointing out that the show she based her party on depicts a post-United States dystopian society in which the present day abrogation of women’s rights has Abstract reached its completion resulting in the state sanctioned sex- ual enslavement of women. More disturbing still, many also Hulu’s streamed series, The Handmaid’s Tale, has gar- acknowledged how Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale series is itself nered significant attention as a result of its provocative an appropriation of the historically traumatic experiences of premise in which the abrogation of women’s reproductive sexual exploitation faced by black women during American rights is at the center of a dystopian society. Handmaid’s chattel slavery. has been widely received as an allegory for how women’s reproductive rights are presently threatened in the United There exists a distinct tension between audience dis- States. That said, the series has also been the subject of courses that address Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. On the one significant criticism because of its lack of racially conscious hand, there is the discourse that praises the show and its nuance, given the U.S.’s legacy of slavery, rape, and forced relevant focus on the assaults against women’s rights in the reproduction. This paper argues that the disparate reac- U.S. On the other hand, there is another discourse which tions to the series are a microcosm of the ongoing fissures has criticized Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale for its lack of racial between white feminisms and the feminisms of women of nuance and its appropriation of black women’s painful his- color. Further, this analysis highlights how viewers of the tory with sexual exploitation under chattel slavery. show have utilized Twitter as a digital platform by which to I argue in this article that the disparate reactions express their frustration with encoded historical markers of to Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale on Twitter are a microcosm racialized femininity being applied to the imagined experi- of the ongoing fissures between white feminisms and the ences of white women. Rather than relegate viewers’ Twitter feminisms of women of color. I also assert that this divide comments to the margins, this paper intentionally forwards and simultaneous marginalization of women of color within their dialogues on Twitter to demonstrate the significance of mainstream gender justice movements is what has allowed social media commentary as a relevant contribution to the for the continuance of white women’s use of the “slavery field of academia. metaphor,” such as in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, to illumi- nate their experiences with patriarchy (White 15). Finally, Acknowledgements I posit here that the existence of social media sites such as Twitter has enabled the intersectional ignorance of this Behind every great black woman is another great age old issue to be more readily visible on a larger scale black woman. And behind me, have been some of the than it was in the past. These problems can be pointed out, greatest black women I know. They have supported all dissected by audience members, and publicized much more my endeavors, including this work. None of this would easily via social media as a part of a larger discourse on the be remotely possible without the inspiration of my Mère issue. These digital social platforms give viewers an access Joyinn, the amazing insights and proofreading of my Tati point by which they can point out the problematic handling Melinda, and the endless love of my Grand’mere Marie of racial and gender dynamics in entertainment media on a Erla. This is dedicated to all of my foremothers and the much larger scale than ever possible before. black women freedom fighters, survivors, and thrivers that came before me. I focus on Twitter as a crucial platform that everyday people can use as a space of critique and resistance. I am sit- Mwen renmen nou tout. Mèsi pou beni’m ak tout zouti uating this article within the sphere of digital humanities, as yo mwen te bezwen p’oum vole ak klere. Mwen espere ke mwen it is a social media specific analysis of written perspectives on fè nou tout fyè. The Handmaid’s Tale series that have a 280-character limit. Utilizing Twitter as an archive, I identify recurring motifs, vocabulary, and patterns of expression that have circulated in posts in order to track the popular themes and major priorities of the social media conversations surrounding the 97 98 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 with the other are not merely limited to literal exchanges I wishtoaddthat saidsitesofexplorationand interactions by theencounter”(hooks24). I agreewithhooks,however, people tointeractwithinorder tobe“changedinsomeway their bodiesareregarded assites ofexploration for white (hooks 23).Inthisway, peopleofcolorareexoticizedand the world of ’innocence’ and enter the world of ’experience’ Other,” orpeopleofcolor, isawayforthemtoleavebehind hooks explainsthatforwhitepeopleinteractingwith“the allegorical fashionasunethicalandoffensive. actually seetheusageofenslavementinaforementioned demonstrates thatasignificantportionoftheshow’s viewers audience receptions tothe Hulu seriesviaTwitter, thispaper said, through theforwarding ofintersectionally conscious might potentially be seen as appropriate and poignant. That perspective, utilizingenslavementasanironicmetaphor devoid of free will” (Matthews 637). Therefore, from this purpose ofhumanlife,particularlyforwomeninaworld but believes that in spite of this, the book “examines the Atwood’s novel,“dealsexclusivelyinpresumedwhiteness” of experienceswithpatriarchy. bridges gapsbetweenwomenbyrecognizingcommonalities In theviewofmany, workslikeAtwood’s Handmaid’s more differentthatwearethesame”(Matthews637–638). explore whatmakesuswhoweareandtoquestionif stand, andempowerthe’other,’ asitstropesencourageusto tion oftheparallel(realworld)struggletorecognize,under reality-bending naturelendsitselfdirectlytotheinterpreta- Handmaid’s Tale,” Aisha Matthews argues that, “the genre’s of OctaviaButler’s Wild SeedandMargaretAtwood’s The Power of the Patriarchy: A Post-Modern Feminist Analysis site ofsubversion.Inherarticle“Gender, Ontology, andthe general understandingsofthespeculativefictiongenreasa society” (Matthews 654). This view of the book falls within that constitutethesocialproblemsexistingincontemporary a mimeticworkthatforegroundsthe“strikingsimilarities work aregroundedintheunderstandingofliteratureas series isbased,commonwaysofanalyzingMargaretAtwood’s Racialized BodiesandHistoriesasSitesofExploration Margaret Atwood’s TheHandmaid’s Tale A NoteontheOriginalSourceMaterial: a relevantcontributiontothefieldofacademia. demonstrates thesignificanceofsocialmediacommentaryas intersectional pitfallswithinHulu’s TheHandmaid’s Tale that research contributesisaTwitter drivenexaminationofthe show anditshandlingofgenderrace.Thus,whatmy In “EatingtheOther:DesireandResistance,”bell In heranalysis,Matthewsdoesacknowledgethat In termsofthe1985novelonwhichstreamed actually - about Hulu’s TheHandmaid’s Tale. the topicofracespecifically rather thanallconversations narrowed downtheresultsto conversationsthatfocuson Tale” in conjunctionwitha“raceconscious”phrasethat Each searchIconductedcontained thephrase“Handmaid’s specifically ratherthanallconversations abouttheshow. posts focusedonthehandlingofracewithinHuluseries terms thathaveappearedinonlineperiodicalsandblog Twitter forthreadsthatcontainednotableraciallyconscious historical appropriation.Inordertodoso,Isearchedon engage withTheHandmaid’s Tale series’handlingofraceand Twitter Analysis struggles withpatriarchy. ferences in the ways that they and white women experience historically experiencedhavefundamentallydefinedthedif- the multiplelayersofoppressionthatwomencolorhave argument because it completely misses thepoint. In reality, all toosimilartothefallacybehind“AllLivesMatter” on theunifyingpotentialofenslavementallegoryis tokenism ofwomencolorintheshowfavorfocusing sumed whiteness”ofthenovelandmarginalization conversation istotrulyincludethem.Acceptingthe“pre- race andgendercannotbetreatedasseparateissuesifthe women ofcolorwho,forages,havemadetheargumentthat ironically takespartinthesideliningof the perspectives of gender oppressionfacedbyallwomen,indoingso,thisview media asanappropriateandsalienttoolthatilluminates allegory inboththenovelandsubsequententertainment was transposedontothem. imagination tograspwhatitwouldbelikeifenslavement a cautionarynarrativeandaccess point forthewhitefemale Rather, what life would be like if women lost all of their rights. historical reality. Assuch,theshowisnotsimplyspeculating nantly white female cast in theshow is infactblack women’s the fictionaldystopianexperiencesurroundingpredomi- pia. The fundamental problem with this experiment is that would belikeforwhitewomenifAmericabecameadysto- sense functionsasathoughtexercisethatexploreswhatlife autonomy and freedom. full consequences of being stripped of bodily and sexual entry intoarealityinwhichwhitewomenexperiencethe onto moderndaywhitewomeninorderforviewerstohave projects thehistoricalexperiencesofenslavedblackwomen The Handmaid’s Tale isaprimeexampleofthis,astheseries histories ofoppressionthatbelongtothosebodies.Hulu’s with racializedbodiesandcaninfactextendtothespecific In myanalysisIidentifieddiscourseson Twitter that While itcouldbetemptingtoseetheenslavement The Handmaid’s Tale series more pointedly serves as The Handmaid’s Tale series in this Reimagining Black Women’s Herstory way of exploring what if all of the above “happened to west- ern white women?” (@beckyslayer 2018). The first race conscious phrase that I worked with was “black women.” When I searched for “Handmaid’s Tale Further, the very framework of The Handmaid’s Tale black women” nearly all results pointed towards the way the series as a vehicle to raise awareness about the past, present, series lacks intersectional nuance. @marinashutup whose or speculative future is therefore flawed as it is rooted in par- Tweet was written in a dialogue format stated, allels to American chattel slavery while largely ignoring the “the handmaid’s tale: what if slavery happened to fact that modern American reproductive politics are inextri- women cable from historical race politics (Roberts 9). In her book black women: ok well here’s the thing— Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, Dorothy Roberts explains that from the start of handmaid’s tale: what is [sic] slavery happened to African women being enslaved and trafficked to America WHITE women” there was a “brutal denial of autonomy over reproduction” —@marinashutup 2018 (Roberts 24). To viewers with an intersectional point of view The author’s use of the dialogue format skillfully allowed for the show’s “reimagining” of enslavement whitewashes and the illumination of both the ahistoricism within the show obscures the realities of not only the past, but also the pres- and the show creators’ decisions to ignore the outcries from ent, and any realistic future by minimizing the role that race those who would choose to point out such a misstep. To plays in the lived experiences of gender based oppression as demonstrate how much this resonated with other Twitter faced by women of color as opposed to white women. users, one only needs to look at the 254 retweets and 1,340 Despite being a show centered around the issues of likes that this brief post garnered. gender based violence, it does not make much of an effort to Furthermore, the conversation that this Tweet ini- acknowledge how the essentialist mythology of racial infe- tiated spurred comments predominantly about the unre- riority, the legal regulation of enslaved women’s offspring, alistically colorblind and post-racial ideology of the series. and the economically profitable nature of enslaved women’s Some commenters believed that Margaret Atwood’s original procreation, etc. were all foundational to the way in which novel, which the show was based on, while problematic, modern reproductive politics have been constructed. Thus, made more sense than the series in this regard, as the latter without the explicit recognition of the historical abuses of includes diversity at the surface level but does not mean- black women’s reproductive and bodily autonomy, any dis- ingfully engage with the real world implications of markers cussion about reproductive politics lacks depth which is why of difference on the characters. In response to the original so many viewers take issue with the show’s premise. poster, @in_media_ras makes this point very clear when they replied to @marinashutup’s Tweet with, “It made so much A White Harriet Tubman? more sense in the book bc they were concerned about the decline of white children. I think the show wanted to add In the “Handmaid’s Tale harriet tubman” search there diversity but I don’t think it executes it well” (@in_media_ are plenty of threads with Tweets that point out the ways ras 2018). in which many viewers believe that Harriet Tubman was co-opted by the show. One user stated, “Handmaid’s Tale is @in_media_ras’ Tweet hints at the series’ glaring accurate if Harriet Tubman was blond” (@hypeman 2019). lack of an adequate intersectional race conscious framework This Tweet references the main character Offred/June within the show. This issue is further exemplified in Tweets played by the blond Elizabeth Moss who, in the final epi- by @beckyslayer that evoke black women’s herstory to make sodes of the second season, tries to flee to Canada on Gilead’s the race issue within the show clear. @beckyslayer states, version of the Underground Railroad but at the last minute “The handmaid’s tale is hardly ’dystopian.’ They literally decides to stay behind after giving her baby to another flee- just reimagined institutional slavery and the experiences ing handmaid. Instead of escaping bondage, June turns back of enslaved black women to apply to ’all women’ (mostly to join the resistance movement despite knowing that this white women) hence all of the references to ‘going north’ to would likely result in her re-enslavement. In response to the Canada to escape totalitarianism” (@beckyslayer 2018). @ episodes in which Moss’ character returns to join the resis- beckyslayer’s analysis is powerful in that it clearly identifies tance movement, Twitter user @jatovia expressed frustration elements within the show that echo the days of enslavement, at what she saw as an example of the show’s reimagining and which is ironic considering the predominantly white female theft of an iconic black woman’s herstory when she stated protagonists of the series. Later in this particular thread, that, “the handmaid’s tale is white women’s harriet tubman they say that the “reimagining” within the series is really a resistance fantasy complete with the double barrel shottie, only the protagonist lacks the fortitude to actually pull the 99 100 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 combined phrases of“Handmaid’s Tale appropriation.” homage totheirorigins.So,for thisnextsearchIusedthe ment oftheirsignificanceand oftentimeswithoutpaying the cultures of peoples of color without any acknowledge- been usedtodescribewhenwhite peopletakeelementsof charged isappropriation,sinceinrecentyearsithaslargely many umbrellas. One such term that has become racially it becomesclearthatthisconversationcanbefoundunder race, butstillincludephrasesthathavebecomeracialized, one examinesthesearchesthatdonotspecificallymention Is NothingSacred?TheAppropriationofTrauma andPain and insensitivetoviewerswithanintersectionalawareness. unfortunately results in theallegory being received as sloppy in the Africanist presence and simultaneously colorblind the show’s creationofafictionalsystemthatisbothsteeped reproductive rightsbecomeextremist.Ironicallythough, America intheeventthatongoingattacksonwomen’s an allegory to address the potentially “dystopian” future of enslavement, anissueinexplicablylinkedtoblackness,as the AfricanistpresencemostnotablyinitsuseofAmerican a perfectexampleofthis.TheHuluseriesdemonstrates tainment mediaaswellandHulu’s TheHandmaid’s Tale is of theAfricanistpresencecanbeappliedtoAmericanenter originally inreferencetoAmericanliterature,theconcept requires hardworknottoseethis”(Morrison 17). Although longing, ofterror, ofperplexity, ofshame,magnanimity. It in thewriterlyconscious.Itisanastonishingrevelationof a powerfulexplorationofthefearsanddesiresthatreside persona is reflexive; an extraordinary meditation on the self; text. Morrisonstatesthat,“ThefabricationofanAfricanist regardless of if a black individual is or is not the focus of a with it,loomsoverandimpactsthereceptionofanarrative which thespectreof“blackness,”andallthatisassociated tially aninescapablephenomenoninAmericanliterature Imagination . TheAfricanistpresenceisessen- the Literary (Morrison 5)inherbook,PlayingtheDark:Whitenessand to whatToni Morrisoncalledthe,“Africanistpresence” than erasesitcompletely. Theexplanationforthisisrelated makes raceamorepronouncedfeatureoftheshowrather of race on experiences of gendered oppression ironically as asymptomoftheseries’widerissuewithrace. tie” andusessarcasticwittoidentifythisparticularproblem the show’s mainprotagonistsuchasthe“doublebarrelshot- out theuncannysimilaritiesbetweenHarrietTubman and 2018). @jatovia’s Tweet is particularly impactful in pointing to saytheleast.Iguessit’s masterfullyshottho”(@jatovia trigger. the racepoliticsof the showare TROUBLING Moreover, theconversationdoes notendthere.If Hulu’s Handmaid’s attempts atminimizingtheimpact - Atwood toKim Kardashian,awhitecelebrity who hasbeen ences beingappropriated. Theythensardonically compare the bookandshowasexamples ofblackwomen’s experi- In doing so, the individual puts forth their perspective of material whichlaterspawnedthe creationoftheHuluseries. boston puts a spotlight on Margaret Atwood’s original source Kim K”(@josephlboston2017). InthisTweet @josephl appropriation ofBW’s experiences.Atwoodistheliterary ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ initsliterary&visualrenderingisadirect Handmaid’s Tale universeisaTweet thatsays,“Atwood’s was usedtoaddresstheintersectionalissueswithinThe ment oftheintersectionalityignorantmetaphor. this issueintothe21stcenturybyprolongingemploy- @LizWFab pointed out, finds itself bringing the legacy of (White 15). Unfortunately, bondage, fortheywereliterallyownedbysomeoneelse” ‘privilege,’ enjoyedbywhitefeminists,oftheorizingabout constraints. Mostwereslaves,andassuchdeniedthe antebellum blackwomen with patriarchy. AsDeborahGrayWhiteoncestated,“For historical useofslaveryasametaphorfortheirexperiences from new, however, andcanfinditsrootsinwhitewomen’s that peoplelike@LizWFab are making. Thisissue isfar attacks onwomen’s rightsarecompletelymissingthepoint the foundationofacautionaryallegoryaboutpresent en’s experiencesandcommenditforusingthosestoriesas as merelybeing“inspired”byJacobs’andotherblackwom- adaptation. the creationofJune’s storylineinboththenovelandHulu Jacobs’ autobiography as the text was clearly foundational to is thereforenotatallrandomthat@LizWFabreferenced can be heard in the storylines of the fictional handmaids. It enslaved blackwomenandtheechoesofthesewomen’s lives of one’s childrenwerepracticallyinescapablerealitiesfor with theeverpresentthreatofrapeandinevitabletheft tions peculiarlytheirown”(Jacobs119).Havingtocontend to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifica- terrible forwomen.Superaddedtotheburdencommon been before.Slaveryisterribleformen;butitfarmore born babewasagirl,myheartheavierthanithadever book suchaswhenshewrote,“Whentheytoldmemynew- pain ofthislivedexperienceisevidentthroughoutJacobs’ women widelyhadtofaceunderenslavement.Thevisceral gles withsexualexploitationandmotherhoodthatblack biography ofHarrietAnnJacobs which laidbarethestrug- drop*” (@LizWFab 2019). This Tweet referenced the auto- “ experiences. Forinstance,oneTweet by@LizWFabsaid, to appropriationasitrelatesenslavedblackwomen’s Handmaid’s Tale isIncidentsintheLifeofSlaveGirl.*mic Another instanceinwhichthewordappropriation That beingsaid,thosewhoseeTheHandmaid’s Tale In some Tweets there are many explicit references . . The Handmaid’s Tale series, as . sexismwas but oneofthree
widely regarded as a serial appropriator of the black female @in_media_ras. “It made so much more sense in the book bc they aesthetic, demonstrating just how vast and multi-faceted this were concerned about the decline of white children. I think issue truly is. the show wanted to add diversity but I don’t think it executes it well.” Twitter, 25, May. 2018, 4:23 a.m., https://twitter.com/ in_medias_ras/status/999928998984433664 Conclusion @jatovia. “the handmaid’s tale is white women’s harriet tubman The one thing that is absolutely clear regarding the resistance fantasy complete with the double barrel shottie, only Twitter discourse surrounding The Handmaid’s Tale series the protagonist lacks the fortitude to actually pull the trigger. is that many viewers are frustrated with its mishandling of the race politics of the show are TROUBLING to say the least. intersectionality. For some, their frustration takes the form i guess it’s masterfully shot tho.” Twitter, 2, Jul. 2018, 3:19 p.m., of acerbic humor chock filled with references to popular https://twitter.com/jatovia/status/1013864851800764419 culture and for others it comes across as unfiltered anger. Nonetheless, the one fundamental commonality among @josephlbolton. “Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale in its literary&visual rendering is a direct appropriation of BW’s experiences. Atwood all of these individuals is that they use Twitter as a major is the literary Kim K.” Twitter, 28, Jul. 2018, 2:08 a.m., https:// platform to share their critiques on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s twitter.com/josephlboston/status/890816263999508480 Tale. These social media commentators have brought to focus the exploitation of black women’s narratives as per- @LizWFab. “N.A. Pierce on white artists including PoC charac- petuated by the ongoing usage of the “slavery metaphor” ters ‘It’s not an aesthetic. It’s appropriation.’ Also: Handmaid’s which lives on in entertainment media spaces such as Hulu’s Tale is Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. *mic drop*.” Twitter, The Handmaid’s Tale. Thus, at the root of it all, these Tweets 18, Apr. 2019, 12:58 p.m., https://twitter.com/LizWFab/ are from viewers who are collectively using Twitter as a status/1118921756050436096 platform to push for meaningful inclusive change by raising @marinashutup. “the handmaid’s tale: what if slavery happened awareness regarding persistent racial issues that have been to women black women: ok well here’s the thing—handmaid’s routinely ignored in entertainment media. tale: what is slavery happened to WHITE women.” Twitter, 18, May. 2018, 8:07 p.m., https://twitter.com/marinashutup/ Coda status/997629771579248640
On a personal note, I started off as an average viewer Secondary Sources of Handmaid’s. I had seen advertisements for the show on the NYC subway and heard it was supposed to be “subver- hooks, bell. “Eating the Other.” Black Looks: Race and Representation, South End Press, 1992, pp. 21–27. sive” and “radically feminist” so I dragged my mom through the series with me. I thought she would be interested in its Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Thayer & unapologetic pro-women stance, however, I could not have Eldridge, 1861, p. 119. been more wrong as evidenced by her persistent and inex- plicably bored reaction to the show. Then one day in our LeSavage, Halie. “Kylie Jenner Threw a ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Birthday kitchen as I grilled my mother on why she did not like the Party, and People Are Pissed.” Glamour, Condé Nast, 9 June series and no longer wanted to watch it with me, her honest 2019. response shook me. She said simply, “They stole our story, Matthews, Aisha. “Gender, Ontology, and the Power of the and they gave it to a white woman.” Patriarchy: A Post-Modern Feminist Analysis of Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.” Works Cited Women’s Studies, vol. 7, no. 6, 2018, pp. 637–654.
Primary Sources (Tweets) Morrison, Toni. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. Vintage, 1993, pp. 5–17. @beckyslayer. “The handmaid’s tale is hardly ‘dystopian.’ They literally just reimagined institutional slavery and the experiences Roberts, Dorothy E. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and of enslaved black women to apply ‘all women’ (mostly white the Meaning of Liberty. Vintage Books, 2017, pp. 9–24. women) hence all of the references to ‘going north’ to Canada White, Deborah Gray. Ar’n’t I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the to escape totalitarianism.” Twitter, 19, Aug. 2018, 3:40 p.m., Plantation South. W.W. Norton & Company, 1999, p. 15. https://twitter.com/beckyslayer/status/1031264602208837639
@hypeman. “Handmaid’s Tale is accurate if Harriet Tubman was blond and Canada was 3 Deadwoods.” Twitter, 7, June. 2019, 2:41 a.m., https://twitter.com/hypeman/ status/1136885871393660929 101 102 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 to implementUnited Nationspoliciesforguest workers, Oman. Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, theUnitedArabEmirates,and als compriseover50%oftheworkforceinSaudiArabia, million migrantworkersintheregionandforeignnation- Persian Gulfsincethe1950s.Today therearenearly23 and friends. and encouragement.Iamalsogratefultomysisters,parents, Professor Thompson’s thoughtfuladvice,andSusan’s edits guidance. IamthankfulforProfessorEstrada’s support, would nothavebeenpossiblewithoutProfessorKamal’s sonal livesandrelationships. power, ambitions for economicgrowth,andmigrants’per face byexploringthecomplexconnectionsbetweenGulf opens newconversationsabouttheissuesmigrantworkers host countries beyond their occupations. The paper thus they areagentiveactorsandhaverolesidentitiesintheir ing thatdespitethesystematicoppressionsintheirlives, contemporary portrayalsofmigrantworkers,acknowledg- labor. Atthesametime,Unnikrishnan’s novelcomplicates workers’ bycenteringmigrants’timeandbodiesaround veillance. Thissurveillancestrivestomake‘idealmigrant low-skilled migrantworkersareconstantlyunderGulfsur argues that in states like the United Arab Emirates, poorer, porary migrantworkerexperiences in the Persian Gulf. It Temporary People,acollectionofshortstoriesaboutcontem- (Egypt, Ethiopia,Uganda). tries inAsia(Nepal,India,thePhilippines)andEastAfrica Introduction Acknowledgements Abstract migrant justice. plans topursueacareer attheintersectionofeducationand working attheNYCMayor’s OfficeofImmigrantAffairsand Studies andFrench Language&Literature. Sheiscurrently City CollegeofNewYork where shemajored inMiddleEastern Abir isarecent graduateofMacaulayHonorsCollegeatthe Abir Petiwala,CityCollegeofNewYork Fiction Labor andSurveillancein21stCenturyPersianGulf and unmonitored Gulfcompanies, kafala in thesestatesareripeforabuse. Throughtheexploitative workers increases.Unfortunately, themigrantlaborsystems big businessesandoil production, the demand for migrant invest inmega-projectsandgain internationalcapitalfrom Migrant workershavetrickledinandoutofthe This paper, andmuchofmyundergraduatecareer, This paperanalyzesDeepak Unnikrishnan’s migration system, workers’employmentin private 1 MostofthemoriginatefromGlobalSouthcoun- 2 AsGulfstatescontinueto 3 andGulfstates’ refusal - - 4
der spectral.” homes thatconditionsoftemporarinessdismemberandren- figurative shapeto[migrants’]pasts,bodies,tongues,and reviewer AmitR.Baishyaexplains,provides“narrativeand The workreceivedglobalacclaim especially becauseit,as ries andpoemsaboutSouthAsianmigrantsintheGulf. Temporary People(RestlessBooks,2017),acollectionofsto- be ignored. less instancesofabusepoorer, low-skilledworkerscannot positive experiencesandemployerrelationships,thecount- is thesame,andthereareundoubtedlysomewhohavehad sequences. Althoughnosingularmigrantorjourney it easyforemployerstomistreatthemwithoutanylegalcon- within theirhostcountriesintheGulf.Thesepracticesmake migrant laborers are constantly denied autonomy and rights resentations of these particularmigrantexperiences allow social and political change. Finally, examining literary rep- as welltheirdepthindividuals andasactorsaffecting the many roles migrant workers play in their host countries, literature wecanalsoreachmore nuancedunderstandingsof urban growth within the Gulf. At the same time, through tangible impactsofexpectationsforendlesseconomicand remains scarce. By examining this fiction, we can see the been growinginnumber, literaryscholarshipontheseworks addressing themigrantexperienceinGulfhaverecently deeply personal level. Unfortunately, while literary works resentations andtheeffectsoflabordemandsonadaily upon their works by examining literature to investigate rep- tial andpoliticalrightsinGulfcities.Thispaperbuilds have exploredhowmigrantworkersareexcludedfromspa- Ahmed Kanna,Michelle Buckley, and Yasser AlElsheshtawy not atall. and shouldthusonlyexistorbeseeniftheyareworking, ers aresimplytoolstoachieveurbanandeconomicgrowth, cated, forGulfcompaniesandgovernments,migrantwork- with needsandidentitiestoonly migrants arediminishedfrombeingcomplexindividuals from the state. This dystopic scenario further reveals how who canworkceaselesslyandnotrequirefurtherresources and bodies— tries— As theauthorimaginesinseveralnarratives,Gulfcoun- migrants aredehumanizedandobjectifiedwithintheregion. tions ofGulfcitiesandthemigrantbodytocritiquehow el-Bisatie’s of SaudAlsanousi’s TheBambooStalk(2013)andMohamed group ofGulffictionaboutmigrants,addingtothelikes In thisarticle,IexamineDeepakUnnikrishnan’s Notably, urban scholars and anthropologists such as In his work, Unnikrishnan uses metaphorical descrip- through intimate configurations of migrants’ time (2010). Drumbeat 5 strive to produce the‘idealmigrantworker’ Unnikrishnan’s workisalsopartofagrowing being workers.Asisindi- us to imagine and advocate for changes to prevent undue after their respective buildings are made.”11 The following migrant labor exploitation in the Persian Gulf. lines describe the laborers’ responsibilities, from brick-lay- ing to cleaning glass. Once these tasks are completed, we Context learn that “the laborers, every single one of them, begin to fade, before disappearing completely,” while some become Modern Gulf labor migration began in the 1930s, ghosts “haunting the facades they helped build.”12 Their when the British began importing foreign workers from disappearance and invisibility ironically contradict the South Asia and the United Kingdom into the region to poem’s title, “Limbs,” a synecdoche indicating what about serve as colonial administrators. Migrants were prevented the laborer is considered important. It is only the migrant’s from integrating within their new communities, so that they limbs, the functional body part that can build and work, that could be “used a source of discipline and control” for the has permanency by being visible to the readers of the poem. colonial apparatus, a model that would re-emerge in the As soon as the building is completed, the migrant loses present.6 After World War II, oil became the most import- importance and essentially no longer exists. ant global commodity at the same time as the discovery of massive reservoirs of oil in the Gulf. The region was forever Later, in the short story “Birds,” the narrator contin- transformed. ues using the trope of the migrant body to explore the vio- lence faced by workers in Gulf States. The protagonist Anna By the early 1970s, colonial independence and Varghese, a South Indian nurse, works to “tape” migrant immense wealth accumulation allowed Gulf Royal Families workers who fall down while constructing towering edifices to become the political rulers of their respective states. in Gulf city centers.13 Specifically, Anna’s job is to find these They created modernization plans based on the elite’s global fallen men and “put them back together with duct tape or economic ambitions, but that did not heed the capacities or some good glue, or if stitches were required, [patch] them needs of local Arab labor.7 The regional workforce also had a up with a needle and horse hair.”14 The narrator’s descrip- history of engaging in labor resistance and nationalist move- tions of these grotesque bodily traumas and their treatments ments. It was thus imperative to hire foreign workers who underscore that the migrant is dehumanized, such that his would not become long-term residents, but would instead body is treated like a pliable toy or an animal. As the narra- work as long as needed and not claim political, social, or tor reveals in a stoic tone, even “pedestrians mostly ignored economic rights. Hiring foreign workers therefore allowed those who fell outside the construction site, walking around Gulf rulers to consolidate their power over the economy and them, some pointing or staring,” indicating that this vio- oil production and exclude citizens from it, thus reinforcing lence is a common, normalized occurrence.15 In addition, their political and economic authority.8 this civilian indifference to migrant suffering indicates that they tacitly support the hierarchical order in which Gulf Since then, Gulf employers have deliberately hired businesses remain in powerful control of foreign workers. migrants from regions with high levels of poverty such as South Asia. In the kafala system, workers can only be Anna is good at her job, instinctually finding every employed when sponsored by a citizen or company, but this remain of the fallen laborers, “including teeth, bits of skin,” prevents workers from controlling their employment.9 In so the narrator suggests that she is “part-bloodhound.”16 addition, with increasing populations of foreign labor, states The narrator once again weaves the animal with the human, offer education, healthcare, and employment benefits only dehumanizing the migrant characters and their bodies. to citizens, ensuring that they remain loyal to the autocratic Comparing Anna to a “bloodhound” also suggests that she economic and political structures of the state. Ultimately, is ruthless and bloodthirsty. However, the narrator later the status quo in the Gulf has made foreign labor “an essen- describes her maternal care for workers, “gently touching” tial element of society” while also ensuring that native pop- their faces and “stroking their hair or chin” while repairing ulations remain in power.10 However, as Temporary People their bodies.17 The contradiction between these two aspects reveals, these aims are not only supported by legal and social of Anna ultimately reveals how, despite her docile nature structures, but also by rendering migrants controllable by and being a migrant worker herself, she unwittingly acts authorities. as an intermediary between Gulf construction companies and their laborers. She safeguards these companies’ control Body of Work: Labor Demands, the Migrant Worker’s Body, over the migrant body at work sites, ensuring that it stays and Resistance effective while working. In doing so, Anna perpetuates Gulf companies’, civilians’, and governments’ cycles of violence Temporary People begins with a poem about migrant against migrant workers. workers’ labor. “There exists this city built by labor, mostly men,” the third-person poetic voice says, “who disappear 103 104 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 the economyricher. Thentoleave.After.” its pieces,theretomakebuildingsbigger, streetslonger, the narratorremarks,“Thecitywasaboardgameandlabor injured ordie. workers’ bodiesanddetermineif only laborers’workhoursandduties,buttheypermeateinto die there.” workers died at work sites; it was as though labor could not investment. In“Birds”thenarratorresignedlystates,“Few companies canguaranteethelongevityandsuccessoftheir conditions andworkingtimeweakenthemigrantbody, Gulf that themigrantcankeepworking.Inthisway, eveniflabor stitched, orgluedbacktogether countless times to ensure gain. Thus,bodiesin“Birds”aredismemberedandtaped, must be maintained and used well to ensure further capital for Gulfgovernmentsandcompanies,acommoditythat such, theimmigrantbodyitselfbecomesaninvestment Gulf citiesarefundamentallybuiltbymigrantlaborers.As in ordertofulfilltheirworkduties. must besopliablethattheycan‘fixed’byGulfauthorities In this“state-producedneoliberal”Dubai,migrantbodies laborer aresupersededintheinterestsofprotectingcapital. sibilities attached to humanely treating and protecting the body, andhisworkallbecometheinvestments, respon- are nolongerprofitable.Ultimately, whenthelaborer, his the investmentsmadeinemployingandmovingthatlaborer lem augmentswhenthelaborerisinjuredordies,suchthat beyond whatanormallaborer’s bodycanhandle.Theprob- return tohishomecountrywhennolongerneeded— on thelaborer— growth and capital gain is that the Herculean demands because heisonlynecessarywhenlaboring. manding sentencestoindicatethatthemigrantmustleave, plex sentence to describe labor demands, and short, com sentences alsosignifiesthecycleofamigrant:long,com- economic and geographic growth. The structure of these it becomesanobjectofamusement,ameansambitious transcends itsbasicmeaningashomeorresidence.Instead, migrants areagainreifiedaspassiveobjects,thecityalso four” inordertoachieveitsambitious developmentplans. try would have to multiply its workforce by a factor of in the 1980s, the Dubai government realized that “the coun- short story, “InMussafahGrewPeople.” izer.” “prototypes” were grown in “petri dishes” and with “fertil - up. Experimentsconducted,results noted”andlaborbody As aresult,thenarratorexplains, “Laboratorieswereset 22 When describingthegrowthofcityin“Birds,” As the narrator suggests in the earlier story “Limbs,” However, the problem that threatens this urban A solutiontothislaborpredicamentcomesinthe Ultimately, thesultanatebegantoregularly “grow 18 Itisasifthecompanies’policiesregulatenot to workinrigorousconditions,andthen and 20
when It describeshow, laborers couldbe 19 Here,while are 21 -
greenhouses.” [workers] onsecretfarmscocoonedinsideindustrialsize despite thegrowing limitationsofneoliberaland autocratic Class Struggle in theAutocraticCity,” shecontends that In “LocatingNeoliberalismin Dubai: MigrantWorkers and is alsodiscussedinurbanscholar MichelleBuckley’s work. resist therestrictionsofGulflabor control.Thispossibility remain justworkers,butbecomeindividualswho actively their unconventionalcreation, these migrantworkersdonot strike inacountrywheredissentisnottolerated.”Despite going tobethetalleststructureinworld,andwenton lab-produced workers“tooktothestreetnearwhatwas ethical concerns(asonewouldimagine),butbecausethe labor projectisultimatelysuspended.Itnotinterruptedby for thedisciplinesystemsFoucaultdiscusses. cipline without complaint, and are accordingly predisposed bodies conducivetomeetingthedemandsoflaboranddis- force envisionedinUnnikrishnan’s workiscomprisedof was nolongerneeded.” in thedesert,seamlesslyleavingstatewhentheirservice short lifespanoftwelveyears,afterwhichtheywoulddie inating any problem of cultural assimilation— fect Arabic and had foreknowledgeofArabic culture— narrator addsthatthis‘perfect’workforcealsospeaks“per have tobeimportedandcouldnevertire,injure,ordie.The ludicrousness ofgrowinghumans. all highlightthelackofempathyformigrantsaswell geratedly shortsentences,andthenarrator’s sardonictone and notofrationalmechanics.” than imbuedwithanimalspirits,’abodyofusefultraining the bodyof‘exercise’and‘manipulatedbyauthority, rather their internalconditions,constituentelements to specifiedoperations,whichhavetheirorder, theirstages, surveillance. Foucaultwritesthatthisbodyis“susceptible susceptible tolaborandmodesofmoderndiscipline,like the embodimentofFoucault’s “docilebody,” onethat is unnatural. Themanufacturedlaborercanalsobeconsidered scores thatdemandsonrealmigrantlaborersarewholly between thenaturalandmanufacturedbodyunder they areotherwiseworthless. words, migrantworkersshouldonlyexisttowork,because existence— rent disregardformigrantautonomy— exaggerated story, “InMussafahGrewPeople”exposescur any community, individuality, orresources. Although an worker.’ ForGulfemployers,thisworkerdoesnotdemand and productive,thusbecomingwhatIcallthe‘idealmigrant body, ahuman’s lifeisshortenedtoonlywhenheyoung However, asthe storycontinues,readerslearnthatthe In thestory, Dubaimanufactureslaborersthatdonot Furthermore, thenarrator’s emphasisonthecontrast in favorofGulfeconomicoptimization.Inother 23 Thescientificandempirical language,exag- 24 Inthiseerieretoolingoftimeand 25 Themigrantlaborwork- and thevalueoftheir
and had a . . elim- . Itis - - - cities like Dubai, workers continue to respond to unfair residents must look beyond the “worker” and recognize treatment through protests and strikes.26 Relatedly, in these migrants as individuals with rights. Migrant workers Unnikrishnan’s story “Le Musée,” these laborers wage vio- cannot be hidden away in work sites and expelled once their lent war against Emirati citizens. They also have established work is completed; Gulf citizens and governments have a functioning, advanced community in the middle of the social and moral responsibilities to care for them. It is upon desert, a new space based on their needs. us as informed readers to hold these Gulf powers account- able for their actions and ensure migrant workers obtain During the war, the leader of the rebels, the their rights to live and work in humane conditions. Commander, begins abducting Emiratis.27 The Commander forces the abductees into a living exhibition which he calls Endnotes the Display, where they are given homes, produce, and live- 1 “Labour Migration,” International Labour Organization, accessed May stock, but are not afforded privacy and are forbidden from 23, 2019, https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/labour-migration/ leaving or contacting others.28 He compares them to “living lang—en/index.htm. In some states, like the UAE and Qatar, migrant war trophies,” conveying that they are just like show pieces workers also comprise over 80% of the population. or dolls.29 Ultimately, the abducted Emiratis are inclined to 2 Ibid. 3 Mohammed Dito, “Kafala: Foundations of Migrant Exclusion in GCC the will of the migrant rebels, who manipulate their rela- Labour Markets,” in Transit States: Labour, Migration and Citizenship in tionships, bodies, and households, such that even “parents the Gulf, ed. Abdulhadi Khalaf, Omar AlShehabi, Adam Hanieh (Pluto and siblings never saw each other again.”30 The narrator Press, 2015), 79–80. indicates that it is as if the abducted are “behind bars” but 4 Omar AlShehabi, “Histories of Migration to the Gulf,” in Transit States: Labour, Migration and Citizenship in the Gulf, ed. Abdulhadi Khalaf, Omar also in “open court,” a contradiction that shows how the AlShehabi, Adam Hanieh (Pluto Press, 2015), 30. Emiratis are now objectified and lose autonomy, and con- 5 Amit Baishya, review of Temporary People, by Deepak Unnikrishnan, trolling them becomes entertainment.31 In this dystopia, World Literature Today, Vol. 91, No. 2 (March/April 2017), pp. 68–69. the Commander creates a distinct temporality and space in 6 Omar AlShehabi, “Histories of Migration to the Gulf,” in Transit States: Labour, Migration and Citizenship in the Gulf, ed. Abdulhadi Khalaf, Omar which migrants invert the control of time, body, and visibil- AlShehabi, Adam Hanieh, (Pluto Press, 2015), 3–38. ity that was previously exercised on them. 7 Ibid., 14. 8 Ibid. Although the migrant rebellion ultimately fails, 9 Mohammed Dito, “Kafala: Foundations of Migrant Exclusion,” 96–101. the aggressive take-over envisioned within the story lays 10 Ibid., 20. bare the actual hostilities shown to migrant workers in the 11 Deepak Unnikrishnan, Temporary People (Restless Books, 2017), 4. Persian Gulf. As Temporary People shows, Gulf authorities 12 Ibid. do not see the migrant worker as an individual with agency, 13 Ibid., 9. but only as a conduit to fulfill ambitious urban and market 14 Ibid. growth. 15 Ibid., 11. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid., 12. Conclusion 18 Ibid., 9. Although the stories in Temporary People follow imag- 19 Ibid., 19. 20 Ahmed Kanna, Dubai, the City as Corporation (University of Minnesota ined lives, they are rooted in real issues facing migrant work- Press, 2011), 36. ers in the Persian Gulf. This work shows that the migrant is 21 Deepak Unnikrishnan, Temporary People, 49. constantly subject to Gulf authorities’ control of its activities 22 Ibid., 50. and relationships. The migrant body is an object to be con- 23 Ibid., 49. trolled, to contort in countless ways to work without injury 24 Ibid., 51. or death, and then rendered irrelevant when its tasks are 25 Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan fulfilled. It is as if Unnikrishnan asks: how much more can Sheridan (Vintage Books, May 1995), 155. 26 Michelle Buckley, “Locating Neoliberalism in Dubai: Migrant Workers we expect from the migrant body? and Class Struggle in the Autocratic City.” 27 Deepak Unnikrishnan, Temporary People, 74. Within the other stories in Temporary People, although 28 Ibid., 62. migrants are intended by Gulf bosses to only be workers, 29 Ibid. they are also depicted as individuals with complex identities, 30 Ibid., 72. desires, and roles. We see a testament to the importance of 31 Ibid. this portrayal today, as the global reach of COVID-19 has left many Gulf migrant workers stranded, jobless, and at risk for contracting the disease. In this way, the virus has aggres- sively shown that Gulf authorities, citizens, and privileged 105 106 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Unnikrishnan, Deepak.Temporary People.RestlessBooks,2017. “Labour Migration.”InternationalLabourOrganization.Accessed Kanna, Ahmed.Dubai,theCityasCorporation.Universityof Foucault, Michel.DisciplineandPunish:TheBirthofthePrison. Dito, Mohammed.“Kafala:FoundationsofMigrantExclusion Buckley, Michelle.“LocatingNeoliberalisminDubai:Migrant Baishya, Amit.“ReviewofTemporary People,byDeepak AlShehabi, Omar. “HistoriesofMigrationtotheGulf.”InTransit Works Cited labour-migration/lang—en/index.htm. May 23,2019.https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/ Minnesota Press,2011. Translated byAlanSheridan.New York: Vintage Books,1995. AlShehabi, AdamHanieh,79–100.PlutoPress,2015. and CitizenshipintheGulf,editedbyAbdulhadiKhalaf,Omar in GCCLabourMarkets.”InTransit States:Labour, Migration 45, no.2(2013):256. Workers andClassStruggleintheAutocraticCity,” Antipode April 2017):pp.68–69. Unnikrishnan.” Press, 2015. Abdulhadi Khalaf,OmarAlShehabi,AdamHanieh,3–38.Pluto States: Labour, MigrationandCitizenshipintheGulf,editedby World Literature Today, Vol. 91,No.2(March/ Creating India: Exploring Colonized Histories and Mythologized Realities in Megasthenes’s Indica Aditi Rao, Barnard College
Aditi Rao is a student of Classics and aspiring intellectual histo- empires successive of Macedonian rule, became the first pro- rian working with materials primarily in Greek and Sanskrit. ductions of knowledge gesturing towards global history. In Aditi’s research handles historiographical interactions between 302 BC one such text, entitled Indica, was written as product the Greeks and Indians during the Hellenestic Period, reading of a peace treaty between the warring Seleucid and Mauryan these texts with methods from post-colonial studies and critical Empires, which resulted in a diplomat, Megasthenes, being 2 race theory. Other scholarly interests of hers include the teaching sent to the court of Chandragupta Maurya in Pāt.aliputra. of Classics in the subaltern world, epistemicide, and very broadly, This paper will broadly consider the valences and imagery the modern liberal arts institution itself. She intends to pursue a in the historiography of Megasthenes’s Indica, specifically PhD in the interdisciplinary ancient world upon her graduation. those pertaining to Dionysus, and will analyze these features under the lens classical scholarship. Ultimately, the paper aims to (re)negotiate textual encounters between colonized Abstract and colonizer, and suggest, through one text, how Greco- Roman historiographical and commentarial traditions are The following paper is a critical reading of fundamental mechanisms of imperial power. Megasthenes’s Indica which is at once India’s oldest extant, and most referenced, history, geography, and ethnogra- Terminology phy, reproduced until the point of its absolute authority and ubiquity. Megasthenes’s source text requires further Throughout the course of this paper, the term “pro- critical engagement to place the work in the tradition of to-colonialism” will be formed, utilized, and challenged in produced knowledge on the Indian Subcontinent, and to the context of Megasthenes’s relationship with the Indian assess, using it as one model, the systems by which the subcontinent. Broadly put, proto-colonialism points to West defines the East. In viewing Megasthenes, who first a concerted effort by a political entity, and the members populates the Indian subcontinent for the western gaze, as a within, to occupy and assume control over another state, yet “proto-colonial” thinker, this essay will consider the histori- apart from that colonization which bloomed with European cal text as a space for colonial encounters, that is to say that expansion in the 15th century. Proto-colonialism allows the settlerism fundamental to colonial power will appear for the consideration of and engagement with discourse, instead in the ways a culture’s history is usurped and settled thought, and activity which exist within some paradigm of with certain imagined histories. It will also view Dionysus as colonialism and colonial approach, yet is distanced from the Megasthenes’s primary agent of settlement within the text formation of modern statehood, capitalism, and biologically and explore the ways in which the deity becomes a figure understood race. Specifically, the writing of Megasthenes of coloniality. When exploring the larger tradition of the will be placed in lineage with colonial rather than impe- West’s discursive historicizing of the East, Megasthenes’s rial thought on account of this paper’s attempt to examine Indica finds itself relevant to postcolonial discourse in the history as a tool of occupying imagined lands. While impe- modern discipline. rialism is rooted in expansion into new territories without necessitating settlerism, which is a foundational mode of colonial expansion, this paper will use the imagination of Acknowledgements India put forward by Megasthenes as the colonized space, I would like to thank every project of fragments and and the ideas, people, religions, and creatures whom he non-written history that have come before my own, This writes into the land as the settlers. In viewing the text as paper is dedicated to my ajji and tata and my ammama and an intermediary space which can be colonized, or aid in tata taught me the power and joy of imaginations, and my the imagined colonization of its examined subject, the term various language teachers who enabled me to turn my imag- proto-colonialism will serve to categorize the historicizing inations into scholarship. impulse within Indica . Proto-colonialism should also be distinguished from postcolonialism. While proto-colonialism marks out Introduction behaviors, literatures, and epistemes which exist within a The project of Hellenistic history found new import spectrum of colonial thought that predates European expan- in the post-Alexandrian world. As the Macedonian conqueror sion, postcolonialism is an established and cohesive field of traced his way across frontiers of Asia which had been largely academic study which creates theoretical frames through untouched by Greek exploration and military campaigns, he which the legacy of European expansion can be examined. engendered revived interest in projects of geography and Further, postcolonial frames which specifically apply to ethnography across the Hellenistic empires.1 These histor- South Asia fall under the umbrella of subaltern studies. The ical missions, often part of ambassadorial campaigns in the 107 108 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 pushes thesetropesinlinewithacolonialepisteme: narratives indescribinghowthelandcametobesettled,yet common historicandliterarytropesofcivilizingsavior city ornation.The“founding”ofIndiawithinIndicauses societies foundationmythsservedasetiologicalrecordsofa logical storieswithrealgeographies,acrossIndo-European of earlyhistory. Usuallycombiningreligiousandcosmo- campaign, forcing them to take shelter in the mountains. heat ofIndiawhichisabletoslowdownDionysusandhis line Megasthenes notes that it is only the disease-inducing structured and reliable defense. Indeed, inthefollowing his forcefulentry, itspeoplecouldnotputupany formof is established as originally weak and powerless, and despite army everypartofIndia,andentirelyresettleit,theland entrance ofDionysus.AsDionysusisabletoreachwithhis habitual practiceoflivingapartwasdisruptedbytheviolent tage. tualism, yetalsotoformsofancestralknowledgeandheri- Indians, linkinghisfoundationmythtoacultureofintellec- λογιώτατοι,” themostlearned οἱ himself, butrather“᾽Ινδοῖς Megasthenes establishesthespeakerofhisclaimnotas Settling FoundationMyths part throughtheapplicationofpostcolonialmethodologies. proto-colonial impulsewillbeshownmanifestinIndica before itspopulationwassettled: describes a foundation myth, one of Hellas in ancient times Peloponnesian War. BookOneofThePeloponnesianWar also tially mimicsanearlierworkofhistory, Thucydides’s The conquest onaccountofitsnon-urbanizedpopulace,par This discussionoftheland,vulnerableandsusceptibleto 3 ThetaledescribestheearliestdaysofIndiawhere The foundationmythisoneofthemostcentralfacets ὑπό τινων αἰεὶ πλειόνων. αἰεὶ τινων ὑπό καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἕκαστοι τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀπολείποντες βιαζόμενοι πρότερα τὰ οὖσαι τε μεταναστάσεις ἀλλὰ οἰκουμένη, πάλαιβεβαίως οὐ καλουμένη Ἑλλὰς νῦν ἡ γὰρ φαίνεται powerful enoughtoopposehim.(BNJ715,FIV.3) overran all India, since there was nota single city arrived fromwesternlandswithanotableforceand were stilllivingseparatelyinvillages,Dionysus They saythatintheearliesttimes,whenpeople ing whichitwouldbeappropriatetorelatebriefly. The most learned Indians tell alegend concern ἀντιτάξασθαι. δυναμένης [τῆς] πόλεως ἀξιολόγου οὐσης μηδεμιᾶς ἅπασαν, ᾽Ινδικὴν τὴν δὲ ἐπελθεῖν ἀξιόλογον, δύναμιν ἔχοντα τόπων ἑσπέραν πρὸς τῶν ἐκ Διόνυσον τὸν παραγενέσθαι οἰκούντων, κωμηδὸν ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἔτι αὐτοῖς παρ᾽ χρόνοις, ἀρχαιοτάτοις τοῖς ἐν γὰρ φασὶ διελθεῖν. συντόμως εἴη ἂν καθῆκον οὗ περὶ λογιώτατοι, οἱ ᾽Ινδοῖς τοῖς παρὰ δὲ μυθολογοῦσι - - 4
zation. redemption, India’s foundation is constructed upon coloni- Thus, while Hellas’s history is constructed upon a personal foundation, thepopulaceitselffixingerrorsoftheirpast. Thucydides leaves the Hellenes the agents in their own state ofthelandcanbedrawnbetweenHellasandIndia, not againtakeover. Whilesimilaritiesinthepre-structured systems ofstructure,sothataconquerorsuchashimcould it, andentirelyrearrangeittobringindividualstogetherin land, andwithallhisforcewisdom was abletoconquer “foundation” ofIndiaoccurredwhenDionysusenteredthe in structuredcities,provingthemeasilyconquered.The sess the good character or foresight to arrange themselves land, inhabitedoriginallybyindividualswhodidnotpos- The pastIndiagivenbyMegasthenesisafeebleandfallible the mechanismbywhichtheyalterorexemplifythispast. any cultureonaccountofthepastwhichtheyestablishand it isDionysuswhothevictorofIndia’s. origins, arethevictorsoftheirownfoundationmyth,while formations; thustheHellenes,equallyill-managedintheir and coalescesthepeopleintourbancentersstructured conqueror. Itisthisconquerorwhoeventuallyordersthecity means ofreactingtowar, theIndiansaresavedbyaforeign saves theland.WhileHellenessavethemselves,albeitby society positsasingularexternalfigurewhobothdisruptsand establishing the same sort of unstructured and uncivilized and seentobemanyinformtype,Megasthenes,while ors whounsettledthepopulaceofancientHellasareunnamed apart fromtheIndiansofMegasthenes.Whileconquer Megasthenes, presentstheHellenes as something entirely an authormostcertainlyreadbyahistorianofthelikes error oftheirpastunsteadyways.ThisiswhereThucydides, ing, theHellenesareabletosavetheirpopulationfrom take armsinwar, andtonavigatewarbymeansofsea-far and thesecond,navalpower. Byencouragingthemselvesto related introductions to their world, the first, the Trojan War realm ofinconsequentiality. nor accomplish anything of greatness, relegating them to the Thucydides notesthatthesepeopledidnotbuildlargecities is depictedthroughDionysus inIndica.Atalaterpoint Thucydides makingexplicitthedangerofconquestthat The similaritiesbetweenbothpassagesarestriking,with with colonialpower. Dionysus, theland’s owndevelopmentisintractably linked dation mythsandsettlinginstead thefoundationmythof savior could aid the land, and in usurping any localfoun- 6 Foundation myths derive their central importance to large powerofothers(I.2.1). easily leavingbehindtheirhomes,onaccountofthe rather beforethereweremigrations,some[tribes] Hellas inancienttimeshadnosteadypopulace,but For itisevidentthattheplacenowbeingcalled That is to say that only the presence of a foreign 5 The Hellenes are saved by two TheHellenesaresavedbytwo - - Settling Governance Structures rulership of his sons, there is sharp contrast to the populist driven, uncultured movement democracy is often linked to. Of equal consequence to the life of Dionysus are the consequences of his death. In a passage relating Dionysus’s When evaluating the civilizing project of Dionysus, death, and the reign of his children, Megasthenes gestures which starts with building cities and moves towards creat- away from archaic India towards his own present: ing common culture and ethic, the inclusion of democracy disrupts the Dionysian campaign. Indeed, his efforts are βασιλεύσαντα δὲ πάσης τῆς ᾽Ινδικῆς ἔτη δύο πρὸς thwarted for the first time in India by this political disrup- τοῖς πεντήκοντα γήραι τελευτῆσαι. διαδεξαμένους δὲ tion, but unlike the other features of the civilizing project τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἀεὶ τοῖς ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἀπολιπεῖν τὴν ἀρχήν· τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον πολλαῖς γενεαῖς viewed in this essay, here Megasthenes creates the space ὕστερον καταλυθείσης τῆς ἡγεμονίας δημοκρατη θῆναι for a Hellenistic audience to see themselves as inheritors of τὰς πόλεις. the tradition began by Dionysus. In settling Dionysus as an original monarch who, along with his sons, lorded over the After Dionysus ruled all of India for 52 years he land, the Indian kingdom of Dionysus becomes lodged in died as an old man. His sons succeeded to the a Hellenistic narrative of empires, as at the end of the day rule, always leaving the state to their descendants. Dionysus came in from the West and is essentially theirs. Eventually, many generations later, the rule was Thus, Megasthenes lends to the audience the mode of dis- dissolved, and the cities became democracies. (BNJ 715, F I.7) ruption— democracy— and gestures towards the notion that the ills of what happened to the empire could be solved by Megasthenes describes the tenure of the Dionysian king- the return of the Dionysian empire, or one in its lineage, ship, ruling for 52 years before dying, specifically from old which could be considered the Seleucids. Returning to the age, distancing the figure from the violence during his early foundation myths of Megasthenes, instructions for such a encounters in India. Further, upon his death his sons ruled recolonization are tendered: come in from the West and to following the same pattern of descent-based empire. Two overwhelm by force. That this was the losing tactic of the distinct temporalities are given, the first, the set range of Seleucids in their attempt to annex parts of the Mauryan Dionysus’s reign which is one of the few instances of exact empire seems no coincidence, and Megasthenes’s inclusion time given in Indica; the second, the range of Dionysus’s chil- of this narrative lends the suggestion that such conquest has dren’s rule from his death until the onset of democracy which happened once and can indeed happen again. is left undefined.7 In addition, two distinct methods of gov- ernance are purported, the first monarchal dynastic rule, by The lens of the instructional can be placed upon all which Dionysus’s children established kingdoms which their art and literature, but it is exceptionally apt when unpack- lineage would control; the second democratic which arises ing discursive historicizing acts which occur in the colonial without mention and results in the dissolution of the system narrative. Thus, what is history becomes imperial history, established by Dionysus. By and large, scholars of ancient imagined or not, still bearing the power inherent to the India note that democracy is unproven in the subcontinent colonial form. Dionysus is created as the first colonizer of during the Megasthenes’s stay, and certainly before. Indeed, India, entering the land by force, installing himself as the democracy seems to only enter the realm of the landmass king, and bringing to the land a grand civility and order. close to the early modern era.8 This is a crucial point as This is an imagined past, yet one which usurps the a nar- the usage of the term “democracy” seems an instance of rative of an indigenous India as being extant outside of Megasthenes’s ahistorical yet manifestly political speech acts. Hellenic domination altogether, that is to say that Dionysus, in his settlement of India at “the earliest time” bound the In the context of 5th century Athens when demokrate¯ entity within the historical, cultural, and traditional grasp of arose as a political and societal system, the term came to the Greeks. To use history as mediating space in which set- flag a series of undignified and base behavior by the deme, tlement occurs, thereby replacing indigenous narratives of or the common people.9 With democracy’s general seepage self-becoming with foreign dominating narratives, comes to into Athenian society, the term, in extant sources from the reflect the proto-colonial engagement of Megasthenes with 3rd and 4th centuries BC, takes on a sense of red herring, the land of India, wherein his own documentation extends meant to signal some essential form of decline. This fits an invitation to settle into a legacy, and settle into a land well with the posturing of Megasthenes towards India’s past, colonized by imagined histories. approaching the present India he bears witness to. Thus, the usage of demokrate¯ acts perhaps not in a historically accurate Settling a Tradition realm, but rather metaphorical and figurative one. By list- ing the many advancements Dionysus bestowed upon the The tale of Dionysus found in Megasthenes’s Indica is Indian landmass and extending his altruistic reach with the largely rewritten and reformed in the epic poem Dionysiaká 109 110 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 is thetravelofdeitytoandfromIndia. exhaustively detailsthelifeofDionysus,yetitsmainaction by Nonnus of Panopolis in the 4th century AD. The epic The ers oftheland,yetthereisonecriticalpointdivergence. coping withdisease,andhisanointingofsonsastherul- found, includinghisviolententranceintoIndia,army’s very similarnarrativestotheDionysusinDionysiakáare for theirreturn. as alreadyclaimedbytheHellenes, justwaitingoncemore pattern ofsettlement,andinthis venture,tomarktheland the West. This is the project of Megasthenes, to establish a again. Thus,Dionysusdiedin Indiaandneverreturnedto West hadcivilized Indiaonce,thenitwastheirstotake In his civilizing of it, the West civilized India, and if the ing, yetnoteverlasting,monarchy, Dionysuscivilized India. and publicreligiousrituals,tohiscreationofalongstand- the disparatepeopleintocities,tohismakingofsustainable narrative. Fromhisusurpationofitsfoundation,collecting empires andpredictableinthearcofgrandcivilizing India aremirroredintheextantworksofHellenistic movements takenbyDionysusduringhiscolonizationof every mentionofDionysusitisfundamentallyknown.The Megasthenes’s India is mystical and wonderous, yet with bodily features, the animals which trot across the space; He detailsthelandscapeandart,people’s facialand limited scopeofthisprojectaspresentedinessay. to considertheonce-again-westernfuture. eastern present,MegasthenesinviteshisHellenisticreaders had occupied. In this turning from a western past towards an considers thepresentincontrasttolandthatDionysus ways considering the mechanisms of India’s conquest,and forward; it looks towards the past in specific and critical gesturing is colonial. For the project is positioned facing as ambassadorialanddiplomatic,thispaperpositsthatthe sense offamiliarity, butwhereStonemanseesthisgesturing between theSeleucidsandMauryansgesturestowardsa is in some ways correct. The sorts of comparisons drawn state, withthekindasnodalpoint”(138).Stoneman one whichmakesIndia,“akindofanaloguetheSeleucid Experience of India has argued that Megasthenes’s project is and internallyexecuted.RichardStonemaninTheGreek afar, butratherasettlementfromwithin,internallydriven Megasthenes isnotoneoftemporaryruleorevenfrom been settled at all? The sort of settlement constructed by until thelandissettled;yetifDionysusleftcouldithave settle thereligioushistories,andpoliticalnarratives gram ofMegasthenes’s Indica.Settlethefoundationmyths, tlement hascometobeunderstoodasthefoundationalpro- Indica’s Dionysiaká Megasthenes’s createdIndiaisfargranderthanthe
Dionysus dies in India. Throughout this paper, set- ’s
Dionysus returns back to the West, while 10 InMegasthenes, locate Indiawithinitsownhistories. and subalternstudies,itisimportanttointerrogatehow this trans-regionalapproach,oneinformedbypostcolonial than diachronicreadingofthishistoricizationIndia.In the samesharedtradition,informingatrans-regionalrather both MegasthenesandBritishcolonistsascontributorsto Monier Monier-Williams amongthem,itishelpfultoview ans andintellectualsoftheBritishRaj,William Jonesand coloniality seized,transformed,andadaptedbyhistori- Rather thanestablishingMegasthenesasthecreatorofa notably, withtheBritish,yetthislinkageistenuousatbest. first, bythePortugueseandFrench,secondmore may betodirectlylinkthiscolonialitywiththatpresented Roman historiographicaltraditions,animmediateimpulse thought asonewhoseseedlingsareplantedbyGreco- onized past.Indevelopingtheintellectualarcofcolonial ancient past, without confrontation with its recently col vating forces in the construction of modern national identity. tates theexploration offoundationmythsascentrally moti- and tothesameextentselfhood oftheGreeks,necessi- contact with the Greeks. The elaboration of this selfhood, its positioninaglobalimagination firstemergingthrough ous moments and movements of power and resistance, with about solelyinthecurrentera, butpiecemealthroughvari- society itself.” oration, andcontestation,intheactofdefiningidea initiate newsignsofidentity, andinnovativesites of collab- rating strategiesofselfhood— “These ‘in-between’spacesprovidetheterrainforelabo- revelatory facetsofGreekidentity. As Bhabhacontinues, and bymeansofthis,thefoundationmythsinIndica through itsengagementwith the peripheral and external, In turn, some essential part of “Greekness” is constructed only be parsed through extensive reading of “Greekness.” Roman world.Inthis,theconstructionof“Indianness”may the existenceofSubcontinenttoGreco- constellation ofliteraryandculturalmovementswhichbind India markoutnotonemomentoforigination,butanepic act ofpostcolonialscholarship,yetthefoundationmyths opposition to the study of the foundation myth itself as an Settling Postcolonialism differences.” processes thatareproducedinthearticulationofcultural and initialsubjectivitiestofocusonthosemomentsor crucial, istheneedtothinkbeyondnarrativesoforiginary suggesting, “Whatistheoreticallyinnovative,andpolitically ration laidoutinhisseminalwork,TheLocationofCulture, tion tothisneedthroughthemethodologiesof self-nar There cannotbeadiscussionofIndia’s colonized The modern notion of the Indian-self was not brought The modernnotionoftheIndian-selfwasnotbrought Postcolonial scholar Homi K. Bhabha draws atten- 12 13 Atoneend,thisnotionmightstandinstark singular orcommunal— 11
become that - - The suggestion here is not that the British colonizers of Greeks the inhabitants of their colonies and flora and fauna Indian re-packaged the image of Dionysus charging into within. The genre of history since its inception has been an India, but rather that the image of India itself was grafted embattlement space where the notion of self versus other is upon by Megasthenes, Ctesias, Josephus, Pliny, Strabo, and tested and defined, yet it is in Megasthenes’sIndica that India Arrian well before the British sought after it. Through these is not touched only as a fantastical creation and mytholo- grafts, identities central to “Indianness” and its opposition, gized land, but is further considered as an established part “Greekness” and “Romanness,” began to develop. of Hellenistic history. In using rhetoric mirroring authors such as Thucydides and employing tropes of civilizing that There is a bewildering passage tucked in Arrian’s would have been understood as familiar to a Greek audience, own Indica, in which he remarks, likely directly quoting Megasthenes writes about an India that is essentially Greek. Megasthenes, “῾Ηρακλέα δὲ ὅντινα ἐς ᾽Ινδοὺς ἀφικέσθαι λόγος By this, he is the first colonial thinker to approach the land, κατέχει, παρ᾽ αὐτοῖσιν ᾽Ινδοῖσι γηγενέα λέγεσθαι,” which a proto-colonist, and settles it by means of his writing on its translates into English, Herakles, who, according to the people, cities, religions, and beliefs, usurping local narrative prevailing story, reached the Indians, is said by the Indians and settling a foreign history within. themselves to be indigenous.14 Throughout this paper, I’ve used the word “indigenous,” γηγενέα, to describe that which Endnotes Indica lacks, yet perhaps the most generative reading is not to delimit the notion of indigeneity, but rather to expand it. 1 Stoneman 2018: 136 for more on Megasthenes as a figure in Alexandrian What does it mean for “Indianness” if Herakles is Indian, and post-Alexandrian history. 2 From 305 to 303 BC the Seleucids and Mauryans went to battle over and likewise what does it do to Greekness? These ques- the lands of Arachosia and Sogdia; the war was eventual won by the tions are products of a novel approach to Greco-Roman Mauryans, who sent the Seleucids back to fighting on their western historiography which prioritizes how texts make meaning front. The negotiated peace involved the marriage of Chandragupta Maurya to a Seleucid princess, the trade of 500 elephants, and a perma- rather than the share of truthfulness they may purport. In nent seat for each empire in the other’s court. See Kosmin, Paul (2014), a postcolonial embrace, those same questions of indigeneity pp. 124–128. which are germane to subaltern studies (i.e., what becomes 3 Much scholarship on Megasthenes has been dedicated to his relationship of the racially Briton man born and raised only in Bengal?) with Brahmans, who would be considered “the most learned Indians.” It has been suggested that the work is written as much for a Brahmanical find reference beyond their own era, back thousands of years audience as for a Greek audience. See Stoneman 2018: 133–134. to their historiographical instantiation. 4 “ἐπιγενομένων δὲ καυμάτων μεγάλων καὶ τῶν τοῦ Διονύσου στρατιωτῶν λοιμικῆι νόσωι διαφθειρομένων” (BNJ 715, F IV.4). Conclusion 5 “οὐ χαλεπῶς ἀπανίσταντο, καὶ δι ἀὐτὸ οὔτε μεγέθει πόλεων ἴσχυον οὔτε τῇ ἄλλῃπαρασκευῇ” (Thucydides, I.2.2). 6 Another parallel to Dionysus’s campaign into India is the so-called India was the last frontier of Alexander the Great, “Aryan Invasion.” First proposed by Mortimer Wheeler in the mid-20th the land he could not conquer. This would hold true for century, the Aryan Invasion would be the displacement of indigenous, Seleucus I Nicator, who in an effort to build peace rather Dravidian communities to the south of India by a tribe coming in from the western world. Wheeler suggested that the ancients, during the time than long-lasting war sent his chief diplomat to sit along- of Megasthenes would have known more about this invasion of which side the Mauryans in the court of Chandragupta. Indeed, now there is no record, archeological or otherwise. It is possible then the last westerner who had taken control of India had that Dionysus is used as a metaphor for a real western campaign into the land. See Stoneman 2018: 148–150 for more details on invasion’s been Dionysus, and though long past at the moment of possible importance to Megasthenes. Megasthenes’s visit, had been settled by the Seleucid his- 7 This number of years is clarified to be span 153 kings in Arrian’sIndica , torian into the narrative of India’s becoming. The other 9.9–12. alternative to this of course is that Dionysus was not present 8 Doninger 2010: 380–381. in the tales told to Megasthenes in Indica, but rather became 9 Take for example “ἔστι δὲ πάσῃ γῇ τὸ βέλτιστον ἐναντίον τῇ δημοκρατίᾳ, everywhere on earth, Pseudo-Xenophon notes in the Old Oligarch, the an agent of India’s imagined conquest, an imagination that best person, or the best element, is opposed to democracy (I.5). was reified, refined, and given back to those who sought to 10 Accorinti 2016: 12–18. enter the land. Having imagined the history of India as one 11 Subaltern studies describes a disciplinary subfield of postcolonial studies already conquered by Dionysus, Megasthenes presents the which focalizes the peripheral relationship South Asia holds with the land as colonized, with large facets of its culture including central force of European empire. The field largely coalesces around a definition provided by Bengali historian Ranajit Guha in his 1983 work its foundation, its religious system, and its political system Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India, and is defined by Dionysus rather than by any native Indian. expanded upon by Chaterjee (1993) and Chakrabarty (2000). 12 Bhabha, 2004: 2. Having colonized the land once before, Megasthenes 13 Ibid. seems to suggest that the land already belongs to the Greeks, 14. Arrianus, ed. Müller, 1846: 8, 4–9, 8. and once the work is read through this lens, Indica becomes a work of colonial discourse, Megasthenes presenting to the 111 112 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Vasunia, Phiroze.2013.TheClassicsandColonialIndia. Oxford: Wick, T.E. 1982.ThePeloponnesianWar ofThucydides.NewYork: andthePaganMission. Mythistory Sulimani, Iris.2011.Diodorus’ Stoneman, Richard.2019.TheGreek ExperienceofIndia:From Schwanbeck, E.A.1846.MegasthenisIndica:FragmentaCollegit. Said, Edward.Orientalism. Roller, DuaneW. 2019.“Megasthenes(715).”InIanWorthington, Parker, Grant.2011.TheMakingofRomanIndia.Cambridge: Müller, Karl.1846.AnabasisetIndica.Rome:EditoreAmbrosio McCrindle, JohnW. 1877.AncientIndiaasDescribedbyMegasthenes Marchant, E.C.1996.TheOldOligarchofPseudo-Xenophon. AspectsofPeasantInsurgencyin Guha, Ranajit.1999.Elementary Doninger, Wendy. History. 2010.TheHindus:AnAlternative Dabashi, Hamid.2015.Persophilia:PersianCulture ontheGlobal Chatterjee, Partha1993.TheNationandItsFragments:Colonial Chakrabarty, Dipesh.2000.ProvincializingEurope:Postcolonial Briant. Pierre.2012.Alexandre desLumieres: Fragmentsd’histoire Bhabha, HomiK.2004.TheLocationofCulture. London: Accorinti, Domenico.2016.Brill’s CompaniontoNonnusof Works Cited Oxford University Press. Modern LibraryPress. Boston: BrillPress. Press. Alexander totheIndo-Greeks. Princeton:PrincetonUniversity Calcutta: Thacker, Spinkco. 1978. ed., Cambridge UniversityPress. Firmin Didot. and Arrian.NewDelhi:Truber &Co. Cambridge: LoebClassicalLibrary. Colonial India.Durham:DukeUniversityPress. Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress. Scene. Postcolonial Histories.Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress. University Press. Thought andHistoricalDifference. Princeton:Princeton europeenne. Routledge Press. Panopolis. Boston:BrillPress. Brill’s NewJacoby, SecondEdition.Leiden:BrillPress. Cambridge: HarvardUniversityPress. Paris: Gallimard. New York City, Random House,Inc., The Queer and Feminist Myth-Revision of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” Mona Reed, Hunter College, CUNY
Mona Reed is a senior at CUNY-Hunter College, where she Lizzie eventually escapes and returns home, she exclaims is majoring in English Literature with a minor in Political to Laura in a Eucharistic like offering: “Hug me, kiss me, Science. When she is not researching 19th-century and early suck my juices/Squeez’d from goblin fruits for you,/ Goblin 20th-century English literature with MMUF, she is completing pulp and goblin dew./ Eat me, drink me, love me;/ Laura, her other project on Martin Luther King Jr.’s influences from make much of me” (lines 468–72), where Laura then “clung 19th-century Christian Anarchist and Socialist thought on his about her sister/Kiss’d and kiss’d and kiss’d her” (lines 485– later rhetoric and activism with the Mellon Public Humanities 6). Although only a handful of scholars in the 1970s and Grant program. After she graduates, Mona plans to take a gap 1980s embraced the incestuous, homoerotic subtext of the year to travel and work, after which she later intends to apply to poem in their arguments,1 most scholars agree that any doctoral programs in English Literature. homoerotic subtext is Rossetti’s poetic license in describ- ing the fervor of receiving the holy sacrament.2 In more recent scholarship, emerging discourses on eco-criticism3 Abstract and the merchant economy4 concerning “Goblin Market” are entirely divorced from the homoerotic subtext of the Scholars tend to read Christina Rossetti’s 1862 poem poem. However, the homoerotic subtext can be reasonably “Goblin Market” divorced from its female erotic nature, accounted for in “Goblin Market’s” overall narrative— and opting to focus on the poem’s themes of merchant economy, in Rossetti’s biographical context as well— when one adopts eco-criticism, women empowerment, and Christianity a more flexible approach in close-reading and discussing instead. Though such scholarship is valid, it misses the female queerness. opportunity to explore how and why does Rossetti uses female eroticism in “Goblin Market,” as it is the most defin- Moreover, one could almost see Rossetti’s “Goblin ing aspect of the poem. Using Adrienne Rich’s 1980 essay Market” as a precursor to Adrienne Rich’s radical femi- “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” I will nist and queer proposals in her 1980 essay “Compulsory argue in this paper that by reading “Goblin Market” with Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” where she describes Rich’s flexible view of female homosocial and sexual eroti- the word “lesbian” as limiting the full range of female erotic cism, the elusive nature of “Goblin Market” is overturned relationships to “clinical associations in its patriarchal defi- when read as a feminist, queer myth-revision of the Garden nitions” (Rich 650). Rich proposes that scholars should of Eden. By close-reading the meaningful similarities and expand their definition of the lesbian experience for two differences between Lizzie and Adam and the goblin men distinct reasons: 1) Discover lesbian existence in a wide and the serpent, these discussions culminates into a deeper range of texts and, 2) Explore the full spectrum of female understanding of “Goblin Market’s” central meaning, with eroticism in homosocial and sexual relationships (Rich 650). Rossetti suggesting that women should form queer, homo- Alongside quoting Audre Lorde, Rich makes the argument social triad unions with Christ so they can abandon the that female eroticism is unrestricted to one body part (or institution of heterosexual marriage that leaves women the body in general) and occurs through “the sharing of feeling unfulfilled and emotionally depleted. joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic” and in coop- eration with one another, making women “less willing to In scholarship discussing the most subversive aspect accept powerlessness” (Rich 650). In the context of “Goblin of Christina Rossetti’s 1862 poem “Goblin Market,” the Market,” the incestuous eroticism between the two sis- common adjectives that arise are “erotic” (Campbell 402), ters serves the poem’s larger message of sublimating sex- “controversial” (Hill 464), “confusing” (Rappoport 862), ual desire from heterosexual relationships and into queer, “odd” (Humphries 402), and “aesthetic excess” (Pionke female homosocial ones— with the focus of Christ as the 908). The poem tells the story of two sisters, Lizzie and center of their union. By reading “Goblin Market” with Laura, and their encounter with nefarious merchant “gob- Rich’s feminist and queer theoretical lens, I will examine as lin men,” who tempt women to buy their exotic fruit in an a feminist and queer myth-revision of the Garden of Eden unknowing exchange for the woman’s well-being. Laura suc- in Genesis by close-reading the meaningful similarities and cumbs to temptation by eating their fruit and slowly wastes differences between Lizzie and Adam and the goblin men away, pining for more fruit that she cannot seek out any- and the serpent. In doing so, these analyses culminate into more; Lizzie tries to aid her sister by purchasing fruits for a deeper understanding of “Goblin Market’s” central mean- her sister (but not for Lizzie’s consumption), which upsets ing, suggesting that women should form queer, homosocial the goblin men as they try to force her to eat by smearing triad unions with Christ so they can abandon the institu- the fruit all over her face and body (lines 390–407). The tion of heterosexual marriage that, Rossetti implies, leaves next scene is where scholars are typically unable (or unwill- women feeling unfulfilled and emotionally depleted. ing) to reconcile with the poem’s overall message, as when 113 114 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 sequences ofdoing such: (lines 145–6),as theirfriendJeaniesufferedthe gravecon- of “loiter[ing] intheglen/ Inthehaunts of goblin men” (lines 368–69). Lizzie initially warns Laura of the dangers being: “‘Nay, takea seatwithus,/Honourandeatus’“ trying topaythegoblinmenwith hercoinandtheirreply as payment was sufficient (lines 123–6), along with Lizzie not whollyinterestedinprofit,asaclipofLaura’s hair in Laura’s initialencounterwiththegoblinmen,theyare their laterencounter(lines348–349). and Lizziebeinginitiallyassaultedwithhugskissesin “tendrils, leaves, and rough nuts brown” (line 100) for Laura excessive affection,withthegoblinmenweavingacrownof woodland creatureappearancesandshoweringthemwith into disobeyingGodbyluringtheminwiththeirinnocent, made” (Gen.3:1),thegoblinmenservetoswaywomen the mostcunningofallanimalsthatLordGodhad any town”(line101),andmuchliketheserpentwho“was The goblinmensellexoticfruitthat“men[donotsell]in not charmus,/Theirevilgiftswouldharmus”(lines65–6). entranced by theirmerchantcries, “Theiroffersshould 42–5), with Lizzie later exclaiming while Laura becomes upon whatsoiltheyfed/Theirhungrythirstyroots?”(lines at goblinmen,/We mustnotbuytheirfruits:/Whoknows with LaurainitiallytellingLizziethat“We mustnotlook Knowledge— ing thatAdam and Eveshouldnever eat fromthe Tree of 494). Thereisaubiquitousrule— driven bythe“interestofprofitandexploitation”(Stern (lines 95–96), revealing thegoblin men ascalculating and 93) and “Signallingeach other,/ Brother with sly brother” expressions aredescribedas“leeringateachother”(line reflected in the behavior of the goblin men, whose facial and lead(Stern487).Theseunethicalbusinesspracticesare the appearanceoftheirproducts,suchasmercury, copper, including thevarioussubstancesmerchantsusedtochange about his many findings from investigating food vendors, in Food and Medicine,” physician Arthur Hill Hassoll wrote Detected; or, PlainInstructionsfortheDiscoveryofFrauds 482). Forexample,inan1857booktitled“Adulterations cries andgovernmentalinvestigationsintothematter(Stern food werenotarareoccurrenceandpromptedsocietalout- social standing: food poisoning and deathfrom adulterated class posedasignificant healthcrisistosociety, regardlessof the 1850sand1860s,foodadulterationsbymerchant that regularlyeffectedthehealthofconsumers.Throughout deceitful merchantsinVictorian Englandwhosoldproducts ated withpaganfertilitycultsinCanaan(Viviano 19–20)to anxieties oftheirperiod,fromtheserpentbeingassoci- serpent intheGardenofEden,reflectsdifferentcultural Despite whatSternwroteinherarticle,asshown The goblinmenin“GoblinMarket,”muchlikethe never topurchasefruitfromthegoblinmen, similar toGodmandat- Spirit, shewritesthat: faithfulness to God. In Rossetti’s 1883 prose Letter and character bymakingLizziecompletelyunwaveringinher the GardenofEden,whereRossetti“improves”hismoral an’s well-being. and theirproduce(ormarriage)attheexpenseofwom- God— ual men) who seek to lure women into turning away from men as“agentsofthepatriarchy”(or, simply, heterosex- throughout herlife,itisnotunreasonabletoreadthegoblin rejecting twomarriageproposalsandremainingavirgin the HeavenlySpousedirectly(Roden48).With Rossetti Christ whereasthevirginspouse“entersamarriage”with woman, as the wife’s devotion is to her husband first then virgin woman’s connectiontoChristratherthanthemarried women’s relationshipwithChrist,asRossettiprivilegesthe women losetheirself-agency. Suchagencyalsoextendsto men, as“succumbing”toheterosexualrelationshipsmakes value onplacingwomen’s sexualityinaseparatespherefrom “battle oflife,”thissuggeststhatRossettiplacestremendous twelve yearsandseparatingfromhimasherfightingthe declining tohavesexwithher“enamoredhusband”for life” (D’Amico116).With Rossetti referringtoEtheldreda from herenamoredhusband.Thus,shefoughtthebattleof successful yearsofcontest,[she]endedstrifebyseparating was avirgindespitebeingdivorcedtwice,“Aftertwelve Flies, shewroteaboutherfavoritesaintEtheldreda,who heterosexual marriageingeneral.Inher1885proseTime relate toRossetti’s feelingsaboutthecoercivenatureof of destroyingwomen’s well-being— Thus, thegoblinmenarerevealedtobe in thebusiness In “Goblin Market,” Lizzie takes on Adam’s role in only tohavetheminsteadfixateonthegoblinmen Then fellwiththefirstsnow. Found themnomore,butdwindledandgrew Sought thembynightandday, She pinedandaway; But everinthenoonlight Ate theirfruitsandworeflowers. Took theirgiftsbothchoiceandmany, . shemettheminthemoonlight, to onecommonruin(D’Amico126). Adam his‘heart’fromGodAlmighty. Bothcases led both provedfatal.Evediverted her‘mind’and error ofwill,herspartlyjudgment; nevertheless transgression: Adammadenomistake: hiswasan Eve madeamistake,‘beingdeceived’ shemadea grey; (Lines 148–50,153–57) a notionwhichmight Rossetti stresses that Eve’s transgression was due to her roles and for a society that honors female relationships. In innocence and lack of guile, making her a vulnerable victim doing so, I argue that Rossetti seems to be also suggesting to the serpent, who is the master of deceit and uses their that women should form queer, homosocial triad unions deception to “cajole” Eve into sin (D’Amico 125), effectively with Christ, effectively abandoning the institution of het- transferring the blame from victim to perpetrator. Rossetti erosexual marriage that leaves women feeling unfulfilled and also did not overlook the fact that Adam seems willing to emotionally depleted like Laura and Jeanie. This message let Eve take all the blame for disobeying God’s laws, even is especially apparent in the last few stanzas of “Goblin though he was a willing participant: “the meanness as well Market,” where conversely, the antidote for Laura’s malaise as the heinousness of sin is illustrated in Adam’s apparent is the goblin men’s fruit juice smeared on her sister’s body. effort to shelter himself at the expense of Eve” (D’Amico Germaine Greer in her 1975 article writes that Laura’s 139). In “Goblin Market,” however, Lizzie neither succumbs “salvation is literally that she makes love to her sister,” to temptation by eating the goblin men’s fruit nor allows with Jerome J. McGann concurring in his 1980 article and her “Eve” to be effectively “kicked out of paradise,” as her elaborating that while the Eucharistic scene between the courage, love for her sister, and obedience towards God sisters is “patently erotic and sensual,” Laura feasting on the helps redeem Laura’s life and keeps them both in “paradise.” juice smeared on Lizzie’s body serves her with a “negative fulfillment,” casting away her fixation on the goblin men’s Although previous scholars argue that Lizzie is an fruit and allowing her to “glimpse, self-consciously, the truth allusion to Christ, I argue that scholars place too much which she pursued in its illusive form” (Tobias 279). The weight on the “sacrificial” nature of her bracing the gob- truth, McGann argues, is the love from sisterhood that “ful- lin men for their fruit. Lizzie did not intend to sacrifice fills the need for an alternative social order, divorced from herself to the goblin men, nor does she lose anything in the male ‘marketplace’ and exorcising the threat implicit in their exchange: Lizzie anticipated buying their fruit with independence— ‘the demon of loneliness’” (Tobias 279). My her gold coin (Rossetti 363–67), the goblin men attack main point of contention with McGann’s argument is his her when she asks for her money back (lines 403–407) and last point, as I do not see Rossetti’s fear of loneliness as the then they grudgingly throw her gold coin back after Lizzie driving factor of her advocation of seeking out an “alterna- successfully resists them (lines 438–39). Therefore, reading tive social order” in “Goblin Market,” rather that she sees Lizzie as an allusion to Adam instead of an allusion to Christ the patriarchal tradition of marriage as a hindrance to wom- makes more sense in context of the poem. Additionally, en’s spiritual growth and by fostering female relationships, in Rossetti’s 1892 devotional prose Face of the Deep, she women can have a stronger connection to Christ. describes the biblical differences between men and women as follows: men, or the “right hand,” “runs the risk, fights Moreover, one would assume that the poem would the battles,” whereas women, or the “left hand,” “abides end with Laura and Lizzie embracing each other trium- in comparative quiet and safety . . . Rules admit of and are phantly; however, the poem ends on a different note. Years proven by exceptions. There are lefthanded people and have passed since the sisters’ interactions with the goblin there may arise a lefthanded society” (D’Amico 139). While men, where the sisters now “were wives/ With children of Lizzie primarily represents the “right-hand” in the poem, at their own,” with Laura ending the poem with a sing-song the same time, she enjoys her “left-hand,” domestic duties chant with her children, praising the joy of sisterhood (lines with Laura: “Fetch’d in honey, milk’d the cows,/Air’d and 562–67). Since there is no mention of any other men besides set to rights the house,/ Kneaded cakes of whitest wheat,/ goblin men existing in this poem (despite the insinuation Cakes for dainty mouths to eat” (lines 203–6)— all duties that comes with the sisters being wives), how can their done with “an open heart” (line 210), “content” (212), and marriage and offspring be accounted for outside of heter- Lizzie “warbling for the mere bright day’s delight” (line onormativity? Notably, the punishment of eating the fruit 213). Lizzie embodies both the left- and right-hand charac- also has an infertility side effect, represented in the grass and teristics displayed in Rossetti’s prose, a gender fluidity that the daisies that Lizzie planted on Jeanie’s grave not growing is exemplified in her writings about Christ and gender in (lines 158–60), in addition to the fruit that Laura planted Seek and Find: “in Christ there is neither male nor female, not growing (lines 281–87). By reading Lizzie and Laura’s for we are all one” (Roden 48). Thus, it appears that Rossetti Eucharistic scene as a Rich-esque version of erotic, omni- is advocating for a more subversive take on gender roles, present sexual intercourse, their union may have helped in where gender roles are fluid, and society is dominated by a subverting the fruit’s infertility effects, effectively making type of proto-feminism that privileges female relationships. the sisters virgin mothers. The ending of “Goblin Market” exemplifies Rossetti’s queer and feminist religious utopia: a As previously established, Rossetti appears to be society where women can rely on each other for complete arguing against women entering heterosexual marriages support while also having a direct connection to Christ and, instead, advocates for more gender fluidity in women’s outside of a man’s opinion. The sisters were able to birth 115 116 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 unlikely oftexts. ence, assuchexperiencecanbeeasilydiscoveredinthemost adopt alessclinicaldefinitionofthefemale,queerexperi- “heterosexual until proven otherwise.” Thus, scholars must authors’ sexualorientationbyassigningthemas,essentially, author— without makinganydirectclaimsaboutthesexualityof is possibletoreexaminecanonicaltextsforaqueersubtext evidence. However, I have clearly shown in this paper that it that anycanonicaltextisqueerwithoutdirectbiographical academic sphereorbecausescholarsdonotwanttoclaim the “radicalfeminist”discoursesin1970sand1980s ering female,queersubtextsisbecauseofthestigmafrom queer subtext.Itispossiblethatscholars’aversiontouncov- scholars toexaminecanonicalworksforafemale-centered agree with her sentiment that it has been long overdue for tial inclose-readingtextswithaqueertheoreticallens,I Though Idonotfindascholar’s sexualorientationessen- Feminist LiteraryCriticism”that: article “WhatHasNeverBeen:AnOverviewofLesbian and Queer Studies Bonnie Zimmerman writes in her 1981 ing, asaliterarycriticandoneofthepioneersWomen’s queerness of “Goblin Market” dissipated. I findthis interest- also appears to be around the same time discourse on the feminist theoryinliteratureacceleratedthe1980s,it and sexualrelationships.Althoughdiscourseonqueer that femaleeroticismisomnipresentinhomosocial accepting theoffer, exemplifiesRich’s andLorde’s point pily offeringherbodytoailingsisterandLauragladly The sharingofjoybetweenthetwosisters,withLizziehap- the amountofscholarshipthatalreadyexistsonpoem. adds anotherlayerofnuanceto“GoblinMarket,”despite what scholarsconsidertobefemalequeernessanderoticism alternative fromtheinstitutionofheterosexualmarriage. empowerment andmoreamessageforwomenseekingan last stanza less a call for heteronormativity and sisterhood a newfeministnormintotheGardenofEden,making Adrienne Rich’s argumentforwideningthescopeof called lesbian(469). Market” [that]mightrevealasubtextthatcouldbe ing oftheclassics.suchasRossetti’s “Goblin similarly, lesbiansmightcontributetothereread- creative andinfluentialrereadingsoftheseworks; in many canonical works but have also provided Feminists havenotonlypointedoutthesexism though Iwilladdthatscholarsalreadypresume Endnotes Rich, Adrienne.“CompulsoryHeterosexuality andLesbian Rappoport, Jill.“ThePriceofRedemption in‘GoblinMarket.’” Mermin, Dorothy. “HeroicSisterhoodin‘GoblinMarket.’” Humphries, Simon.“TheUncertaintyof‘GoblinMarket.’” Me,DrinkLoveMe”:Eucharistandthe Hill, Marylu.“‘Eat D’Amico, Diane.ChristinaRossetti:Faith,GenderandTime. Casey, JanetGalligani.“ThePotentialofSisterhood:Christina Campbell, Elizabeth.“OfMothersandMerchants:Female Arseneau, Mary. “IncarnationandInterpretation:Christina Works Cited 3 2 1 4 Existence.” pp. 853–875. SEL StudiesinEnglishLiterature 1500–1900 , vol.50no.4,2010, Victorian, vol.21,no.2,1983,pp.107–118. Poetry Victorian, vol.45,no.4,2007,pp.391–413. Poetry , vol.43no.4,2005,pp.455–472. Poetry Erotic BodyinChristinaRossetti’s GoblinMarket.”Victorian Louisiana StateUniversityPress,1999. 1991, pp.63–78. Rossetti’s Victorian, vol.29,no.1, Poetry ‘GoblinMarket.’” Studies, vol.33,no.3,1990,pp.393–410. Economics inChristinaRossetti’s ‘GoblinMarket.’“Victorian , vol.31,no.1,1993,pp.79–93. Poetry Rossetti, theOxfordMovement,andGoblinMarket.”Victorian For scholarshiponeco-criticismand“GoblinMarket,”see“Truth to For scholarshiponChristianityand“GoblinMarket,”see“‘Transfigured According totheVictorian journalarticle,“GuidetotheYear’s Poetry For scholarshiponthemerchanteconomyand“GoblinMarket,”see Women” byAshleyMiller. Thullberry, and“RipenessWaste: ChristinaRossetti’s Botanical Christina Rossetti’s ‘GoblinMarket’“byKathleenAndersonandHannan Ecology inRossetti’s GoblinMarket”byHeidiScott,“Ecofeminismin Christina Rossetti’s GoblinFruits”byKellySultzbach,“Subversive Rossetti’s poetry”bySerenaTrowbridge, “TheContraryNaturesOf nature: ThepleasuresanddangersoftheenvironmentinChristina Christina RossettiandtheSalvificSignifier”by VictoriaCoulson. Marylu Hill,and“RedemptionRepresentationin‘GoblinMarket:’ Eucharist andtheEroticBodyinChristinaRossetti’s ‘GoblinMarket”by Me,DrinkLoveMe’: byLindaE.Marshall,“‘Eat ‘Goblin Market’” to HisLikeness’:SensibleTranscendentalism inChristinaRossetti’s repulsion ofbeingtouchedbymen(Tobias etal.279–281). poem, establishingthatRossettieitherstuntedsexualityorageneral the scholarsallendupsettlingonaheterosexualinterpretationof criticism astheprimaryfoundationfortheirarguments.Nonetheless, the lesbian subtext of “Goblin Market,” utilizing psychoanalytical literary Zimmerman, JeromeJ.McGann,andGermaineGreerwrotepieceson Work inVictorian Poetry:1980,”MaureenDuffy, JonathanCott,Bonnie ‘Goblin Market’” byAlbertD.Pionke. ‘Goblin Market’” byJillRappoport,and“TheSpiritualEconomyof ‘Goblin Market’” byElizabethK.Helsinger,Market’” “ThePriceofRedemptionin “Consumer PowerandtheUtopiaofDesire:ChristinaRossetti’s ‘Goblin Signs, vol.5,no.4,1980, pp.631–660. Roden, Frederick. Same-Sex Desire in Victorian Religious Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Rossetti, Christina Georgina. Goblin Market and Other Poems. Cambridge: Macmillan, 1862.
Scott, Heidi. “Subversive Ecology in Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market.’” The Explicator, vol. 65, no. 4, 2007, pp. 219–222.
Stern, Rebecca F. “‘Adulterations Detected’: Food and Fraud in Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market.’” Nineteenth-Century Literature, vol. 57, no. 4, 2003, pp. 477–511.
Tobias, Richard, et al. “Guide to the Year’s Work in Victorian Poetry: 1980.” Victorian Poetry, vol. 19, no. 3, 1981, pp. 243–298.
Viviano, Pauline A. Genesis: Collegeville Bible Commentary. Liturgical Press, 1985.
117 118 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 challenge tostatus quo societal systems across the world . torical movement,” together posing a cohesive and striking gles ofthelate1960sandearly 1970sformeda“world-his- 1968, my developmentasanindependentresearcher. Undergraduate FellowshipandtheLeadershipAlliancefor about writinghistory. IamalsoindebtedtotheMellon Mays initially wrote this paper. You taught me lessons I still carry injustices aspartandparcelofothernations’oppressions. and socialstatusquo,whichframedtheU.S.’s domestic powerfully criticaloftheUnitedStates’political,economic, part of the basis for a transnational consciousness that was This paperarguesthat iconography ofAngela Davis became point ofreferenceforcomparisonwithothercountries. provided astrikingexampleoftheU.S.’s injusticesanda others aroundtheworld.To thosefollowingthecase,it resonated withactivists,politicians,intellectuals,andmany herself showthatDavis’s personalnarrativeandideology National CommitteetoFreeAngelaDavisand Davis. Letters,statements,andwrittenspeechessenttothe and revered political icons. One such icon was Angela developing asharedlanguagebasedoncommonlyknown network ofsocialgroupsforgedconnectionswasthrough of abroader historical arc. One of the ways in which this tions andunderstoodtheircontext-specificstrugglesaspart social movementsaroundtheworldforgedglobalconnec- has been called a “world-historical movement,” in which Acknowledgements Abstract Scholarship. Comparative SocialPolicyatOxford UniversityonaRhodes post-1975.AfterYale,history heplanstopursueanMPhilin and hiscurrent thesisresearch focusesonNewYork Citylabor He isparticularlypassionateaboutracialandeconomicjustice, Brian ReyesisasenioratYale UniversitymajoringinHistory. Brian Reyes,YaleUniversity Angela DavisandtheIndictmentofAmerica Putting theJaileronTrial: The Iconographyof Introduction While socialgroups foughttowindemands specificto George Katsiaficaspositsthat theglobalsocialstrug- In A big thank you to Viet Trinh, in whose course I The late1960sandearly1970ssawtheriseofwhat feeling thatI’veknownherforalongtime . I’ve neverknownAngelaDavis,yetIhave the The ImaginationoftheNewLeft: AGlobalAnalysisof Chairman oftheSovietWomen’sChairman Committee Vlnia Nikolayeva-Tereshkova —Valentina Pilot-Cosmonaut oftheUSSRand 1 2
ists alsoused her case as areaffirmation oftheir critiquesof U.S. andconnect ittotheirlocalrealities.Domestic activ- a reference point to understand domestic injustice in the tional leftbyprovidingsocialgroups aroundtheworldwith rounding Davis’s trialturnedherintoaniconoftheinterna- short, thesedocumentsshow thatthecircumstancessur international spheresunderstood Davis’s criminal trial.In herself, Iwilldiscusshowpeople inboththedomesticand the NationalCommitteetoFreeAngelaDavisand from nearlyeverycontinentandwithinU.S.,sentto freedom. By examining letters,declarations, and speeches spotlight andprovokedanintensecampaigntosecureher FBI chase,arrest,andtrialthrustherintotheinternational and murder despite not having been on the scene. Davis’s targeted byauthoritieswithchargesofaggravatedassault the kidnapping were registered to Davis, who was promptly judge dead.Policesoondiscoveredthatthegunsusedin hostage, a shootout ensuedthatleftbothJacksonandthe Hall ofJustice.Asthemenattemptedtoescapewiththeir kidnapping ofalocalCalifornia judge attheMarinCounty prisoners, amannamedJonathanJacksonledbotched attempt toultimatelynegotiatethefreedomofthreeBlack activists intheUnitedStates?InAugustof1970,an ing: whatdidDavismeantotheinternationalleft,including more sothantheotherwayaround. politics wasimpacted by her internationalist orientation, Accordingly, Young arguesthatDavis’s viewofdomestic the BlackPantherPartyorconventionalcivilrightscircles. ciated moreheavilywiththeCommunistPartythan London, andHavana,uponherreturntotheU.S.,asso- years from1960to1967travelingbetweenFrankfurt,Paris, Young, forexample,pointsoutthatDavisspentmuchofthe by thinkersandactivistsoutsideoftheU.S.CynthiaA. international leftbyaskinghowDavisherselfwasshaped Previous scholarship has examined Davis’s relation to the paper focusesspecificallyononesuchicon:AngelaDavis. as aresult” historical trajectoryandshapescollectivedesiresactions perception thatframeslocalcircumstanceswithinaglobal imagination.” AccordingtoPrestholdt,thisis“amodeof ized aswhatJeremyPrestholdthascalleda“transnational The gluethatheldthisunitytogethercanbeconceptual- used tounderstandeachother’s distincthistories. imagination wasasharedsetofpoliticaliconsthatpeople one andmanysocialmovements. which allowedtheNewLefttofunctionsimultaneouslyas called onesocialmovementandmanymovements.” Katsiaficas notesthat “theNewLeftcansimultaneously be within thecontextofabroaderworldsystem.Accordingly, their locales, they also understood their particular battles This researchbuildsonYoung’s workbyinsteadask- One ofpillarsthatsupportedthistransnational 4 — in otherwords,itisthetypeofsensibility 6
5 This - 3 the nation’s justice system. Discussing Davis’s iconography prisoner. As Young explains, to see someone as a political allows us to better further understand the formation of a prisoner was to see their label of “criminal” not as a neutral transnational consciousness among leftist activists during legal definition but as a justification for the state’s efforts the 1960s and 1970s, and why this consciousness may have to uphold its own status quo and thereby its own power. been specifically fostered, in part, by a critique of the crim- The idea of political prisoners was anathema to the legiti- inal justice system. macy of liberal democracy, which was inherently meant to include protections for dissenters.12 Support for Davis’s case, Angela Davis as Political Icon therefore, did not simply equate to hoping for an outcome in favor of the defendant; it meant repudiating the basis of The efforts to ensure Angela Davis’s freedom were the entire justice process. Rosario Castellanos, the Mexican massive. In January of 1971, the New York Times wrote that Ambassador to Israel, essentially voiced this sentiment when the political campaign to free her was the “most broad- he wrote, “When the verdict is rendered will there be any- based defense effort in the recent history of radical political one in the world who will believe that an act of justice has trials—more potent than that afforded to any of the Panther been performed and not an act of vengeance?” asked. In the leaders or the Chicago Seven.”7 Of those who wrote to Davis eyes of those commenting from an international perspective, and her defense campaign, some related to Davis as Black it was not Davis who was on trial, but the U.S.’s legitimacy women, others as anti-imperialists, and yet others as fellow as a free democracy. Americans disillusioned with their country. One of the nota- ble features of the support that Davis received was that her Some who wrote to Davis echoed similar thoughts supporters did not just wish for her freedom. Through all of in their critiques but couched them in explicit comparisons the statements she and her campaign received, there ran a to the battles they had been waging in their own countries. common thread: the criticism, whether implicit or explicit, For these groups, the social struggles they fought at home that Davis was the victim of a repressive justice system serv- provided them a lens through which to understand Davis’s ing as the spearhead of a morally bankrupt state. To support trial and express solidarity. From South Africa, the African Davis meant to support not only her but all others who had National Congress (ANC) wrote, “The oppressed and fight- posed a challenge to this system and its allies, both in the ing women of South Africa, who have been, and still are U.S. and abroad. victims of racial oppression perpetrated by a clique of white racialists, have everything in common with you and the just A sense of distrust towards the U.S. justice system struggle of your people against racism.”13 Because South was evident in many, if not all, of the materials sent in sup- Africa’s history of racial apartheid resembled the U.S.’s, the port of Davis. The police were no longer the stewards of ANC understood that facially neutral notions of justice were social order: in the words of one Puerto Rican bishop, they often rendered moot in the face of entrenched systemic rac- employed “electronic espionage” to uphold a “totalitarian ism. Similarly, the Korean Democratic Women’s Union in system.”8 According to the Declaration Concerning the Japan supported Davis because they saw her case as an exam- Case of Angela Davis, they would even resort to “simple ple of imperialist aggression, which they themselves were murder, as is proved by the police raid on the office of the combating in Japan. They described themselves as “mem- Black Panther Party in Chicago.”9 Similarly, judges were not bers of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union in Japan seen as reasonable and capable, but were thought to be “wild who are struggling for the independent peaceful unification with racist hate” and committed “to [punishing], through of the divided fatherland and in the defense of the demo- [Angela Davis], the sacred rebellion of blacks in North cratic national rights of Koreans in Japan,” and declared America who fight for the rights which are birthright in all an expression of solidarity with “the anti-imperialist forces civilized countries and which in America the law of lynching the world over.”14 Indeed, the Union was part of a move- denies them.”10 In this type of environment, supporters of ment that arose in Japan in the wake of the Vietnam War, Davis did not see any moral nor reasonable outcome as a which prompted the rise of a transnational critique of Japan’s possibility. One author wrote to Davis, “Everyone who has sub-imperialist role in Asia.15 In the same vein, the Arab taken up your cause fully realized that your arrest and the Women’s League of Jordan wrote to Davis, saying, “We charges brought against you are a logical conclusion to a understand your case as part of a life-killing in Indochina whole series of arbitrary acts whose aim was to force you to and the Middle East.” As they saw it, the ties between the keep silent . . . You are being tried for your convictions.”11 U.S. and Israel meant that they shared a common enemy with Davis. They wrote to her, saying, “To us, you repre- The notion that Davis was being “tried for [her] sent the fighter against the imperialist state backing Israeli convictions” in order to force her silence, explicitly stated aggression against our people.”16 To the League, it only in one letter but implicit in all the others, was a powerful made sense that this repression they experienced in the one. It positioned Davis not as a prisoner but as a political Middle East would function against domestically oppressed 119 120 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 sion backedbyU.S.imperialism.” are fighting and resisting Israeli occupation and aggres- explained their movement by telling Davis, “Arab sisters “Your sisters inthestruggle,”andArabWomen’s League key rolesinsocial movements. TheANCsigned their letter, identified withDavisaswomen,specificallywomen and theArabWomen’s LeagueofJordanwasthatthey from theANC,KoreanDemocraticWomen’s Union, Angela Davisisincarcerated,” declared oneletter. tions, dreams, and pains: “No woman is truly free while point ontowhichpeopleprojected theircollectiveaspira- threatening Davis’s “lifeandliberty.” a “suppressedsociety”andtheFBIas“reactionarybody” groups aswell:inthesameletter, theyreferredtotheU.S.as many social movements.” left wasatoncecomprisedof“onesocialmovementand Katsiaficas identifies,thesensibilitythatinternational reflected inDavis’s ordirectlyrelatedtohers,creating,as around theworld.Manysawtheirownstruggleseither solidarity by providing a common language for activists influences but howhericonographyfosteredtransnational examining nothowDaviswasshapedbyherinternational novelty ofthispaperistheoutside-looking-inapproach, especially concerningthesubjectofcriminaljustice.The have beenheraldedbymanyascentraltoleftistthought, work. Furthermore,Davis’s ownwritingandorganizing expounding on this point has been outside the scope of his does indeedidentifyherasoneoftheseicons,though prove Davisoughttobecountedamongthem.Prestholdt and 1970srestedonasharedsetofpoliticaliconsthey affirm that theleft’s transnational imagination of the1960s port ofDavisleadtotwoimportanttakeaways.First,they of socialmovements. commitment to demonstrating that women were atthe heart porters were,atleastinpart,boundtogetherbyacommon idea of criminality on its head. Though this idea is implicit Davis’s iconography as a medium specifically to turn the clash with the criminal justice system, leftist activists used and notbeovercomebythedamage.” the sights correctly, aim accurately, squeeze rather than jerk aggressive, nottolaydownthegun,butlearnhowset “For theBlackfemale,solutionisnottobecomeless liberation. Ina1970lettertoGeorgeJackson,shewrote, unapologetic work of Blackwomen was necessary for Black struck achordwithDavis,whofeltthattheactiveand might have been, thisgender-based solidarity would have likely indifferentways.Despitewhateverthosedifferences of womanhood impacted the various’ authors work, albeit One particularlynotabledimensionabouttheletters Overall, theletters,statements,andspeechesinsup- Second, because Davis was catapulted to fame by her 20 Davis, in short, became the locus 18 Itisclearthatnotions 17 19
Davisandhersup- 21
should betheroutineofsystem.” worldwide movement of people toacquitMissDavis. Justice the attorneyswhohaddefendedDavis,remarked,“Ittooka freedom had not come easily. Howard Moore Jr., one of of my life,” she reportedly exclaimed. with countlessothers,rejoiced.“Thisisthehappiestday guilty onallcountsaftera13-hourdeliberation.She,along Conclusion as emblematicofa“smallgroupwarpedromantics people tookDavis’s presumedguiltforgrantedandsawher tional left,butalsoofmanyonthedomesticright.Many Indeed, Davis’s trialwasnotonlyaunifieroftheinterna- on alaw-and-orderplatformpopularwithmanyAmericans. that justafewyearsearlier, PresidentNixonhadbeenelected political possibility. long-held mythsornarratives, broadening theconditionsof that this new sharedconsciousnesscanbeusedtocontest to connecttheirparticularsocial trajectories;andsecond, cal actorsfrom discrete contexts with a common language first, that iconography has the power to provide histori- warped. Inthishistoricalmoment,therefore,lietwolessons: that American notionsofinnocenceandcriminality were a conviction,manyothersaroundtheworldcametobelieve nation’s courtsystemputDavisontrialandmanyhopedfor failure tofulfillitsownfoundationalmyths.Evenasthe of heightenedglobalconsciousnessabouttheUnitedStates’ Davis’s trialstandsoutprecisely because itrevealsamoment all who fight against racism.’” authorities who brought charges against her is ‘to terrorize crime is thatshea‘blackwoman.’Therealaimofthe on anyevidence, but area‘fraud and aframeup.’ Her only ‘persecuted.’ The accusations made against her arenot based is notbeingheldtoanswercriminalcharges,she of rhetoricprevalentinherletterssupport:“MissDavis Marin County’s flagshipnewspaper, mockedtheverykind , One opinionpieceintheSanRafaelIndependentJournal mainstream consensusthatwouldsoonemerge. point, amomentoftransnationalresistanceagainstthe However, Davis’s trialcreated,ifnotacompleteinflection the 1970sasmanifestedinriseofmassincarceration. now, thislaw-and-orderrhetoricwonoutintheyearssince inal.’” our beautiful Comrade Angela is a terribly dangerous ‘crim- accredited judgeof‘loyalty’and‘patriotism,’then,indeed, are anappropriate executive; if a J.Edgar Hoover is the her, BettinaApthekerarguablyputitbest:“IfNixon-Agnew in allofthematerialssenttoDavisandcampaignfree determined totopplethestructureofAmericansociety.” 22 On June4,1972,anall-whitejuryfoundDavisnot Thisdevelopmentisparticularlyinterestinggiven 24 As is well-established by 26 AsMooresuggests, 25 Clearly, though, . . 23 .
Endnotes 22 Herbert Aptheker, “The Brave Free World,” September 1970, Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, 1 Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, “From a Cosmonaut,” Box 4, Folder Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York Public Library. 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and 23 “Violence and Terrorism Homegrown, Not Imported,” San Rafael Rare Books Division, New York Public Library. Independent Journal, September 30, 1970, Box 5, Folder 1, Angela Davis 2 George N. Katsiaficas,The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books of 1968 (Boston, MA: South End Pr., 1987), 23–27. Division, New York Public Library. 3 Ibid., 17. 24 “Criminal Charges Ignored in Propaganda for Angela,” San Rafael 4 Jeremy Prestholdt, “Resurrecting Che: Radicalism, the Transnational Independent Journal, December 23, 1970, Box 5, Folder 1, Angela Davis Imagination, and the Politics of Heroes,” Journal of Global History 7, no. Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books 03 (2012): 509, doi:10.1017/s1740022812000307. Division, New York Public Library. 5 Huey Newton, for example, studied the works of anti-colonial leaders 25 Stern, “The Campaign to Free Angela Davis and Ruchell Magee.” and intellectuals, drawing from Frantz Fanon’s idea of the “lumpen 26 Ibid. proletariat” and taking lessons on socialism from Mao Zedong’s “little red book.” Che Guevara was immortalized after his death in the roman- ticized, iconic image of the Heroic Guerilla, which molded him as “a Works Cited symbol of sociopolitical possibility and as a revolutionary role model.” See Huey P. Newton, Revolutionary Suicide (New York: Harcourt Brace Abernathy, Ralph. “I Bring an Indictment against the American Jovanovich, 1973), pp. 87–88; see also, Prestholdt, “Resurrecting Che,” System.” 1971. In World Magazine, February 1971. Box 511. 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, 6 Cynthia Ann Young, Soul Power: Culture, Radicalism, and the Making of Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York a U.S. Third World Left (Durham: Duke University Press, 2009), pp. 185–206, https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822388616. Public Library. 7 Sol Stern, “The Campaign to Free Angela Davis and Ruchell Magee,” New York Times, June 27, 1971, http://movies2.nytimes.com/ Aptheker, Bettina. The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis. books/98/03/08/home/davis-campaign.html. 2nd ed. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press, 1999. 8 Antulia Parrilla Bonilla, “Statement of Roman Catholic Bishop Antulio Parrilla Bonilla, S.J., of Puerto Rico, in Mexico City,” Box 4, Folder 14, Aptheker, Herbert, “The Brave Free World.” September 1970. Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Books Division, New York Public Library. Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York 9 “Declaration Concerning the Case of Angela Davis,” December 10, Public Library. 1970, Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York Public Bernstein, Hilda. For Their Triumphs for Their Tears: Women in Library. Apartheid South Africa. London: International Defence and Aid 10 Dolores Ibarruri, “To the Woman of Europe and America!” Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Fund for Southern Africa, 1985. Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York Public Library. 11 Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova to Angela Davis, Box 4, Folder 14, Bonilla, Antulia Parrilla. “Statement of Roman Catholic Bishop Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Antulio Parrilla Bonilla, S.J., of Puerto Rico, in Mexico City.” Books Division, New York Public Library. Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, 12 Young, Soul Power, 204. Young also discusses how Davis herself helped Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York formulate the idea of political prisoners in an essay which she wrote Public Library. while awaiting trial in jail, which she later included in If They Come in the Morning. See Angela Y. Davis, If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance (London; New York: Verso, 2016). “Declaration Concerning the Case of Angela Davis,” December 13 Florence Mophosho to Angela Davis, May 12, 1970, Box 4, Folder 14, 10, 1970, Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, Books Division, New York Public Library. New York Public Library. 14 Mrs. Pak Jung Hyun to Angela Davis, January 15, 1971, Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Dubois, Shirley Graham. “Appeal of Mrs. Shirley Graham Rare Books Division, New York Public Library. Dubois.” Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense 15 Misook Lee, “The Japan-Korea Solidarity Movement in the 1970s and Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, 1980s: From Solidarity to Reflexive Democracy,”Asia-Pacific Journal 12, New York Public Library. no. 1 (2014): 2. 16 Arab Women’s League of Jordan to Angela Davis, March 8, 1971, Box Ibarruri, Dolores. “To the Woman of Europe and America!” 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York Public Library. Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, 17 Ibid. Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York 18 Ibid. Public Library. 19 Bettina Aptheker, The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis, 2nd ed (Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press, 1999), 211. Katsiaficas, George N.The Imagination of the New Left: A Global 20 Katsiaficas, The Imagination of the New Left, p. 17. Analysis of 1968. Boston, MA: South End Pr., 1987. 21 Shirley Graham Dubois, “Appeal of Mrs. Shirley Graham Dubois,” Box 4, Folder 14, Angela Davis Legal Defense Collection, Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division, New York Public Library.
121 122 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Young, CynthiaAnn.SoulPower:Culture, Radicalism,andthe “What IsthePIC?WhatAbolition?”CriticalResistance. Stern, Sol.“TheCampaigntoFreeAngelaDavisandRuchell Prestholdt, Jeremy. “ResurrectingChe:Radicalism,the Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, Valentina. “FromaCosmonaut.” Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, Valentina toAngelaDavis.Letter. Newton, HueyP. Suicide.NewYork: Revolutionary HarcourtBrace Murch, Donna.“To RemaketheWorld: Slavery, Racial Mophosho, FlorencetoAngelaDavis,May12,1970.Letter. Press, 2009.https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822388616. Making ofaU.S.Third World Left.Durham:DukeUniversity about/not-so-common-language/. Accessed December20,2018.http://criticalresistance.org/ com/books/98/03/08/home/davis-campaign.html. Magee.” s1740022812000307. 7,no.03(2012):506–26.doi:10.1017/ ofGlobalHistory Journal Transnational Imagination,and thePoliticsofHeroes.” Public Library. Manuscripts, Archives,andRareBooksDivision,NewYork Box 4,Folder14,AngelaDavisLegalDefenseCollection, Public Library. Manuscripts, Archives,andRareBooksDivision,NewYork Box 4,Folder14,AngelaDavisLegalDefenseCollection, Jovanovich, 1973. capitalism-and-justice/donna-murch-history-matters. http://bostonreview.net/forum/remake-world-slavery-racial- Capitalism, andJustice.”BostonReview, February20,2018. Public Library. Manuscripts, Archives,andRareBooksDivision,NewYork Box 4,Folder14,AngelaDavisLegalDefenseCollection, New York Times, June27,1971,http://movies2.nytimes. Mestizaje: Iterations of Settler Colonialism Mariana Rivera, University of Texas at Austin
Mariana Rivera is an English and Mexican-American & and reap the benefits of the conditions requiring a decoloni- Latino/a/x Studies double major at The University of Texas zation. This paper focuses on Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/ at Austin. They research the intersection between Chicano/a/x La Frontera: The New Mestiza as an example of the afore- cultural performance, identity formation, and Mexican holidays. mentioned incommensurability between decolonization and They intend to pursue a PhD in Latino/a/x Studies and in settlers. Instead of being a decolonial text, I argue that their free time they love writing poetry, photography, and jigsaw Borderlands presents to readers a salvaging of settler hege- puzzles. mony through the appropriation of indigeneity and thus maintaining settler control over Indigenous land. Anzaldúa considers the borderlands as both a physical location— the Abstract U.S. Southwest— as well as a metaphysical location— a space where Chicanas/os/x exist as a “state of soul” (Anzaldúa 84) Since it was first published in 1987, Gloria Anzaldúa’s that seeks to shatter the U.S.-Mexico border and “disengage has become a Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza from the dominant culture, write it off altogether as a lost seminal text for Latino/a/x Studies, Women’s and Gender cause, and cross the border into a wholly new and separate Studies, and Queer Studies undergraduate and graduate territory” (101). For the purpose of this paper, I make the curricula. At the core of is the theorization of Borderlands borderlands as physical location the focus of the first two “mestiza consciousness,” informed by Anzaldúa’s own expe- sections: colonial equivocation and settler nativism, and the rience as a Chicana lesbian living on the U.S. side of the metaphysical borderlands the focus of the last two sections: U.S.-Mexico border. To be a mestiza is to negotiate daily the settler adoption fantasies and conscientization. I use Eve maligned Indigenous mother and the colonizing Spaniard Tuck and K. Wayne Yang’s paper “Decolonization is not a father that make up a Chicana’s identity and her history. metaphor” to analyze how Borderlands, with a special atten- In this way, a Chicana can pluralistically engage with her tion to its primary epistemology— mestiza consciousness dualism and find agency in her ambivalence rather than her theory— misappropriates decolonization, renders decoloni- subjugation. Thus, “mestiza consciousness” is considered an zation an empty signifier, and ultimately maintains settler epistemology that aims to decolonize, reconsider, and resist control over Native land. Specifically, “Decolonization is not Anglo imperialism and Anglo settler colonialism. It is my a metaphor” is germane to my arguments on how mestizaje intention herein to challenge this assessment. Specifically, I and mestiza consciousness seek to stand in for decoloni- argue that conflating Chicana identity with indigeneity is in zation through the theorization of “settler moves to inno- itself a form of settler colonialism. Since the ultimate goal cence” where settlers evade our monopoly over Indigenous of settler colonialism is to eliminate the Native, ’ Borderlands land in order to “reconcile settler guilt and complicity, and understanding of decolonization resettles Native land in an rescue settler futurity” (Tuck, Yang 1). attempt to rescue mestiza settler sovereignty.
Colonial Equivocation
Acknowledgements A way to retain settler sovereignty is through the I would like to acknowledge that the land this essay avowal that the settler has a sovereign right to control and was written on belongs to the traditional territory of a own land whether that be through a white supremacist belief number of Indigenous peoples— specifically the Apache, the in that the settler has a divine right to the land, or a mis- Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Kickapoo Tribe of placed belief that the settler’s relationship to land is akin to Texas, the Ysleta del sur Pueblo, the Lipan Apache Tribe, the relationship Indigenous peoples removed from their land the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians, and the Coahuitlecan. have. The latter occurs in Borderlands when Chicanas/os/x’ Additionally, Texas is and has been home to the Caddo, relationship to land places itself in tandem to Indigenous Comanche, Kiowa, Wichita, Chickasaw, and Waco nations. people’s relationship to land and when the mythical location I honor and thank the Indigenous peoples connected to this of Aztlán is deployed to physically tie Chicanas/x to the territory and give gratitude to this land on which I write. borderlands. In the introductory chapter, “The Homeland, Aztlán: El otro México,” Anzaldúa maps out the Borderlands, putting a thumbtack on Aztlán, the mythical site from which Mestizaje: Iterations of Settler Colonialism Aztecs migrated (26). Anzaldúa elaborates that the extension of Spanish colonization into the U.S. Southwest constituted As settlers, decolonization is not a process that “for the Indians, a return to the place of origin, Aztlán, thus belongs to us. To decolonize is to return stewardship of making Chicanas/os/x originally and secondarily indigenous lands to whom they belong to— Indigenous people across to the Southwest” (Anzaldúa 5). Anzaldúa’s analysis uses the globe. Thus, by definition, settlerscannot decolonize that land to situate Chicanas/os/x within Spanish colonization which we retain an empire over, for it is settlers that built in a status of colonized subjects. Anzaldúa’s identification 123 124 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 was stolen from— do notinvolvethereturnoflandtohandsfromwhichit over the same land; for unless the terms of decolonization via landappropriationnaturallymaintainssettlercontrol to claimthatbirthright.Chicana/o/xattemptsdecolonize “return totheplaceoforigin”alsoisacallforChicanas/os/x Chicana/o/x birthrighttotheU.S.Southwest.Further, a of Aztlánasa“homeland”forChicanas/os/xsignifies write, “callingeverythingbythe samename(colonized) Chicanas/os/x are not settlers. Eve Tuck and K. Waye Yang the Chicana/o/xexperience,one thingwouldneedtobetrue: violence thatensuesfromsettler colonialismtobetrueof once againthisiscolonialequivocation. Inorderforthe due toChicana/o/xstatusascolonizedsubjects.However, tler colonialismandinternalasinterchangeable Yang 5).Anzaldúasituatesthedecolonizingmethodsfor set- found epistemic,ontological,cosmologicalviolence”(Tuck, ruption of Indigenous relationshipstolandrepresentsa pro- new homeandsourceofcapital,alsobecausethedis- This isbothbecausethesettlersmakeIndigenouslandtheir ereignty: “Landiswhatmostvaluable,contested,required. ogy requirestheexplicitreturnofIndigenouslandandsov- colonialism. Settlercolonialism’s decolonizationmethodol- onization contextualizesthisclaimwithintherealmofsettler committing colonialequivocation. settler colonialismasamisnomerforinternalcolonialism, own family. However, her decolonial theorization utilizes workers wereexploitedfortheirlabor, aswasAnzaldúa’s took placeintheU.S.Southwest,whereChicano/a/xfarm case ofAnzaldúa,theinternalcolonizationsheexperienced ceration, segregation, criminalization, among others. In the colonialism aresurveillance,laborexploitation,massincar imperial nation”(Tuck, Yang 4).Someexamplesofinternal land, floraandfaunawithinthe‘domestic’bordersof “the biopoliticalandgeopoliticalmanagementofpeople, guide myanalysis. Theystatethat internal colonialism nialism. I use Tuck and Yang’s definition of thetermto nationalist movement of the 1960’s, wason thus decolonizationissomethingthatbothgroupsrequire. nization totheChicano/a/xexperienceofcolonizationand subjects.” It conflates the Indigenous experienceofcolo- make decolonizationsomethingneededbyall“colonized flation ofseveralformscolonization.Whatthisdoesis Yang 17).Inotherwords,colonialequivocationisthecon- of variousexperiencesoppressionascolonization”(Tuck, and Yang callcolonialequivocation.Itis“thehomogenizing a “settlermovetoinnocence”(Tuck, Yang 1)inwhatTuck less of their subalternity in relation to white supremacy. us aresettlers’” (17).Chicanas/os/xaresettlers, regard- is deceptively embracive and vague, its inference: ‘none of The deploymentofAztlántojustifyaclaimdecol- Anzaldúa’s focus,muchlike that of theChicano i.e., Indigenous peoples— what occurs is internal colo- internal .
. is is
- 1 . .
the voicesthat speak tomesimultaneously”(77). Butthat firms thisaccessibility andcoexistencewhen she writes:“all access to the colonizer/colonized dichotomy. Anzaldúa con- transitory stateimpliesthatit grantstothemestizaequal between thetwo.Positioning mestizaconsciousness in a Indigenous sideoraSpanishside, ratherthetransition os/x, then,mestizaconsciousness isnotsomuchaboutan ual transition”(78)ratherthan gression. ForChicanas/ binary betweencolonizerandcolonizedisa“stateofperpet- tiza consciousnessinorderforaChicana/o/xtobreakthe the nameofbook. Anzaldúa positsthatadopting mes- Transgression involves breakingbinaries and borders,hence sion, morphing instead into the side andtheirSpanishcolonizerbreaksthetransgres- their stateofaccessingbothcolonizedIndigenous mestizas “areallculturesatthesametime”(Anzaldua77), basic foundationofmestizaconsciousnessandbecause tialist) characteristicofChicanas/os/x. with a tangible, biological, and phenotypical (albeit essen- sciousness directlylinksametaphysical,internalprocess Anzaldúa’s namingofthis“nepantlastate”asmestizacon- Indigenous people, who are violently colonized subjects. an agentindecolonizationandlinkstheChicana/o/xwith gle offlesh,entrails)metaphoricallymakestheChicana/o/x violent language(brutalizing,policing,struggle,war, strug- gods outof[their]entrails”(44).Anzaldúa’s suggestively borders, aninnerwar”(78)inorderto“fashion[their]own tions” (79) and “undergoes a struggleofflesh, a struggleof (23), the Chicana/o/x “[develops] a tolerance for contradic- Having “thespirit[that]spurshertofightforownskin” Thus their“ambiguity”becomesaspaceforcontestations. inhabit aswellareheldcaptivebyan“enemybody”(22). Indian in us,” “brutalizing” the indigeneity, Chicanas/os/x of conflict between colonizer and colonized: “policing the description thematicallyplacesChicanas/os/xinastatus Indigenous motherandtheSpanishcolonizerfather. This o/x istornbetweentwocultures— (Anzaldua 78).AnzaldúaidentifiesthetwowaysaChicana/ mental nepantilism,”thatis,“meaningtornbetweenways” neity. She calls mestiza consciousness “a constant stateof connect Chicana/o/xsettler sovereignty, land, and indige- “decolonial” theoryismestizaconsciousness.Sheusesitto Settler Nativism ing dominionoverstolenlandandresources. land existsinthemetaphysicaland“ancestral”whileexercis- of settlementinrelationtoland.Chicana/o/x/relationship relation tothewhitesettlerisnot?oneofoppressionbut to land is irreconcilable.Chicanas/os/xsubaltern position in Chicana/o/x relationshiptolandandIndigenous This transgressive, transnational nepantilism is the The vehiclethat Anzaldúa uses topush forward her : mestizaje.transformative as themalignedraped itself access and coexistence is loaded with irreconcilability that are not intended as “[a] theory of inclusivity” (Anzaldúa 77) redefines decolonization and molds it into a shape suitable as Anzaldúa posits, rather one of exclusivity. Its goal is to to the settler. This attempt at decolonization is exactly an eliminate the “inferior” indigeneity and blackness, to obscure act of settlement that desires “to reconcile . . . just as relent- both into elimination. Mestiza consciousness theory assures less[ly] as the desire to disappear the Native” (Tuck, Yang those that practice it will find agency in accessing a maligned 9). For a Chicana/o/x to access indigeneity, indigeneity indigeneity. However, the origins of mestiza consciousness would have to be readily available to her. According to mes- cannot be overlooked. It’s yet another settler colonial proj- tiza consciousness, Indigenous heritage makes indigeneity ect and to deploy it as a decolonial methodology renders available to Chicanas. Tuck and Yang call this locating of decolonization empty and does so violently. Furthermore, an Indigenous ancestor settler nativism. It is a claim “used to the act of conceiving of mestiza consciousness as “including” mark themselves as blameless in the attempted eradication indigeneity also erases Natives. It erases Natives because it of Indigenous peoples” with the goal of “deflect[ing] set- seeks to assimilate indigeneity into a mestiza identity, that tler privilege and occupying stolen land” (11). Enunciating is to “become without becoming [Indian]” (Tuck, Yang 14) Indigenous ancestry as a bridge for a Chicana/o/x to reclaim in settler adoption fantasies, where the Native “hands over his that ancestry and decolonizing their own “enemy bod[ies],” land, his claim to the land, his very Indian-ness to the settler at last making peace with it does settle because the Native for safekeeping” (Tuck, Yang 14). Mestizaje is a prolific site is once more eliminated. A claim to Indigenous ancestry for settler adoption fantasies. The success of mestiza con- implies that there are no Indigenous peoples today, that the sciousness theory as a decolonial struggle rides on the death only way to access indigeneity is by looking at the past, thus of Indigenous people. To attempt to assimilate indigeneity erasing the native, leaving settler colonialism as a historical into a settler god complex is to kill the very indigeneity event. Thus, the mestizaje promoted in Borderlands is one mestiza consciousness seeks to celebrate. Under a defini- that is committed to proclaiming Indigenous people as dead, tion of settler colonialism, Indigenous death is required in living only through the Chicana/o/x and thus reifying a order for the settler to thrive in Indigenous land. In this Chicano/a/x settler claim to decolonization. way, Borderlands’ mestiza consciousness theory requires the removal of Indigenous people and their displacement into Settler Adoption Fantasies the metaphysical, the imaginary. The imaginary signals an interaction between the metaphorical and the phenotypical. Even more problematic, settler nativism as a means In this next section, I will elaborate on the way mestiza con- to transition between colonizer/colonized (and therefore sciousness as a decolonial method subverts the definition of decolonize the dichotomy) renders decolonization an empty decolonization through conscientization. signifier. The original goal of mestizaje as a political device was to eliminate the native via assimilation and absorption in Conscientization what Tuck and Yang call settler adoption fantasies, placing it at odds with Anzaldúa’s decolonial purposes. Mestiza con- Vasconcelos’ statement that “the Indian has no other sciousness derives from mestizaje, the result of Indigenous door to the future but the door of modern culture, nor and Spanish miscegenation. Mestizaje was conceptualized any other road but the road already cleared by Latin civ- by Mexican writer Jose Vasconcelos in his essay, “La Raza ilization” (407) merits special attention. Vasconcelos fan- Cósmica.” According to Vasconcelos, with continual mis- tasizes an elimination of the native via its assimilation and cegenation, a “superior race” would be born. In imagining absorption into subaltern subjects. Mestiza consciousness a race strengthened because of “an ethnic stock in forma- exemplifies this process. First, when mestiza consciousness tion . . . destined to prevail over its ancestors” (Vasconcelos situates the Indigenous within Chicanas, by assimilating indi- 408), I raise the question, if the point of mestizaje is to geneity within mestizaje as Tuck and Yang suggest, it writes miscegenate all races indefinitely until the “superior” qual- Indigenous peoples as dead: that there are no Indigenous ities of that miscegenation becomes tangible, how does one people today, that they are not still violently colonized sub- identify whether the miscegenated product is of superior jects, and more perniciously, that settler colonialism is an quality to its predecessors? Vasconcelos writes: “Los tipos event, not a structure. Second, mestiza consciousness entraps bajos de la especie serán absorbidos por el tipo superior. De esta decolonization into the self, into the confines of the mestiza’s suerte podría redimirse, por ejemplo, el negro, y poco a poco, por “[subconscious] underground” (Anzaldúa 79) in order for extinción voluntaria, las estirpes más feas irán cediendo el paso a the mestiza to “break down the subject-object duality that las más hermosas” (Vasconcelos 42).2 He extends this “volun- keeps her a prisoner” (80). Mestiza consciousness, then, is a tary extinction” to Indigenous people: “The Indian has no personal labor of “decolonization”: “the struggle has always other door to the future but the door of modern culture, nor been inner and is played out in the outer terrains” (87). This any other road but the road already cleared by Latin civili- settler move to innocence is conscientization. Conscientization zation” (Vasconcelos 407). Thus, promotions of mestizaje is a move to “focus on decolonizing the mind, or the 125 126 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 dow inwhich a mestizesettlercanseesome semblance the dichotomy is notaconcretewall,butreflective win- the fact that the dichotomy itself is myth; that for mestize, dichotomy betweencolonizedand colonizer, thetext ignores prosperity over Indigenous land. In seeking to go past a ory does not promise decolonization— Borderlands’ ideologicalnexusofmestizaconsciousness the- elimination of the Native in order to replace the Native. exploitation, accumulationofresourcesandultimatelythe tions of landedness; questions of land as a site for settler Concluding Thoughts settler state. so-called United States ofAmerica wouldnolonger bea decolonization wouldhavebeencompletedbynowandthe when conscientizationcantaketheplaceofdecolonization, nialism as well as gaslights actual Indigenous peoples for land byhavingthemetaphysicalstandinforsettlercolo- erases thenotionthatsettlersretainempireoverIndigenous beyond theconfinesof“decolonizingmind”specifically low andself-servingone.Adecolonizationthatdoesnotspan the decolonizationrequiredbysettlercolonialismisashal- within theindividualthatexpandsitselftoholdmeaningfor ditions ofsettlercolonialism.Adecolonizationtakingplace thecon- Mestiza consciousnesssimultaneouslydeconstructs decolonization whileretainingcontroloverIndigenousland. onized ornot,cantakewhatevermeaningtheydesirefrom decolonization asa“one-size-fits-all”whereallsubjects,col- consciousness createsanelasticdecolonization,constructing and sovereignty— suspending the nature of decolonization— sciousness turnsdecolonizationintoanamorphousprocess, towards liberation”(Tuck, Yang 7).Borderlands’ mestizacon- nization into anempty signifier to be filled by any track contradictory decolonial desires because it turns decolo- the conscientization, it “allows people to equivocate these (79). Whenindigeneityisentrappedintheimaginary, in dictions via ametaphysical,internalprocessof“sustain[ing]contra- 3) requiringhealing,anditsdynamicsbeingdecolonization and beforeascabformsithemorrhagesagain”(Anzaldúa where theThirdWorld gratesagainstthefirstandbleeds being aChicana’s relationshipto land, the “open wound its derivation but its dynamics with it as well. Its derivation to “metamorphose” wounds” (70).Whatmestizaconsciousnesstheorythatseeks world wherepeopleflythroughtheair, healfrommortal state of colonizer/colonized to “metamorphose into another consciousness emphasizes“shifting”throughthetransitory task ofrelinquishingstolenland”(Tuck, Yang 19).Mestiza of decolonization cultivation ofcriticalconsciousness,asifitwerethesoleactivity Questions ofdecolonizationwillalwaysincludeques- . . . turn[ing] the ambivalence into something else” . turn[ing]theambivalenceintosomethingelse” . . into asimilaramorphousness.Mestiza . to stand in for the more uncomfortable . tostandinforthemoreuncomfortable the transitory state neglects is not only the transitorystateneglectsisnotonly
it promises settler return of land ————————. ————————. Vasconcelos, Jose.TheCosmicRace,editedbyO’Brien,Elaine,and Tuck, EveandK.Wayne Yang. “Decolonizationisnota Anzaldua, Gloria.Borderlands/La Frontera:TheNewMestiza.Aunt Works Cited Endnotes steps towardsthereturnoftheirsovereigntytothem. Indigenous peoples and makes room for actual, tangible within colonizationmakespossiblethereturnoflandto to decolonization within it. Understanding our positionality consciousness theoryinthesamewaythatthereisnomeans they tooarecolonizedsubjects.Thereisnounityinmestiza Chicano/a/x benefits fromwhitenessbecause viamestizaje, makes usallcolonized.Italsowouldn’t matterthatawhite police brutalitythanotherChicanos/as/xbecausemestizaje that BlackChicanos/as/xaresubjecttoahigherrateof race andclass.Ifwe’reallmestize,thenitwouldn’t matter tion homogenizesChicanos/as/xwhichflattensnuancesof Additionally, mestizaconsciousnessasapoliticoflibera- means toaccessdecolonization:settlerscannotdecolonize. quality, revealing toitsreadersmestizaconsciousness’paradoxical nization, makingtheactualdecolonizationunnecessary. In all needing decolonizing, then no one benefits from colo- When mestizaje makes its subjects all colonized and thus nized subjectsobscuresformsofcolonizationintoopacity. muddling thetwo.Makingmestizajeamisnomerforcolo- fusion betweensubalternityandindigeneity, blurringand her own theorization of the same indicates settlers’ con- That mestizajefascinatedAnzaldúaandthatshecreated and zation isresponsibleforresettlementofIndigenousland with thewhitesettler. Mestizajeasameans to decoloni- 2 1 K. Coffey, RobertTejada, Blackwell Publishing,2013. Everlyn Nicodemus,MelissaChiu, BenjaminGenocchio,Mary No. 1,2012,pp.1–40. metaphor.” Lute Books,1987. English translation:“Theinferiorraceswillbeabsorbedbythesuperior Borderlands/La FronteraactsaspartialautobiographywhereAnzaldúa more beautifulones.” little, byvoluntaryextinction,theuglierlineageswillgivewayto races. Inthismanner, theblackpersoncouldredeemhimself,littleby New Mestiza(AuntLuteBooks:1987)31. her father’s experienceasasharecropper, seeBorderlands/La Frontera:The provides perspectiveontheagribusinessofRioGrandeValley and Borderlands’ theorizationofitisaprolificsiteforthis. Borderlands divulges the error in usingmestizaje as a Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education&Society,Vol. 1, La razacósmica,8thed.,México:Espasa,1984. Come, Medea, to be, to pass, to matter: On Latin American Reception Ana Santory Rodríguez, Wesleyan University
Ana Santory Rodríguez was originally a student at the center around Medea’s otherness.3 Focusing on European University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, majoring in performative tradition, she identifies Hans Henny Jahn’s Comparative Literature, Art History, and Modern Languages. 1926 expressionist Medea as the first of these versions that After Hurricane Maria, she transferred to Wesleyan University explored the character’s otherness in ethnic and racial terms. to complete her BA in Classical Studies. Since graduating with Then it was the rise of Nazism; a few years later, on the Honors, she is set to enter the Bridge MA at the University of other side of the world, Latin American Medeas— othered Michigan’s Department of Classical Studies and so begin her for their own reasons— would come to be in equally turbu- graduate school journey. lent times.
In this paper, I first offer an overview of the his- Abstract torical context in which Medea helped articulate Latin American narratives before outlining the ways in which As perhaps the most widely known play of Euripides, Latin American authors made use of both Euripides’s play his Medea still startles us with the moral shock of its conclu- and his character while also elucidating the politic nature sion— probably as much as it surprised the original audience of the ancient drama. Finally, I turn to Agostinho Olavo’s in 431BCE. No one expected Medea to kill her own children 1961 Além do Rio as an example of Medea’s reception in only to fly off into the horizon— terrible and triumphant. Latin American literature before concluding with some final Like many ancient texts, Medea is still part of contemporary thoughts on her particular appeal. transgressive dialogues: it does more than evoke the past; it also creates new spaces and registers for the negotiation The South Also Exists: Latin America and Classical Reception of identity— moral, social, historical, aesthetic, and even political. Based on the introduction to my senior thesis, this First then, it is important to point out that the wave paper outlines the ways in which Latin American authors of revolutions that had begun in the 19th century was crash- made use of both Euripides’s play and his character during ing to an end during the first half of the 20th, birthing many the 20th century, looking to Agostinho Olavo’s Além do Rio of the Latin American countries that we recognize today.4 while elucidating the politic nature of the ancient drama. Old systems of alliances were breaking down and new ones were taking shape. For example, in 1961, President John F. Kennedy inaugurated the Alliance for Progress in order Acknowledgements to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. And yet, the following year he invoked the I am thankful for my family, the greatest gift I’ve ever Monroe Doctrine to quarantine Cuba during the missile cri- known; for my professors at the UPR, who told me to go sis— what became just one more instance in the long pattern so I could come back; for my friends, past and present; for of justifications for U.S. interventions in Latin America.5 As the Mellon Mays Fellowship and for Professor Eudell, who President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Chronic wrong- never once let me doubt this project; and for Wesleyan’s doing . . . may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require Department of Classical Studies, who welcomed me in the intervention by some civilized nation.”6 In this way, the aftermath of a storm. socio-political landscape of 20th century Latin America It takes a village, so here’s to mine. was marked by the revolutions of the first half and the sub- sequent negotiations of the second— not just between the European powers and the Americas but within the continent The binarism between “self” and “other” is a dis- as a whole. In short, everything was up for grabs. cursive normative practice that can and should be 1 detonated. It was to this tremulous stage that dozens of Latin American Medeas were born— penned and published all Euripides’ Medea is a play about many things: the over: in Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Cuba, and wretched social condition of women, the bonds of oaths, Brazil, among others.7 Notably, José Triana’s Medea in the the trappings of heroism, the righteousness of vengeance, Mirror debuted just one year after the Cuban Revolution; and the dangers of discourse.2 It is necessary to keep this it was then rapidly (and mysteriously) banned.8 A year later, in mind when considering the play’s widespread recep- during a democratic interlude in Brazil’s history,9 Agostinho tion in Latin America during the second half of the 20th Olavo’s Medea was published in an anthology compiled century. Classicists and Latin Americanists alike have pro- by Abdias do Nascimento as part of a socio-artistic move- posed Medea’s alterity— her gender, her foreignness, her ment that aimed to vindicate artistic Afro-Brazilian produc- magic— as the fundamental reason for her popularity. Fiona tion in the face of the country’s supposed racial democracy. Macintosh, for instance, notes that it was precisely in the Therefore, individual plays like these should be understood 20th century that dramatic treatments of the myth began to 127 128 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 and Medeainturn. spelled outinapairofopposingspeechesdeliveredbyJason the ancientdrama:itisagôn, the OldWorld. and moralitybypositioningLatinAmericainoppositionto functions asanarrativemodelforthenegotiationofidentity civilization. Ininstancessuchasthese,Medea because of his intervention as their savior, would now know to theedgesofworldandencounteredsavageswho, who, insearchofgoldforthepurposesakingdom,sailed and castsChristopherColumbusastheArgonaut:aman Harp andtheShadow), ing symboloftheNewWorld inthefaceofoldone. appears inLatinAmericanreceptionsasanall-encompass- and law, and sheherselfisknown. no longer lives among barbarians, she understands justice their marriagethanshehasevergiven:thankstohim, sanctimoniously remindsherthatshehasgottenmorefrom Medea: Who,What,Where? Medea’s ownalterity. this historical environment nuances the specific allure of Furthermore, awareness of the contextual complexities of that ledtoLatinAmericanreceptionofEuripides’Medea. when interrogatingthelargerframeworksandmotivations both the intricate diversity that the term implies, not least alist interventions. States, othersarguethatitwascoinedtojustifyneo-imperi- unity inthefaceofthreateninghegemonyUnited While somenowidentifythetermasarallyingcryfor to effectivelylumpallsouthernneighborsintoonegroup. advanced byU.S.federalagenciesinthe20thcenturysoas the 19th century; but its use as a panethnic catch-all was as acategory?Theregionaltermitselfwasestablishedin America. embedded astheyarewithinthelargernarrativeofLatin as particularexamplesofreceptionintheirownright, century. ing the way for her Latin American counterparts in the 20th Medea struggledtofreeherself backin431BCE,thuslight- both colonialandcolonizing— their meeting.Evennowin2020 thisisafamiliarnarrative, manages todenyMedeaagency, credibility, andmeritbefore Malinche. use of Medea as the mythical referent for Doña Marina, La Apprentice Alejo Carpentier’s onlyplay, Laaprendiz(TheWitch’s debruja The keytounderstandingthisliesattheheartof As ElinaMirandaCancelanotes,Medeaoften And yet,what does “Latin America”evenmean ), 12
Inoneofhisnovels,Elarpaylasombra(The written in 1956 and published in 1985, makes 10 Itisthereforeimperativetorecognize 13 Unfazedbyhiswife’s anger, Jason Carpentier focusesonJasoninstead one fromwhichEuripides’ the play’s centralconflict, 14 Injust20lines,Jason (the play) 11
woman andahumiliatedwife,asGreekbarbarian. sive identities:Medeaissimultaneouslycastasapowerful is playingwithtensionsthatarisebetweenseeminglyexclu- fellow-Greeks atthestartofwar. the articulationofnewanddisturbing“differences” among DuBois evensuggeststhatgenderinMedeaisametaphorfor besieged bytheirowncontradictionscanreach, citizen’s dutyandprivilege. performing aproperlycivicfunction— is, enfranchisedmales)since they wereconsideredtobe Medea’s PoliticPoetics participatory levels. tunity (once or twice a year) for political reflection at all the government’s machinery;rather, itprovided anoppor by thepolisdoesnotmeanthattragedywasmerelyapartof it couldbereadasapoliticalallegoryofitstime. the PeloponnesianWar began,scholarshaveproposed that Considering thatEuripides’playwaspresentedtheyear of itssocio- ities ofMedea’s alterityand,insodoing,laybaretheseams production, thesereceptionsunfurltheconstitutiveplural- very peoplewhorejecther. Asbefittingtheircontextof Medea shedslight on the Greeks: sheiscreatedby the ment onherownsociety, muchthesamewayEuripides’ The characterthusservesasameanstocriticallycom- vance— assume thattheplay’s issueswouldhavehadobviousrele- while graspingforsomepoweroftheirown.We cansafely against each other— against thePersians,Greekcity-stateswereturning her whitehusbandinfavorofanhacendado’sdaughter. now she is a foreigner in Cuba like the Colchian princess was in Corinth; Latin America. For example, José Triana’s Medea is not a character toarticulatethemarginalizationofpeopleswithin othered— (re)invented in order to flesh out Latin America as actively to glorifythecity, sense. EventhoughtheCityDionysiawas public life,dramawasapoliticalphenomenoninitstruest honor ofDionysus.Thus,asanintrinsicpartthecity’s city’s religiouscalendar— of the Athenianstate,as part ofafixed celebrationin the staged by and for the porary audience. If Euripides’playexploresthelimitssomeone Moreover, someofthesereceptionsmakeusethe In fact,Atheniandramawasinherently political:itwas political, social,andpersonal— both inthefaceofitsformerempiresanditself. political construction.Thus,sheisrepeatedly mulata named Maria who is abandoned by 20 21 thefactthatfestivalwascontrolled Alltheactorshadtobecitizens (that polis, thanks to the power and support rebelling against Athens’ hegemony the CityDionysia,afestivalin 22
19 Onceaunitedfront attending wasbotha for itsthencontem- civic occasion 16 thenhe 18 Page 15 17 -
As for the audience, it is difficult to ascertain its exact reenacts herself as both— not split, but encompassing. I pro- makeup. We do know, however, that foreigners and metics pose that this is at the heart of Medea’s particular appeal to (non-citizen resident aliens) were present amid the citizenry Latin America: her alterity echoes the complexities of Latin majority. As for women and slaves, scholars do not eliminate American experience and helps to problematize the reduc- the possibility of their presence but, as Simon Goldhill tionist binary that generally characterizes North Atlantic points out, neither group is described in any surviving evi- modernity.30 To borrow Margaret Reynold’s turn of phrase, dence as part of the intended audience.23 This remains a we remember who she is,31 much the same way Derek contentious issue because, as Peter Burian reminds us, the Walcott recognizes Odysseus in the silhouette of a Black audience was an active accomplice in making the meaning of fisherman out on the Caribbean Sea.32 And yet, as I have the plays— plays which enacted narratives that explored and already noted the problems of generalizing 33 countries, reaffirmed a community, its power structures, practices, and it is necessary for receptionists to first focus on individual beliefs, as often as they questioned and challenged them.24 case studies— Olavo’s Além do Rio, Carpentier’s La aprendiz Thus, all these years later, Euripides’ Medea still plays its de bruja, Triana’s Medea in the Mirror, to name a few— and part; and so do we. so avoid proposing overarching interpretive frames and conclusions. Reading modern works like these within the Agostinho Olavo’s Além do Rio: A Case Study literary tradition from which they derive— and in connec- tion with the socio-cultural conditions that inform them I now turn to Agostinho Olavo’s Além do Rio, the and to which they respond— will enrich our understanding first BrazilianMedea . As far as the scholarship can attest, not only of what is reproduced, modified, or omitted when there has been only one attempt to stage Agostinho Olavo’s antiquity is transplanted into modernity— but also how and Além do Rio professionally: in 1966, five years after it had why. Though traditionally overlooked by classicists, these been published by their founder, the Teatro Experimental Medeas do well to remind us that there will be a reckoning do Negro (Black Experimental Theater, known as TEN) in the end. planned to present the play at the First World Festival of 25 Negro Arts in Senegal. Unfortunately, they were forbid- Endnotes den from doing so by Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Olavo’s Medea fell into oblivion, unstaged and untranslated. 1 Maria Cristina Fumagalli, Caribbean Perspectives on Modernity: Returning Medusa’s Gaze (University of Virginia Press, 2009), p. 79. An overview Now nearly 60 years later, I propose to look at Além do Rio of the play’s plot: despite her loyal service to her husband Jason, Medea, as a palimpsest— a kind of reception that preserves the dis- a foreign princess, is abandoned by him in favor of a Greek bride. Thus tinctness of individual texts while exposing how one bleeds bereft, she engineers the death of the new girl and her father, as well as her own children by Jason, leaving him in the dust. into the other.26 2 See notably Helene Foley’s “Medea’s Divided Self,” in Classical Antiquity, vol. 8, no. 1 (1989) for an analysis of Medea as showcasing the trappings From the very beginning, the characters’ names clue of heroism as embedded within the ambiguous relationship between us in to how Olavo made use of Euripides’ play— how both human ethics and social structure; and Deborah Boedeker’s “Euripides’ the story and the structure have been creolized.27 Even Medea and the Vanity of Logoi,” in Classical Philology, vol. 86, no. 2 (1991) on the tragedy’s fascination with logos. though the main characters have kept their ancient names, 3 Fiona Macintosh, Oliver Taplin, and Edith Hall, eds., Medea in all of them have been translated into Portuguese. The excep- Performance: 1500–2000 (Oxford: European humanities research centre tion is, of course, Medea.28 The name— the model— has of the University of Oxford, 2000), p. 21. been superimposed on Jinga, the African queen who lead her 4 For reference, though the Iberian powers lost most of their continental 29 colonies during the first half of the 19th century, Jamaica only declared people into slavery in the New World out of love for Jasão. its independence in 1962. In this way, Olavo presents Brazil as a stage for the inter- 5 In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan justified the intervention in play of Greek and African paradigms, a battlefield in which El Salvador and Nicaragua on the same grounds, while his successor these narratives are constructed, effected, and contested. George H.W. Bush similarly sanctioned the U.S. invasion of Panama to oust Manuel Noriega. At the dawn of the 21st century, Latin American Consequently, the play itself not only reads like a palimpsest; leaders like Hugo Chavez rose like symbols of the resistance against U.S. it functions as one, too: as a record of how different narra- imperialism. tives came to be together at a particular moment in time. 6 “Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1801–1829,” state. gov (Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State, 2019), emphasis mine. Notice the implication that All things are but alter’d— nothing dies. frames Latin Americans as with uncivilized wrongdoers in opposition to the civilizing U.S. Greek and Latin American, Medea negotiates the 7 Though their analysis is beyond the scope of this essay, 20th century fraught space between integration and exclusion. She raises titles that should be noted are: La selva by Juan Ríos (Perú, 1950); Malintzin (American Medea) by Jesús Sotelo Inclán (México, 1957); Gota questions of right, agency, and justice with an emphatic d’agua by Chico Buarque and Paulo Pontes (Brazil, 1975); El castillo inte- focus on how “belonging” is created, ensured, and ques- rior de Medea Camuñas by Pedro Santaliz (Puerto Rico, 1984); Medea de tioned. Defying either/or paradigms, she reaffirms and Moqueagua by Luis María Salvaneschi (Argentina, 1992); and Medea by Reinaldo Montero (Cuba, 1997). 129 130 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 22 21 20 19 18 Paul Cartledge,“‘DeepPlays’:TheatreasProcessinGreekCivic See D.M.Carter, ThePoliticsofGreek Tragedy (Exeter:BristolPhoenix Simon Goldhill,“TheAudienceofAthenianTragedy,” inTheCambridge See Chapter5ofPageDuBois’CentaursandAmazons:Women andthe For JasonandMedea’s relationshipasonebetweenstatesseeStewart Miranda Cancela,“MedeainHispanicAntilles,”p.68. See alsoJeanPierreVernant’s argumentthattragedyitself“isanexpres- In thecoloniesofSpanishEmpire,anhacendadoownedhacienda, Euripedes. Due totheformalconventionsoftragedy, speechesessentiallyservedas Marina wasaninterpreterandintermediaryfortheSpanish Elina MirandaCancela,“MedeainHispanicAntilles,”Aletria,vol.24, Rosa P. AndújarandKonstantinosP. Nikoloutsos,eds.,Greeks and Getúlio DornellesVargas’s dictatorshipranfrom1937to1945andthe Though Oxford’s ArchiveofPerformancesGreekandRomanDrama even illegitimate. looked downuponassomethingforeign,effeminate,fake,licentious,and how thisattitudediffersfromtheRomantheater, whereactingwas (Cambridge, U.K.:CambridgeUniversityPress,1997),p.18.Notice Life,” inTheCambridgeCompaniontoGreek Tragedy, ed.P. E.Easterling fifth-century Atheniantragedywasnot. Press, 2007),forhowmodernreceptionsarepoliticalinwaysthat Cambridge UniversityPress,1997),pp.54–68. Companion toGreek Tragedy, ed.P. E.Easterling(Cambridge,U.K.: Pre-History oftheGreat ChainofBeing(MichiganPress,1991). (1973), pp.1–24. also AnneBurnett’s “MedeaandtheTragedy ofRevenge,”CP the AmericanPhilologicalAssociation(1974-)108(1978),pp.69–74.See Flory’s “Medea’s RightHand:PromisesandRevenge”inTransactions of Books, 1990),p.25. divide amanagainsthimself”inMythandTragedy (NewYork: Zone sion ofatornconsciousness,anawarenessthecontradictionsthat the laborofenslavedpeople. plantations, mines,orfactories;allraneitherpartiallycompletelyon an estate(orfinca)similartoaRomanlatifundium.Somehaciendaswere Cambridge UniversityPress,2002,pp.535–541. Clarendon Press,1992. the actionofadrama.SeeLloyd,Michael.TheAgoninEuripides.Oxford: context. of theGreeks,makingthiscorrelationparticularlyloadedincolonial thought tobethemythologicalmotherofPersians,greatenemy victim, orsymbolicmothertotheMexicanpeople.Similarly, Medeawas conflicting aspectsastheembodimentoftreachery, thequintessential social andpoliticalperspectives:sheisunderstoodinvariousoften Her reputationhasbeenalteredovertheyearsaccordingtochanging Conquistador, HernánCortés,andmothertohisfirstbornchild,Martín. n.1 (2014),p.68. Academic, 2020),p.2. Romans ontheLatinAmericanStage(London,UK:Bloomsbury for theBrazilianMilitaryCoupd’État,1964.” began withacoupd’étatin1964.See“DocumentNo.12.U.S.Support military regimebackedbytheStateDepartmentofUnitedStates fails toofferanexplanation. (APGRD) notestheplaywasbannedbyCastroadministration,it Medea. EditedbyDonaldJ.Mastronarde.Cambridge: 68, no.3 Milestones intheHistoryofU.S.ForeignRelations:1801–1829.” Hall, Edith,FionaMacintosh,andOliverTaplin, eds.Medea Goldhill, Simon.“TheAudienceofAthenianTragedy.” InThe Fumagalli, MariaCristina.CaribbeanPerspectivesonModernity: Eastman, Helen.“Talking GreekswithDerekWalcott.” InThe DuBois, Page.CentaursandAmazons:Women andthePre-History of Plays’:TheatreasProcessinGreekCivic Cartledge, Paul.“‘Deep Cancela, ElinaMiranda.“MedeaEnLasAntillasHispánicas.” Bournot, Magdalena.“AlémDoRioandAnjoNegro:Black Andújar Rosa,andKonstantinosP. Nikoloutsos,eds.Greeks and Works Cited gov/milestones/1801–1829/monroe. United StatesDepartmentofState,2019.https://history.state. state.gov. Research Centre,UniversityofOxford,2000. 1500–2000.Oxford:EuropeanHumanities in Performance: pp. 54–68.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1997. Cambridge CompaniontoGreek Tragedy, editedbyP.E. Easterling, Press, 2009. MedusasGaze.Charlottesville:UniversityofVirginiaReturning Press, 2015. Patrice Rankine,pp.807–16.Oxford,UK:OxfordUniversity Kathryn Bosher, FionaMacintosh,JustineMcConnell,and Oxford HandbookofGreek DramaintheAmericas,editedby the Great ChainofBeing.UniversityMichiganPress,1991. University Press,1997. by P. E.Easterling,pp.3–35.Cambridge,U.K.:Cambridge Life.” InTheCambridgeCompaniontoGreek Tragedy, edited https://doi.org10.17851/2317–2096.24.1.67–80. Aletria: RevistaDeEstudosLiteratura24,no.1(2014):67–80. Coimbra, 2019. Fátima SousaeSilva,pp.55–70.ImprensadaUniversidadede Teresa AmadoRodríguez,BegoñaOrtegaVillaro andMaríade Medea.” InClásicosenEscenaAyer yHoy,editedbyMaría Experimental TheatreandItsRelationwiththeMythof New Delhi;Sydney:BloomsburyAcademic,2020. Romans ontheLatinAmericanStage.London;NewYork; Oxford; Office oftheHistorian,ForeignServiceInstitute, Redes sin Fronteras: Tracing Son Jarocho’s Transnational Musical Networks Isaiah Romo, University of New Mexico
Isaiah Romo recently graduated from the University of New Introduction Mexico, majoring in Latin American Studies with minors in Linguistics and Economics. His research focuses on transnational Over the last few decades, the musical practice of son music communities in and beyond the U.S.-Mexico border- jarocho has spread like wildfire throughout Mexico, the U.S., lands. Romo is a recipient of the Summer Foreign Language and beyond. Groups of amateur musicians are springing up Area Studies Fellowship for which he spent a summer studying in places like Tokyo, Toronto, Minnesota, and Paris— far the K’ichee’ language in Guatemala’s central highlands. In removed from the coastal state of Veracruz where the music Albuquerque, New Mexico, he is a member of the son jarocho was first formed and almost exclusively practiced prior to collective Las Brujas Jaranera. the 20th century. Today, son jarocho and its fandango have amassed a wide participant following that has come to rep- resent a deeply interconnected transnational community of Abstract musicians and practitioners. This study seeks to understand how this networked community has grown and continues This paper examines the growing presence of son to grow across a widening geographic and cultural expanse. jarocho in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Son jarocho, which formed in the coastal Mexican state of Veracruz, has its I argue that network analysis provides us with a par- roots in African, European, and Indigenous musical tradi- ticularly useful way of conceptualizing son jarocho’s grass- tions. It is centered around fandango celebrations that unite roots transition from a local to a global phenomenon. It people of different backgrounds in a community participa- reveals how son jarocho musical practice has flowed through tory form of song, dance, and instrumentation. My research direct human connections, where central “bridge actors,” as focuses on the liminal nature of the U.S.-Mexico border- defined by sociologist Mark Granovetter (1973), play a vital lands and how fronterizo hybridity shapes an increasingly role in helping to promote the custom. I endeavor to build a wider transnational community of son jarocho musicians. map that allows me to trace son jarocho’s transnational flows I use network analysis to trace son jarocho’s contemporary through individuals and broader community dynamics. By resurgence in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands— in cities such representing son jarocho’s spread on a network-wide scale, I as Albuquerque, Tijuana, Tucson, San Felipe, El Paso, and aim to uncover some of the deeply entangled links that the San Diego— through individual musicians and actors, social music has to other, seemingly external factors such as migra- media/globalized technologies, and local community fan- tion and social justice movements. dango celebrations. I argue that network analysis reveals how the structure and maintenance of the son jarocho network Methodology follows community organizing dynamics connected to other factors such as migration and grass-roots social justice My methodology draws upon a combination of par- movements. My study contributes to the knowledge of the ticipant observation and socio-network analysis. I use these cultural production of son jarocho in the U.S. and Mexico by as points of departure from which to think about commu- examining how multi-ethnic, multi-generational communi- nity networks on both a global and local scale. My own ties of son jarocho practitioners transform border music and experiences playing son jarocho as part of a collective in politics. Albuquerque have presented me with a valuable insider perspective on the community that I have begun to study. Combining this with socio-network analysis, a particularly Acknowledgements useful tool for modeling largescale networks and thinking about how socially connected individuals act in relationship I am most grateful to the members of the son jarocho to each other, has allowed me to gain important insights community for all the time and knowledge they have shared into the structure and maintenance of son jarocho community. with me. Thank you to Dr. Samuel Truett and Dr. Ana In thinking about the ways in which son jarocho has spread Alonso Minutti for the continued support and guidance beyond borders, I follow Alejandro Madrid’s notion of trans- throughout the research process. I’m also grateful to the national musical communities (Madrid, n.d.). Here, “indi- Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship program vidual and even communal experience takes place within and the program’s coordinator at the University of New imagined communities that transcend the nation-state as a Mexico, Dr. Kiyoko Simmons. unit of identification” (p. 8). While recognizing the real and material impacts that nation-state borders have in the world, I highlight the ways in which globally connected actors build community vis-à-vis and in spite of borders, seeking to chal- lenge the dominant logics by which they are constructed.
131 132 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 used as a percussive instrument, and the well asthequijadadeburro,oradonkeyjawbonewhichis which providetherhythmicandharmonicfoundationas ensemble isprimarilycomposedofstringedinstruments, Indigenous, musicalpractices(Sheehy, 1979).Thetypical syncretic musicalformwithrootsinAfrican,European,and goods, people,andcultures, the musicisrepresentativeofa coastal regionheavilyinfluencedbythetranspacificflowsof 19th centurycolonialNewSpain(present-dayMexico),ina people andcultureofthestateVeracruz. Originatingin ing song,andjarocho,acolloquialtermusedtoidentifythe jarocho. Background structure ofthe sonjarochocommunity. have been no attempts to use network analysis to analyze the and itsrelevancetomanyareas ofstudy. Butsofar, there ship onsonjarochoatteststoitsimportanceasamusical form throughout theU.S.Overall, growingbodyofscholar the Chicano experience with son jarocho in various cities Hernández (2013; 2014) have focused their research on while Chicana/oscholarsMarthaGonzalesandAlexandro attention totheAfricandiasporicelementsofsonjarocho Figueroa Hernández(2007;2009)havehelpedtobring Veracruz-based scholars Antonio García de León and Rafael cho inVeracruz andinEastLosAngeles.Morerecently (1992; 1979)examine seminal worksbybothDanielSheehyandStevenLoza attention amongethnomusicologistsandhistorians.The meant toaccompanyspecificsongs. should beplayedthroughoutthenightordancesthatare practiced. These include,for example, when certain songs persist despitethenewglobalizedcontextsinwhichitis which havedevelopedformanydecadesandcontinueto exist surroundingthefandango’s cianship orbackground.Anumberoftraditionalpractices aged amongallmembers,withoutregardstolevelofmusi- form ofmusicmakingwhereparticipationishighlyencour one ofsonjarocho’s centralfeatures.Itrepresentsadistinctive name usedtoidentifythesecommunitygatheringsandis is representedbythefandango.Theparticular in the community-participatory form of song and dance that parks, cafes, neighborhood centers, and homes to take part venues. Today, son practitionersregularlymeetinjarocho that include urban centers and institutionalized cultural of Veracruz, thegenre hassincemigratedtodifferentspaces exclusively practicedinruralsettingswithinthecoastalstate percussive formofdance.Eventhoughsonjarochowasonce teado, wooden platformthatisusedbydancerstoperformzapa- wherein performersstompoutspecificrhythmsina I begin by offering a very brief background on son In recentdecades,sonjarochohasgainedsignificant Son jarochoisacombinationofthewordsson,mean- the traditionalpracticesofsonjaro-
structure andconventions tarima, which is a - -
communities across the globe. It is often through Facebook communities across theglobe.Itisoftenthrough Facebook base hasresulted initbecomingatooltolinkindividuals and its users. The ubiquity of Facebook andits extensive user that the social media platform collects and publishes about ing quantitativeresearchdueto thevaststoresofinformation Facebook proves to be a particularly usefultool for conduct- and selectedbasedonhighestreported Facebookattendance. nine in facilitatingthespreadofmusicalpractice. been todemonstratethecentralroleofhumanconnection contributions ofthisanalysis,asIwillgoontoexplain,has unified groupofpractitioners.Perhapsonemostsignificant about itsstructureandmaintenanceinsofarasitrepresentsa small scale, has allowed me toreach important conclusions attempts toreflectthesonjarochocommunity, albeitona rency throughcriminalnetworks.Buildinganetworkthat lations andbypoliticalscientiststotracktheflowsofcur to tracethespreadofdiseasethroughlargeurbanpopu- scale. This tool has been used by healthcare professionals and characteristics which might be overlookedata smaller lected traits,it’s possibletoanalyzecertainlarge-scaletrends ating modelsoflinkedindividualsbasedonasetpre-se- particular attributethroughlinkedwebsofactors.Bycre- ing researcherstounderstandthespreadanddiffusionofa analysis hasfounduseinawidevarietyofdisciplines,allow- ogists likeÉmileDurkheimandJacobMoreno,network Network Analysis experience asaparticipantinthescene. is somethingthatIhavealsocometoseeinmypersonal marches andotherformsofpoliticaldemonstration,which jarocho even asithastraveledtotheUnitedStates.Henotesthatson has become embedded within the music and its practice, social justice(Hernández,2014).Thistradition,heargues, used asatooltovoicepoliticaldiscontentanddemandsfor its inceptioninMexico’s colonialperiod,sonjarochohasbeen cho making amongthecommunitiesthathaveadoptedsonjaro- to traditionsofpoliticalmobilizationandsocialmovement consumption, thejaraneromovement is deeply connected player movement).Morethanjustanincreaseinpopular its memberparticipantsaselmovimientojaranero(thejarana to newheights.Ithascomeberecognizedbymanyof momentum thathaspropelleditscontemporaryresurgence ticular cultural movement, son jarocho has gained aninternal growth thatisinherenttothegrassrootsspreadofanypar cal practice,aswellahighlevelofinternalandorganic son jarochomaestros, and itsfandango.AlexandroHernándezarguesthatsince fandango For this project a network (Figure 1) was built around For thisprojectanetwork(Figure1)wasbuiltaround With itstheoreticalrootsinthe workofearlysociol- Through acombinationofactiveeffortsonbehalf has becomeapopularsoundtrackatpoliticalrallies, events in 2019, each from a different location events in 2019, each from a different location central culturalambassadorsofthemusi- - - that son jarocho fandangos are promoted and shared on “event of the members only played with other people who were at pages” that can be distributed easily and widely. By creating the same of the same fandango. They thus remained closely an event on Facebook, fandango coordinators are able to confined within the cluster and primarily linked to other indi- keep track of who participated in the event. After the fact, viduals in the same cluster. However, turning our attention Facebook creates a publicly viewable list of people who were to the outlying red dots that seem to be pulling away from in attendance based on one of two measures: either the user the clusters, it is possible to see that there are members who voluntary reports that they attended the event after it already were present at more than one of the fandango events and are occurred, or, depending on a user’s particular privacy set- thus linked to the nodes of the multiple fandangos in which tings, Facebook will track a user’s location via their mobile they participated. To borrow a term from the sociologist devices to determine whether or not they were present where and network analysist Mark Grenovettor, these nodes can be the event reportedly took place. considered “bridge actors” since they are, in a sense, the indi- viduals bridging one subgroup to another. By virtue of being To build the network I first identified all of the listed physically present and in community with multiple groups participants who were marked in attendance at each of these of fandangueros, they help to establish broad ties throughout Facebook events and created ties between individuals who the network, linking all the events into one unified network. were together at a fandango. Looking at the graph, individual participants are shown as green dots or “nodes” and the grey So as not to lose sight of the underlying human ele- ties that link them to other members show that they were ment that this model ultimately represents, I’d like to bring together at a fandango. The nine larger clusters represent in the voice of one of the bridge actors that was identified the separate fandangos, where, as you can see, the majority through network analysis in my study.
Figure 1. Son Jorocho network (Romo, 2019).
133 134 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 that: members oftheSeattleFandangoProject,Hidalgonoted of throughout Mexicoandtheworldtopromotegrowth and Afrojarocho.Forthepastthirtyyears,hehastravelled son jarochorecordinggroupsthatinclude,elChuchumbe, he isthefounding memberofsome themostprolific of Veracruz andthedescendentofalonglinemusicians, musical andculturalknowledge.Originallyfromthestate cho communityandisconsideredamaestro and migration. and traditionmigratedespite the restrictionsonmobility allows ustodrawimportantconclusionsabouthowculture human connectionisstillcentraltothemusic’s spread.This is thustetheredtoindividualactorsinawaythatshows to acertaindegree,allconnectedeachother. Sonjarocho the network: (Figure 1),noneoftheninefandangos and promote son jarocho flow ofsonjarochoandhowbridgeactorshelptoadvance the importantrolethatpeopleplayintransnational The preliminarynetworkanalysisIconductedemphasized focusing onthepeoplewhothemselvestransmitmusic. nation of a particular music across geographic area without of conflatingthesetwonotions;theyfocusonthedissemi- study musicinatransnationalcontexthasmadethemistake 8). Hepointsoutthatmuchofthescholarshipaimsto “flows ofmusiccannotstandinforflowspeople”(2017,p. the coresonjarocho,anthropologistAlexChavezarguesthat global scale. power to traverse borders on a personal, community, and Patricio Hidalgo’s reflections highlight the son jarocho.Inaninterviewconductedwiththemaestroby Patricio Hidalgoisaprominentfigureinthesonjaro- In further emphasizing the humanelementthatisat celebration. (SeattleFandangoProject,2011) overcome adversitiesandturnthemintodance in community(convivencia) communities. Son jarocho teaches us a way of being share theirknowledgeandbepartofthedifferent people [fromVeracruz], culturalexporterscometo so manyplaces.Somethingveryimportantiswhen and borders.Ithinkthisiswhyit’s startedtoarrive own weight,andhavegoneonetobreakdownwalls fandango havebecometranscendentand,bytheir nities ferent familiesandpeoplefromdifferentcommu- Fandangos bringtogetherdifferentindividuals,dif- . . the 1,300membersincludedinstudyare, . Ithinkthatultimately, thevaluesof ’s growth. As shown in the map . . . [andwithit]wecan were isolatedfrom for hisextensive ’s son jarocho’s constantly ongoing. flourish andgrowthrough atransformative processthat is innovation and renewal are vibrant, helping son jarocho to tural production, I look to the peripheries as places where and MexicoCity, whicharealsothecentersofnationalcul- centers ofsonjarocho’s resurgence,placeslikeLosAngeles jarocho network. Instead of focusing on what constitute the as newlyincorporatedandintegratedmembersoftheson ticularly interestingsubjectsofstudyduetoourposition like theonethatIbelongtoinAlbuquerquerepresentpar about howmovementsspreadatthefringes.Younger groups view patternsandattempttoanswerimportantquestions engaged withborderlandsstudies,arguethatonecanbest along themarginsofnetwork.I,andmanyscholars I seektoexplorequestionsabouthowsonjarochoispracticed shaping thisbroadcommunity. AsIexpandonthisproject, by bordersandtheunifyingrolethatbridgeactorsplayin in allowingacommunitytotranscendthedivisionsimposed insights, like the important role that interconnectivity plays practice likesonjarocho.Itoffers us anumber of valuable tool forconceptualizingthegrassrootsspreadofamusical Conclusion Madrid, A.L.(n.d.).Transnational encounters:music andperformance Loza, S.(1992).“FromVeracruz toLosAngeles:The Hernández, A.D.(2014).TheSonJarochoandFandangoAmidst Granovetter, M.S.(1973).“The StrengthofWeak Ties.” Gonzalez, M.,&Habell-Pallán,M.(2013).Chican@artivistas:East García deLeón,A.(2009).Fandango:elritualdelmundojarochoa Figueroa Hernández,R.(2007).Sonjarocho:guíahistórico-musical. Chávez, A.E.(2017).Soundsofcrossing:music,migration,andthe Works Cited at theU.S.-Mexico border. OxfordUniversity Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/948082. Review /RevistadeMúsicaLatinoamericana , 13(2),179–194. Reinterpretation ofthe‘SonJarocho.’” LatinAmericanMusic escholarship-org.libproxy.unm.edu/uc/item/59b695pb. and theUnitedStates(UCLA).Retrievedfromhttps:// Reinterpretation oftheSonJarochoinLaNuevaEspaña,México, Transformation andSocialMovements:Migratory Struggle and ofSociology, American Journal handle.net/1773/24095. Los Angelestrenches, transborder tactics.Retrievedfromhttp://hdl. través delossiglos. Xalapa, Veracruz: Conaculta,Fonca. University Press. aural poeticsofHuapangoArribeño.Durham;London:Duke Network analysis proves tobe an especially useful 78(6), 1360–1380. - Sheehy, D. E. (1979). The son Jarocho: the history, style, and repertory of a changing Mexican musical tradition.
Sierra, E., C. (Interviewer) & Hidalgo, P. (Interviewee). (2011). La Rama Project Interview. Retrieved from Seattle Fandango Project website: http://seattlefandangoproject.weebly.com/videos.html.
135 136 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 communities. Maywedoourselves justice. work. Thisonegoesouttomyundocumentedandqueer and therestofmyMellonMayscohortforbelievingin introducing metothiscase.SpecialthankyouPamGaddi through somuchofthebeginningstagesthisresearchand extend mygratitudetoEmilyPope-Obedaforguidingme research intoacompletedfinalproduct.Iwouldalsoliketo for supporting me through the process of turning this on amessagingofnormalcy, humanity, and“American” couple advocacywasrootedinrespectabilitypolitics,relying grant communities.To gainacceptance,binationalsame-sex in theLGBTQ+communityandforqueerpeopleimmi- both communities,butalsotogainsupportforimmigrants challenge becamenotonlytogainsupportfromoutside to bring together issues of immigration and sexuality. The couple advocacyintheearly2000s,whichroseasfight of theorganizationcameafocusonbinationalsame-sex Immigration Rights Task Force (LGIRTF) in 1993. Out was keptseparateuntilthecreationofLesbianandGay mutually exclusive. Advocacy across the two communities tion. ImmigrantrightsandLGBTQ+wereseenas room to exploretheintersectionofqueerness and immigra- was a deportable offense. Because of this, there was little Acknowledgements fight againstherdeportation. of thosecouplesandtheappealtoinclusioninShirleyTan’s the non-citizenpartners.Thispaperfollowsstoryofone used toadvocateforpermanentimmigrationsolutions family values.Storiesofbinationalsame-sexcoupleswere Abstract Teacher FellowsprogramstartingintheSpringof2021. pursuing amaster’s degree ineducationthroughtheHarvard CTandwillbe aideinNorwalk, as abilingualinstructional immigration andgendersexuality. Theycurrently work Veira-Ramirez’ academicinterests focusontheintersectionsof & Literature andStudiesofWomen, Gender, &Sexuality. College, where theycompletedajointconcentrationinHistory Laura Veira-Ramirez recently graduatedfromHarvard Laura Veira-Ramirez, HarvardCollege and theUnitingAmericanFamiliesAct Fighting DeportationwithFamily:TheCaseofShirleyTan 1 UAFA SenateHearings(6/3/2009)—ShirleyTan Testimony. I wouldliketothankJungminLeeandJamesMestaz Before 1990, being a queer non-citizen in the U.S. 1 as thispathwaywasdeniedtosame-sexcouples. marriage, MercadocouldnotpetitionTan foragreencard resident couldpetitionapartnerforgreencardthrough tion status.WhileaheterosexualU.S.citizenorpermanent only thingthatseemedtobeintheirwaywasTan’s immigra- way thatispalatabletolawmakers andpotentialsupporters. and queerpeopleareforcedtoperformtheirnarrativesina her caseisanexceptionthatexposeshowundocumented in Pacifica,California. later. Tan wasarrestedonJanuary28th,2009inherhome Enforcement (ICE)agents presented itto her seven years claimed to have never seenbeforeImmigration and Customs was denied,resultinginthe2002deportationorderTan for U.S.asylumin 1995. Her case, along with its appeal, Introduction tative oftheUndocuQueer under aheterosexistandxenophobicsystemofexclusion. undocumented peopleofcolorwhoaremultiplyvulnerable stability, and“modelfamily”setherapartfrommany queer queer, undocumented woman.Tan’s respectability, financial to gainsympathyandbeseenasdeservingofprotectiona “American” valuesandpresentherselfaspalatableenough to fightherdeportation.Shehadappealtraditional I arguethatTan wasforcedtoleverageherfamilyasatool grants intothosedeservingandundeservingofcitizenship, of theU.S.’divisiveimmigrationsystemthatsortsimmi- and putherfamily inthespotlightoffight forsame-sex resulted inarare privatebillthatsavedherfrom deportation tation would haveon three U.S. citizens. Her performance “American” family and the harmful effects that her depor garner nationalsympathyfor her casebyhighlighting Unlike manyotherpeopleinTan’s situation,shewas ableto “almost perfect”beforetheICEagentsarrestedher. family despitetheirqueerness. friends whoacceptedthemandviewedasamodel sion, friends,andacommunity,” withmanyheterosexual Catholic schoolandTan saystheyhad“amortgage,apen- in aquietsuburbCaliforniawherethetwinsattended did notrequireaSocialSecuritynumber. Thefamilylived 12 yearsbefore.Tan wasastay-at-homemom— partner and the U.S.-born twin sons to whom Tan gave birth Mercado’s incomemadeit possible for her to support her was anaturalizedU.S.citizenwithstable,high-payingjob. was alsoanimmigrantfromthePhilippines,she[Mercado] Originally from thePhilippines, Shirley Tan applied I focusonTan’s casenotbecauseherstoryisrepresen- Tan describesherlifewith“American”familyas being rippedawayfromme. In aninstant,myfamily, myAmericanfamily, was 2 Thoughherpartner, JayMercado, 5 experience,butratherbecause —Shirley Tan 4 a jobwhich Asaresult 1
3 The - 6 binational couples— partnerships in which one member is a April 20, 2009 People magazine spread saying, “They are exactly U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident and the other is not. the kind of people you want living in this country.”8 Tiven’s quote came after the author’s assertion that Tan’s was the The Perfect Test Case “perfect test case” for the UAFA due to Tan and Mercado’s participation in their church as choir members as well as Binational same-sex couples and allies started rallying their contribution as fund-raisers at their children’s school. around the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the The article sent the message that Tan and Mercado were beginning of the twenty-first century. Originally named the examples of the kind of non-threatening people you want in Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA), Representative the United States, implying that there are indeed kinds of Jerry Nadler of New York strategically introduced the bill on threatening immigrants that you would not want here. At the Valentine’s Day in 2000, setting a framework that focused on time the article was written, Tan’s story had already garnered tragic love stories of same-sex couples separated by immigra- enough media attention to reach California Representative, tion law. Versions of this bill proposed an amendment to the Jackie Spier, and California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to add “permanent Barbara Boxer. Representative Spier was able to postpone partner” language so that queer U.S. citizens and legal per- Tan’s deportation order and Senator Feinstein introduced a manent residents could petition non-citizen same-sex part- private bill for Tan two days after the People magazine spread ners for a path to citizenship without marriage— a right that was published. The private bill put Tan’s deportation order was not yet available to them. The change in name of the bill on hold as her case was heard in the Senate. This was a form to the UAFA in 2005 shows the increased pressure to appeal of relief not offered to most undocumented immigrants that to “American” family values. Framed as families, same-sex allowed Tan to be present in the U.S. to testify for the 2009 binational couples could show an intended lifelong commit- version of the UAFA just two months later. ment, bringing them closer to U.S. nuclear family standards of a husband, wife, and two children. Tan, Mercado, and Because it was still doubtful that Tan’s private bill their twin sons could be seen as a harmless family by the would pass, the UAFA was the Tan-Mercado family’s best lawmakers who would be deciding Tan’s fate. The problem hope for a permanent solution to Tan’s impending deporta- with strategies like these is that they divide instead of uniting tion. Tan became the perfect poster child for the bill, rarely the undocumented and queer communities, filtering out pictured without her partner and sons by her side. The those who cannot meet the high standards of deservingness UAFA was strategically publicized in the original People through legal rights discourse. magazine article under the heading “Same Sex, Different Nationalities”9 to present Tan and Mercado as just one Tan’s case fit perfectly into the clean binational same- of 8,500 couples who would benefit from passage of the sex couple fight for inclusion. It was easier to argue that bill. Still, Tan’s case was very different from those of many her monogamous, lifelong relationship with Jay Mercado, other undocumented and queer immigrants who did not tied in with their two U.S.-born citizen children, should be find themselves in a long-term partnership with a U.S. included in “American” society. Karma Chavez, one of the citizen. Her legal victories were individual as she was saved few scholars who has written about Tan’s case, has also cri- from deportation through a series of private acts: Senator tiqued binational same-sex couple advocacy by classifying it Feinstein’s private bill followed by the private act of marriage as a fight for the LGBT mainstream. She defines the LGBT once the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), stating that mainstream as a “professionalization of mainstream gay and marriage was between a man and a woman, was overturned lesbian organizing” that grew alongside a more radical brand in 2013 with United States v. Windsor. The Tan-Mercado of activism.7 Chavez recognizes this brand of activism as family’s fight, along with the fight for the UAFA, ended insufficient as it pushes for inclusion and rights with no tan- once binational same-sex couples were able to get married. gible transformation or a liberation lens. Tan and Mercado However, there were many more undocumented and queer fit under LGBT mainstream efforts to present queer people people whose struggles could not be solved through mar- as no different from anyone else. They also fit under good riage. Instead, an appeal to traditional family values set a immigrant advocacy efforts to present as deserving of citi- higher bar for what a “good” queer immigrant should look zenship for being non-threatening. like, further marginalizing the most vulnerable members within the undocumented and LGBTQ+ communities. One of the main risks when marginalized people appeal to respectability politics in their individual fights for Appealing to Palatable Queerness security is that their narratives are easily picked up by the media, which disseminates a harmful expectation for the In an April 2014 news story by Balitang America, entire community. Rachel Tiven, then Executive Director of Tan and Mercado are recorded next to Congresswoman Immigration Equality, described Shirley Tan’s family in an Jackie Speier at their wedding reception in their Pacifica, 137 California home.10 Dressed in a black suit, Mercado thanks a statement.14 Mercado’s quote sends the message that life guests for coming and stands with her arms lightly crossed would not have been as difficult for the family if Mercado in front of her. Next to her, Tan also has her arms crossed were transgender. It erases the hardships that many trans in front of her and wears a traditional white wedding dress. people face who do want to physically transition but are Throughout the three-minute-long video, the couple only unable to for many reasons including financial. The financial touches briefly when holding the knife together to cut aspect would not have been a barrier for Mercado, who had their wedding cake. Their twin sons remain in the frame. the privilege even to afford to think about it as an option. Mercado shows more affection toward Congresswoman I bring up this piece of information to underscore the clear Speier than she does for Tan, hugging her as a sign of thanks erasure of trans people from this conversation by center- for advocating for the couple and officiating their wedding. ing the UAFA around same-sex partnership and marriage Many supporters in the fight for the UAFA are present and removing any traces of queerness that have historically in their home and guests are seen videotaping Mercado’s received more backlash. speech as it is being recorded for the news story. Looking at the policing of gender and sexuality This touching video, depicting the end of a long fight alongside the UAFA, it is important to note that sodomy was for the Tan-Mercado family’s permanent stability, is filled not decriminalized until 2003 with Lawrence v. Texas. It was with examples of the cleansing of queer identities. By invit- illegal when the UAFA was first introduced, and the wound ing Congresswoman Speier to officiate the wedding, Tan of policed sexuality was still fresh when Tan went up to tes- and Mercado show how grateful they are to U.S. politicians, tify on its behalf in 2009. I turn to the work of Gayle Rubin, showing no sign of critique of the government. The lack of who focuses on distinctions between “good” sex and “bad” physical touch, not just in this video, but also in media cov- sex, to further draw attention to the cleanliness of Tan’s case. erage that preceded it, serves to desexualize the couple, dis- Rubin argues that queer sex has always been seen outside the tancing them from threatening images of lesbian intimacy confines of “good” sex thanks to its history of policed sexual and sexuality. Tan and Mercado are desexualized in another acts. Rubin shows how policing of homosexuality emerged news story when pictured with their children so that they in the 1950s, centering around the image of the “homo- often appear only as co-parents.11 The two mothers show sexual menace” and the “sex offender.” She argues that, affection for their sons, holding them on their laps, but have “sex offender discourse tended to blur distinctions between their backs to each other. Their love is expressed through violent sexual assault and illegal but consensual acts such their children in a way that is safe and reinforces the appeals as sodomy.”15 The legacy of the criminalization of queer to traditional family values. The image of the nuclear family sex remains, but Rubin argues, “stable, long-term lesbian is recognizable in this picture with two parents and their and gay male couples [were] verging on respectability.”16 two children. In a chart titled, “Sex Hierarchy,” Rubin shows the most palatable kinds of queer sex fall into an “area of contest.”17 Mercado’s butch presentation, paired with Tan’s Tan and Mercado, like other binational same-sex couples, lie femme presentation, also serve to bring them closer to perfectly in the middle of this hierarchy. When presented the image of the nuclear family. Yasmin Nair highlights strategically as a cisgender, monogamous couple, Tan and the couple’s “adherence to gender roles,” which she argues Mercado can get closer and closer to an image of “good” were used to legitimize their family: “Where ordinarily sex. Because sodomy evoked “bad” images of gay male sex, her partner’s butch self-presentation might have proved a it also helped their case that they were further desexualized liability, in this case they were able to use it as an advantage. as women. Rubin recognizes sex as guilty until proven inno- Mercado emerged as the manly figure who protected Tan, cent, stating, “Virtually all erotic behavior is considered bad supported her financially, and provided food and shelter for unless a specific reason to exempt it has been established. 12 the family.” Nair highlights another problematic aspect The most acceptable excuses are marriage, reproduction, of the couple’s gender dynamics in her notes, acknowl- and love.”18 Tan and Mercado were able to check off love edging Mercado’s statement from their earlier People mag- and a desire to get married. Their proximity to reproduction azine spread: ‘“I have no rights to do something for her,” is even highlighted in the People magazine article, which [Mercado] says. “I feel so helpless.” She even considered unnecessarily mentions that Tan gave birth to their sons getting a surgical sex change. “I don’t want to,” she says. using Mercado’s eggs. Their harmless sexuality made them “But I asked the boys if that’s the only way to keep Mommy a model family for their heterosexual friends and positioned
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 here, would it be okay? They said, ‘Go ahead so we can Tan perfectly as an ideal candidate for citizenship. stay together.’”13 Nair analyzes the intention behind this, saying it was, “presumably with the hope that it would be easier for Mercado to sponsor Tan as a spouse,” but falls short of showing the potential harm and erasure in such 138 Appealing to Good Citizenship access to immigration benefits. U.S. citizen family members further validated Tan’s plea for protection from deportation Faced with the increasing inability to make any as it carried the potential for family separation and would individual claim to remain in the United States, undocumented immigrants, their relatives, and sup- have negative effects on U.S. citizens. Had Shirley Tan been porters have organized around the notion of family single without children, she would not have had a strong as a political subject whose rights are being violated enough case to fight her deportation order since her fate upon deportation. would not be linked with that of three U.S. citizens. —Amalia Pallares19 Pallares argues that family-based activism has gained For undocumented people to gain access to the rights traction because it serves as a response to the systemic polic- of citizenship, the U.S. immigration system has to validate ing of immigrants that arbitrarily separates families. Noting them as “good” potential citizens. One effective way to the effectiveness of family-based activism, neoliberal politi- accomplish this is through their relationships with people cians, in turn, picked up this family-centered narrative, using who are already citizens. In Tan’s case, three U.S. citizens it to appeal to U.S. family standards in a similar way that the were negatively affected by the threat of her deportation. LGBT mainstream appealed to family standards through Mercado was at risk of losing her partner, and their twin the fight for marriage for non-threatening monogamous sons were at risk of losing one of their mothers. Tan’s prox- couples. The harm in relying on this narrative becomes visi- imity to citizenship was seen both metaphorically and phys- ble when shifting the focus to criminality. “Crimmigration,” ically when she delivered her testimony for the UAFA with the policing of immigrants, gained momentum alongside her three U.S. citizen family members sitting right behind family-based activism.23 The effects are clearly seen in her. She links her desire for citizenship to close off her Obama’s 2014 immigration speech in which he promised to testimony: “I humbly ask for your support of the Uniting go after “felons, not families.”24 Obama presented the two American Families Act which would allow me to remain categories as mutually exclusive and reinforced the good vs. with my family and to strive for citizenship in this wonderful bad immigrant divide with the implication that anyone who country that has been so good to me and my partner and is not in a family is a felon and that membership in a family such a blessed home to our children.”20 Recognizing Tan as could erase criminality.25 an active part of the LGBT mainstream fight for binational same-sex couples, the appeal to family narratives served to Tan, in collaboration with organizations that helped present not only a more palatable queerness, but also a more her prepare her testimony, used this assumption to her palatable immigration status. Tan comes off as an immigrant advantage before the court: “We have followed the law, who still believes in the notion of the “American Dream” respected the judicial system and simply want to keep our 26 and is grateful for the home and life she has created in the family together.” In this sentence, Tan acknowledges the United States with her family. What is not visible is the fear narratives that tie undocumented people to criminality, that pushed her to present such a statement and the many shutting it down in her case and distancing herself from a actors involved in carefully wording her testimony to best fit narrative of illegality by drawing attention to her “American the goals of the UAFA. family.” A reliance on a family-centered narrative allowed the Obama administration to justify the policing of “bad Tan’s deportation would violate, as Amalia Pallares immigrants,” greatly increasing deportation rates during argues, “a citizen’s right to a family” as well as “the collec- his terms, by hiding behind the message that they were just tive rights of families.”21 Pallares argues that families have going after felons.27 The appeals to family values are harm- been used as political subjects by activists as a “central site ful for the entire undocumented community when used as of collective identity” that “increased significance in debates a juxtaposition for criminality by shifting the target onto between pro-immigrant rights groups and their opponents many queer undocumented people and moving the focus and state officials.” Pallares points out the downfalls in this away from families to “criminals.” reliance on family, which is intended as a way to unite the community, asserting that “the immigrant rights movement Conclusion does not share one collective identity stemming from a singular process of identification among movement partici- The U.S. immigration system is designed to divide, pants.”22 Nevertheless, the family narrative remains popular forcing immigrants into competition with each other for because it is thought to be effective, producing tangible the love of their oppressor. Shirley Tan was an involuntary results when fighting deportations. Tan was able to position actor in this competition, forced to frame herself as one of herself within a family before the politicians deciding her the immigrants most deserving of acceptance and U.S. citi- fate. Her performance in the courtroom is an example of zenship to avoid deportation. In striving for their own safety the function of families as political subjects to advocate for and security, undocumented and LGBTQ+ people have 139 fallen victim to U.S. assimilation and exceptionalism under 22 Ibid., 2. a system that criminalizes and marginalizes them. They have 23 Misra, “The Rise of ‘Crimmigration.’” been forced to appeal to U.S. standards of family values and 24 “Transcript: Obama’s Immigration Speech.” “good” citizenship in attempts to gain allies in their fight to 25 Obama also showed similar neoliberal views in 2010 when finally showing support for marriage equality after previous views that same-sex be included within “American” society. Instead of forcing couples should be allowed to enter civil unions, but not marriage, a marginalized people to compete for their security, we should right reserved for heterosexual couples. He explains the influence of his really be fighting the systems that keep them oppressed. change in opinion: friends and staff members “in committed, monoga- mous relationships who are raising children, who are wonderful parents.” Under the Trump administration, many of the wins that See Katy Steinmetz, “See Obama’s 20-Year Evolution on LGBT Rights.” benefitted parts of the undocumented and queer communi- 26 UAFA Senate Hearings (6/3/2009)—Shirley Tan Testimony. ties over the past decade were reversed. The vulnerabilities 27 Marshall, “Obama Has Deported More People Than Any Other of our communities have been exposed, peeling back the President.” layers that were covered up with appeals to worthiness and deservingness. The power that U.S. politicians hold over Works Cited the undocumented and LGBTQ+ communities is hard to Chávez, Karma R. Queer Migration Politics: Activist Rhetoric and match. It is going to take more than a fight for inclusion to Coalitional Possibilities. Feminist Media Studies Series. Urbana: take down centuries of discrimination. University of Illinois Press, 2013.
Endnotes Lesbian Couple Tie the Knot despite Fear of Deportation, 2014. https:// www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=LocFAE1s8K- 1 UAFA Senate Hearings (6/3/2009)—Shirley Tan Testimony. w&feature=emb_logo. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. Misra, Tanvi. “The Rise of ‘Crimmigration.’” CityLab. Accessed 4 “Same-sex” is a slightly outdated term that was used at the time of the February 29, 2020. http://www.citylab.com/crime/2016/09/ UAFA and marriage equality. I use it in this paper to recognize their the-rise-of-crimmigation/499712/. language but also use terms like queer and LGBTQ+ to acknowledge the diversity of the community and push back on the idea of a sex or gender Nair, Yasmin. “How to Make Prisons Disappear: Queer binary. Immigrants, the Shackles of Love, and the Invisibility of 5 UndocuQueer is a term adopted to acknowledge the existence of people the Prison Industrial Complex.” In Captive Genders: Trans identifying as part of the undocumented and LGBTQ+ communities. , 2011. This is often an intersection that gets overlooked so the term has been Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex adopted both as an individual experience and as a self-identified political movement. Pallares, Amalia. Family Activism—Immigrant Struggles and the 6 Performance is used in this paper to refer to behaviors that are presented Politics of Noncitizenship. Rutgers University Press, 2014. as responses to external expectations. I argue that the United States produces these external expectations. Undocumented and queer people Rubin, Gayle. Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader. E-Duke Books must appeal to them by performing as ideal immigrants and queer Scholarly Collection. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, people in their fight for safety, security, and rights. 2011. 7 Chávez, Queer Migration Politics, 2. 8 Young, “A Gay Mom Faces Deportation.” Steinmetz, Katy. “See Obama’s 20-Year Evolution on LGBT 9 Ibid. With this phrasing, it is important to note that Tan and Mercado Rights.” TIME, April 10, 2015. https://time.com/3816952/ are presented as carrying two different nationalities even though they obama-gay-lesbian-transgender-lgbt-rights/. were both born in the Philippines. This shows the impact of U.S. citizenship in erasing the ethnicity of immigrants once they become Swift, Mike. “Feinstein Intervenes to Help Lesbian Mother naturalized. Threatened with Deportation.” The Mercury News. Accessed 10 Lesbian Couple Tie the Knot despite Fear of Deportation. February 29, 2020. https://www.mercurynews.com/2009/04/23/ 11 Swift, “Feinstein Intervenes to Help Lesbian Mother Threatened with Deportation.” feinstein-intervenes-to-help-lesbian-mother-threatened-with- deportation/. 12 Nair, “How to Make Prisons Disappear: Queer Immigrants, the Shackles of Love, and the Invisibility of the Prison Industrial Complex,” 129. “Transcript: Obama’s Immigration Speech.” Washington 13 Young, “A Gay Mom Faces Deportation.” Post, November 20, 2014, sec. Politics. https://www. 14 Nair, “How to Make Prisons Disappear: Queer Immigrants, the Shackles of Love, and the Invisibility of the Prison Industrial Complex,” 138. washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-obamas-immi- 15 Rubin, 140. gration-speech/2014/11/20/14ba8042–7117-11e4-893f- 16 Ibid., 149. 86bd390a3340_story.html. 17 Ibid., 153. UAFA Senate Hearings (6/3/2009)—Shirley Tan Testimony, 2009. 18 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Ibid., 148. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cTojNqjnP4&t=105s. 19 Pallares, Family Activism—Immigrant Struggles and the Politics of Noncitizenship. 1. Young, Susan. “A Gay Mom Faces Deportation.” 20 UAFA Senate Hearings (6/3/2009)—Shirley Tan Testimony. Emphasis mine. PEOPLE.com, April 20, 2009. https://people.com/ 21 Pallares, Family Activism—Immigrant Struggles and the Politics of archive/a-gay-mom-faces-deportation-vol-71-no-15/. 140 Noncitizenship, 1. From Grassroots to Global: Memory and Diaspora in Sahra Nguyen’s Deported Jason Tuâ´n V˜u, University of California, Los Angeles
Jason Tuâ´n V˜u is a senior at the University of California, deportable offenses and eliminating statutory relief proce- Los Angeles, majoring in Global Studies and Asian American dures, IIRIRA especially impacted Southeast Asian refugee Studies with a minor in Linguistics. His research interests populations in its retroactive application to past criminal span the fields of Ethnic Studies, Critical Refugee Studies, and convictions, resulting in many refugees receiving orders for Diaspora Studies, with a particular interest in studying transna- deportation despite already serving time in prison (IIRIRA, tional movements for social justice. After graduating, Jason hopes 1996). It was not until March 2002, however, that these to attend a doctoral program for either Ethnic Studies, American orders of removal began to take effect with the signing of a Studies, or Global Studies as preparation for a longer career in repatriation agreement between Cambodia and the United academia. Outside of academics, Jason serves as the President States. Under diplomatic pressure from the U.S., Cambodia of the Vietnamese Student Union at UCLA and Executive was compelled to accept deported refugees despite many Director of the Southeast Asian Students for Organizing of them having little to no connection with their supposed Conference. homeland (Kwon, 2012, 737). With the steady rise of American xenophobia after 9/11, the U.S.-Cambodia repa- triation agreement would soon be followed by an agreement Abstract between Vietnam and the U.S. (2008), allowing for the deportation of Vietnamese with criminal convictions who Drawing from Sahra Nguyen’s 2017 doc- Deported arrived to the U.S. after 1995. More recently, U.S. pressure umentary series, this paper maps the different forms of on Laos has forced the country to unofficially commit to a resistance deployed by the movement against Southeast repatriation agreement to begin deporting Lao and Hmong Asian deportation. In 1996, the U.S. passed the Illegal refugees from the U.S. (Mentzer, 2020). Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), a major reform that significantly criminalized immigrant and Amidst these assertions of U.S. power over crimi- refugee populations in the U.S. Southeast Asian refugees nalized bodies and geopolitically vulnerable nation-states, have been especially impacted by this law with hundreds Southeast Asian refugees have not taken these injustices being deported for past criminal convictions. Far from without a fight. Rather, we have continued to organize abject victims, however, the Southeast Asian community has and resist, whether by preventing further deportations or actively mobilized to combat deportations, both in the U.S. fighting for the return of deportees to the U.S. Joined by and beyond. Using a critical refugee studies framework, I these common goals and a shared Southeast Asian iden- read Nguyen’s Deported as an enactment of diasporic refugee tity, activists and organizers have built a robust movement memory that links imperialist state violence and diasporic against Southeast Asian deportation that cross the bound- communities across space and time. In doing so, I reflect aries of the U.S and Southeast Asia. This transnational upon the uses of memory and diaspora as sites of critical struggle for justice is the subject of Sahra V. Nguyen’s (2017) resistance in the ongoing movement against Southeast Asian Deported, a five-part documentary series that follows the deportation. movement’s advocacy for the end of Southeast Asian depor- tation. Though originating as a grassroots movement in the U.S. in response to the separation of Cambodian families by Acknowledgements deportation, the movement has since expanded into a global ~ effort operating on local, national, and transnational scales. I would like to thank Dr. Thu-H’o’ng Nguyên-Võ and Dr. Grace Kyungwon Hong for their guidance and feedback Drawing from Nguyen’s (2017) Deported, I aim to in the drafting of this article. In addition, I am grateful to the study the movement against Southeast Asian deportation Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship at UCLA for sup- in relation to two concepts. First, I seek to understand how porting my work through its many resources and mentors, the movement places deportations in relation to the longer including Chelsea Kern, Magally Miranda Alcázar, and Dr. history of U.S. imperialism in Southeast Asia through a crit- Whitney Arnold and Dr. Muriel McClendon. Finally, I ical remembering of the Vietnam War and its present-day express my deepest gratitude to the many organizers and connections. Second, I think through the ways in which activists who continue the fight for the end of Southeast diasporic relations are deployed in the movement in order Asian deportation. to facilitate transnational organizing between the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Ultimately, I argue that memory and dias- In 1996, the U.S. government under the Clinton pora serve as crucial sites of resistance in the movement Administration passed the Illegal Immigration and against Southeast Asian deportation by providing the space Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), a major reform for critical analyses of U.S. empire with respect to its violent that significantly criminalized immigrant and refugee pop- past and exclusionary present. ulations in the U.S. Along with expanding the category of 141 142 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 situating the movement against Southeast Asian deportation cussion ofdiasporic imaginingtobeparticularly usefulin refugees separated by deportation, I find Hall’s (1998) dis- through FRE(EspirituandDuong, 2018,588). of “war-based displacement,” openingittocriticalanalysis the deportationofSoutheast Asian refugeestobeaform of SoutheastAsianrefugeesinthepresent,Iunderstand U.S. militarisminSoutheastAsiatotheprecariousposition Southeast Asianrefugees.Thus,bylinkingtheviolenceof ity inthepresent,especiallyrelationtoissuesstillfacedby resistance opensthewayforfurthercritiquesofU.S.author question thevalidityofitspower(836–838).Suchanact the hiddenviolencesofU.S.nation-stateandthereby the potentialofSoutheastAsiandiasporicmemorytoreveal order tochallengesuchaperception,Um(2012)discusses self-image asaprotectorofthevulnerableandoppressed.In Asia and notes how such a narrativelegitimates the U.S.’s similarly exposes this elision of U.S. violence in Southeast violence inflicteduponracializedbodies(96).Um(2012) have justified U.S. interventionism while minimizing the War andnotesthewaysthatdominantnarrativesofwar plates theethicsandpoliticsofrememberingVietnam ent moment. In refugees hasnotsomuchendedasitadaptedtothepres- lighting thefactthatU.S.violenceagainstSoutheastAsian munity topastU.S.imperialisminSoutheastAsia,high- who linktheprecarityofSoutheastAsianrefugeecom- deportation. Deported thatshapethemovementagainstSoutheastAsian to read the various modes of relationality represented in afterlives ofwar, IcontendthatFREcanalsobeapplied that ariseinitsaftermath(588).Thoughfocusedonthe but alsotheformsof“socialreproductionandinnovation” tends tonotonlythedeathanddestructioncausedbywar concept of“feministrefugeeepistemology”(FRE),which on thiswork,EspirituandDuong(2018)thentheorizethe of profoundcritiquesempireandnation-state. Building to thewaysthatcriticalrefugeestudiescanserveassite when theylivemilitarizedlives”(14).Suchaninsightpoints beings’ whoenacttheirhopes,beliefs,andpolitics,even as Espiritu(2014)continues,refugeesare“‘intentionalized abject victimhoodnorobjectsofsociologicalstudy. Rather, ugee populationsthatdoesnotessentializethemasfiguresof Espiritu (2014)arguesforacriticalapproachtostudyingref- Counts. FocusingontheVietnamese Americancommunity, of criticalrefugeestudiesaschartedinEspiritu’s (2014)Body Asian Deportation Critical ApproachestotheMovementAgainstSoutheast Focused onthesocialrelations ofSoutheastAsian To formthisanalysis,Ibuildontheworkofscholars In ordertoreadNguyen’s film,Idrawfromthefield Nothing Ever Dies, Nguyen (2016) - contem - nearly fivedecades later. this massrefugee migrationtiesintodeportations occurring ugees totheU.S. Thequestionremains,however, as tohow that promptedthepost-1975migration ofoveramillionref- extreme forceisoutlinedasa major causeoftheinstability in SoutheastAsiafrom1957–1975 (Nguyen,2017).Such seven million tons of bombs” that were dropped by the U.S. ple, earlyintheepisode,details aresharedregarding“the information andinterviewfootagewithactivists.Forexam- sode accomplishesthisthroughacombinationofhistorical domestic criminalizationofcommunitiescolor. Theepi- tied to U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia as well as its ways inwhichSoutheastAsiandeportationisnecessarily the seriestitled“AGrassrootsMovement”highlights Though seemingly separate processes, the first episode of refugee migrationandthecurrentissueofdeportation. is thatwhichdrawnbetweenthehistoryofCambodian have beenimpactedbydeportation. from membersoftheCambodianrefugeecommunitywho against these ruptures byproviding critical perspectives carious positionofSoutheastAsianrefugees.Deportedworks between pastandpresent,particularlyinrelationtothepre- (discussed innextsection)butalsoerasingtheconnections ently bringsinnotonlyseparatingfamiliesandcommunities feature callstomindtherupturesthatdeportationinher shown as one long film (Nguyen, 2017). Such a structural series is broken into five short episodes rather than being fragmentation. ThisisreflectedinthewaythatDeported Piecing PastandPresent:RememberingasResistance where theirimmediatepersonalconnectionsreside. birth, deporteesinSoutheastAsiafighttoreturntheU.S. why, despitebeingreturnedtotheirsupposedhomelandby among personalrelationssuchasfamilyandfriends.Thisis home fromanoriginarylocationtoasenseofbelonging (1998) understanding of diaspora by displacing the idea of deportation. However, thisimaginingcomplicatesHall’s nity uponmembersofthemovementagainstSoutheastAsian production thatrepresentsandreinforcesasenseofcommu- (2017) Duong’s (2018)conceptofFRE,IaimtoreadNguyen’s Hall’s (1998)understandingofdiasporawithEspirituand and culturalworkssuchasfilm(Hall,1998,237).Bridging technologies suchastransnationalcommunicationnetworks community” (15). Such an imaginary is facilitated through (235), similartoAnderson’s (1983)conceptofthe“imagined cultural identityrootedinacommonhistoryandhomeland which diasporasareformedthroughasharedimaginingof Identity andDiaspora,” Hall (1998)reflectsonthewaysin within thegreaterSoutheastAsianDiaspora.In“Cultural The firstdivide thedocumentary seriesaims tobridge The storyofSoutheastAsiandeportationisa Deported documentary series as a diasporic cultural - To elaborate on this connection, the film draws from “Forced Family Separation,” “An Urgent Appeal,” “Beyond the insights of different community organizers and the ways the United States,” and “A Global Movement” (Nguyen, that they understand refugee migration and deportation 2017). The episodes flow naturally into one another as the as closely linked. Speaking with an exasperated voice at an series illustrates the connections between local and global anti-deportation rally, Sarath Suong clearly connects the organizing on the issue of Southeast Asian deportation. precarity of Southeast Asian refugees both in the past and Though separated by thousands of miles, Southeast Asian present: organizers and activists are nonetheless able to cooperate in their efforts between Southeast Asia and the U.S. I argue From the very beginning, Southeast Asians always that this unity produces a diasporic space of resistance where had to struggle and live under state violence. It was activists are able to operate beyond the general purview of U.S. imperialism in our home countries . . . that actually caused us to come here in the first place. the nation-states in which they are located. And then growing up in impoverished and poor Such is evident in the many examples of activism and and violent communities, it was a straight shot from schools to prison, right? And then once we got to advocacy shown in the film. In “An Urgent Appeal,” 1Love the prisons and got convicted, then we were served Movement organizers joined forces with the U.S. Human orders to then go back to the countries where we Rights Network to file an appeal to the United Nations fled from in the first place! (Nguyen, 2017) regarding the issue of Southeast Asian deportation (Nguyen, 2017). Through emotional sharings from impacted commu- By tracing Southeast Asian deportation back to U.S. impe- nity members, organizers argued that the deportation crisis rialism in Southeast Asia, Suong highlights the ways in was no less than a human rights violation, and thus the U.N. which the U.S. is deeply implicated in the ongoing depor- must hold the U.S. and Cambodia accountable (Nguyen, tation crisis. In just a few sentences, Suong exposes U.S. 2017). The following episode follows Chally Dang, Sophea state violence against Southeast Asians in the context of Phan, and Kalvin Hang, three deported refugees who begin not only war but also domestic criminalization. Such culpa- organizing a network of deportees and allies in Cambodia bility is rendered especially visible through the connection to advocate for the Cambodian government to stop accept- Suong makes between U.S. imperialism abroad and at home. ing deportations from the U.S. (Nguyen, 2017). Finally, Ultimately, through a careful pairing of historical facts and “A Global Movement” shows U.S.-based advocates travel- interviews, Deported engages in a critical remembering of ing to Cambodia to join with deportees in a meeting with the U.S.’s war in Southeast Asia, a conflict with effects still Cambodian government officials (Nguyen, 2017). Together, apparent today in the thousands of Southeast Asian refugees they discover that the Cambodian government had already who either have already been deported or are currently at put in a formal request to the U.S. to cease deporting refu- risk of removal. gees, a small but significant step toward permanently halt- ing refugee deportations (Nguyen, 2017). In each of these From America to Cambodia and Beyond: events, Deported showcases anti-deportation organizing that Transnational Refugee Resistance goes beyond advocacy solely based in the U.S.
Given that Deported links ongoing deportations to While originating in response to U.S. deportation historical processes of U.S. war and imperialism, I argue that policies, the movement against Southeast Asian depor- it is possible to understand the movement against Southeast tation, requires solutions that incorporate a truly global Asian deportation through the lens of FRE. In doing so, perspective. Such a movement is situated in the larger the interactions present in the film can be read as forms of Southeast Asian diaspora but is unique in that it locates “social reproduction and innovation” that are simultane- home and belonging not in Southeast Asia but rather in the ously “radical acts of social struggle and freedom” (Espiritu U.S., where refugee families and communities have long and Duong, 2018, 588). These acts take place in the context been established. For anti-deportation activists, deporting of the Southeast Asian diaspora, a social formation that itself Southeast Asian refugees is not so much a return of individu- is unsettled by the ongoing deportation crisis. By looking als to their supposed homeland as it is another displacement at the movement’s transnational organizing, I seek to fur- from families and communities in the U.S. In this sense, ther understand the forms of resistance deployed against deportation becomes an act of violence perpetrated by the Southeast Asian deportation and the ways that they chal- U.S. against Southeast Asian refugee communities along lenge conventional understandings of home and belonging. with other refugee and immigrant communities of color. Ultimately, reading Nguyen’s (2017) Deported through the Although the Deported series is broken up into five lens of FRE underlines the social formations that facilitate episodes, each segment builds upon the last as shown by transnational anti-deportation organizing and challenges us the ordering of their titles: “A Grassroots Movement,” to look beyond the U.S. in order to think through solutions 143 144 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 join intheworkforjusticewherevertheymaybe. action forviewerstoallythemselveswiththemovementand Southeast Asiandeportationorganizing,itisalsoacallto much as the series serves as an informative documentary on the endofdeportationsandreunificationfamilies.As organizing, but these efforts must persist if we are to see of thesuccessesaccomplished after alongperiodofactive Resource ActionCenter, 2018).Thefilmshowcasessome increase undertheTrump administration(SoutheastAsian deportations ofSoutheastAsianrefugeeshavecontinuedto was released only a few years ago, and as mentioned earlier, movement’s workisnotyetfinished.Nguyen’s (2017)film unjust deportation.However, itisimportanttonote that the resilience eveninthefaceofmilitarizedinterventionand of themovementspeakstocommunity’s strengthand forcibly separatedrefugeecommunities.Thepersistence U.S. imperialismaswelltheunitystillfoundamong connections between past and present struggles against Southeast Asian refugee resistance by reflecting upon the thinks throughmemoryanddiasporaascrucialsitesfor Kwon, S.A.(2012).“DeportingCambodian Refugees:Youth Illegal ImmigrationandImmigrant ResponsibilityActof1996, Hall, S.(1998).“CulturalIdentityandDiaspora.”InJ.Rutherford Espiritu, Y. L.,andDuong,L.(2018).“FeministRefugee Espiritu, Y. L.,(2014).BodyCounts:TheVietnam War and Anderson, B.R.O.G.(2016).ImaginedCommunities:Reflectionson Agreement BetweentheGovernmentofUnitedStates Works Cited The FightGoesOn return ofdeportees. to ending Southeast Asian deportation and facilitating the Critique, 20(3),737–762. doi:10.1215/10679847–1593519. Activism, StateReform, andImperialStatecraft.”Positions:Asia Pub. L.No.104–208,110Stat.3009–546. London, UnitedKingdom:Lawrence AndWishart Ltd. (Ed.). 43(3), 587–615.https://doi.org/10.1086/695300. ofWomenRefugee Art.”Signs:Journal inCulture andSociety, Epistemology: ReadingDisplacementinVietnamese andSyrian Militarized Refuge(es)(1sted.).UniversityofCaliforniaPress. the OriginandSpread ofNationalism.Verso. tions.pdf. gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/08–322-Vietnam-Repatria- Citizens, 22January, 2008.Retrievedfromhttps://www.state. Vietnam ontheAcceptanceofReturnVietnamese America andtheGovernmentofSocialistRepublic Sahra Nguyen’s (2017)Deporteddocumentaryseries Identity: Community, Culture, andDifference (pp.222–237). Um, K.(2012).“ExiledMemory:History, Identity, and “The DevastatingImpactofDeportationonSoutheastAsian Nguyen, V. (2016).NothingEverDies:Vietnam of andtheMemory Nguyen, S.(2017).Deported(LinktoEpisode1of5)[Video]. Mentzer, R.(2020).“HmongLeadersRallyAgainstTrump Memorandum BetweentheGovernmentandUnitedStates org/10.1215/10679847–1593564. Diaspora.” Remembering inSoutheastAsiaandAsian Americans-1.pdf. The-Devastating-Impact-of-Deportation-on-Southeast-Asian- Center, http://www.searac.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ Americans (2018).”TheSoutheastAsiaResourceAction War Youtube. Retrievedfromhttps://youtu.be/pdoFtGErRHg. against-trump-administration-deportation-push. www.npr.org/2020/02/24/808071758/hmong-leaders-rally- Administration DeportationPush.”Retrievedfromhttps:// US-Cambodia-Repatriation-Agreement. from http://searaids.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ Commission onRepatriation,March22nd,2002.Retrieved and OperationoftheUnitedStates—CambodiaJoint and theRoyalGovernmentofCambodiaforEstablishment . HarvardUniversityPress. Positions: AsiaCritique20(3),831–50.https://doi. “Link Deeply Through Their Wounds”: Haruki Murakami, Intercultural References, and World Literature Sophia Yip, The City College of New York
Sophia Yip is currently a senior at The City College of New or rejection of Japanese literary conventions.2 Murakami’s York, majoring in English. Her interests lie in the fields of twen- popularity prompts many scholars to argue that his nov- tieth-century literature and global Anglophone literature, with els are produced for the sake of widespread consumption. an emphasis on the issues of nationalism in the era of global- Murakami’s works are, in other words, seen as replicating ization. After completing a bachelor’s degree, Sophia plans to a sheen of commodity— and as thriving because they are a continue her research by pursuing a PhD in English. concession to commercialism.3
Taking Murakami’s controversial reception as its Abstract starting point, this paper re-examines Murakami’s idio- syncratic employment of intercultural references in his Due to Haruki Murakami’s stylistically un-Japanese narratives. In particular, it explores a key Western musi- approach to literature, many scholars have deemed his cal reference in the novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His fiction as a promotion of westernization or concession to Years of Pilgrimage. By explicating the significance the musi- commercialism. Taking Murakami’s controversial reception cal references carry in the novel, I argue that Murakami’s as its starting point, this paper reexamines Murakami’s idio- employment of intercultural references does not merely syncratic employment of a key Western musical reference reduce his work to mukokuseki or commercialism. I contend, in Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. By instead, that musical references function as a means for the analyzing the significance of the musical references, I argue protagonist, Tsukuru, to establish a connection with other that the protagonist is not the stereotypical Murakami-esque individuals. Scholars have often considered Tsukuru as a hero who is merely alienated. The overarching goal of this quintessential Murakami-esque protagonist, deeply imbued paper is to reconceptualize Murakami’s use of intercul- with an aura of melancholic alienation.4 However, Tsukuru’s tural references within the framework of world literature. relation to the musical reference has suggested otherwise. It demonstrates that Murakami’s reference-laden literary style propels his works into the global literary network and From my analysis, I proceed to further reconceptu- functions as a means for him to navigate global authorship. alize Murakami’s use of intercultural references within the It concludes by propounding that Murakami’s works should framework of contemporary world literature and argue that be conceptualized more as world literature. Murakami’s reference-laden literary style helps to propel his works into the global literary network and functions as a means for him to navigate global authorship. Murakami’s Acknowledgements strategic use of cross-cultural references helps to create a distinctive global voice capable of creating resonances and This article would not have been possible without the connection with readers around the world. This paper con- valuable input and support from several people. I especially cludes by maintaining that Murakami’s works should be con- would like to thank Professor Robert Higney, who never ceptualized less as Japanese writing infiltrated by Western fails to support and inspire me during the different phases of influences, and more as “world literature” intended for the my research. I am deeply grateful to my MMUF coordinator contemporary global literary stage. at CCNY, Professor Isabel Estrada, for always supporting and encouraging me. Finally, I want to thank my family for Liszt’s “Le Mal du Pays” in Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and always believing in me and empowering me to do my best. His Years of Pilgrimage
Many of Murakami’s novels incorporate a dynamic Beyond Mukokuseki range of Western musical references, including the classical, jazz, and pop genres. In Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Haruki Murakami1 is a widely celebrated contem- Years of Pilgrimage, Murakami deploys a particular piece porary Japanese author whose imaginative books are best- of classical music, “Le Mal du Pays,” as a weaving motif sellers around the world. He is notable for employing an throughout the novel. Composed by Hungarian pianist untraditional Japanese writing style, inventing wildly cre- and composer Franz Liszt during the 1830s, “Le Mal du ative narratives, and exploring taboo topics and universal Pays” (“Homesickness”) is the eighth of the nine compo- themes that appeal to both readers in his native land and sitions featured in the first piano cycle of his three-volume foreign countries. However, even today, Murakami remains Annees de Pelerinage (Years of Pilgrimage).5 The second half a controversial literary figure. His unconventional writing of the novel’s title, “Years of Pilgrimage,” is likewise a direct style has prompted many Japanese scholars and critics to musical reference to Liszt’s set of classical piano composi- deem his works mukokuseki, which translates as “something tions. It is worth noting that Years of Pilgrimage, which was or someone lacking any nationality” (Iwabuchi 28), and to written during Liszt’s travels in Italy, has been considered suggest that his writings are a promotion of westernization 145 146 The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Mal” is swirling around Tsukuru’s head the whole time that One crucial piece of minutiae is that the melody of “Le that Haidaislikewisepresentin hisdream(Murakami124). larly oneimbuedwithdreamlike qualities— before. However, ina“differentsphereofreality”— number ofsexualdreamsinvolving ShiroandKurotogether to Haida’s story aboutadyingpianist.Tsukuru hashad a illustrated inasurrealeroticdreamhehasafterlistening painful memorieshiddendeepwithinTsukuru. loneliness; however, itissimultaneouslyhewhoevokesthe who reintroducesthe warmth of friendship into Tsukuru’s the piece(Murakami70–1).Ononehand,itisHaida and three-dimensional”mentalimageofShiroperforming tighten withdisconsolate,stiflingfeeling,”recallinga“vivid sorrowful melody, Tsukuru cannothelpbutfeel“hischest through Tsukuru’s newfriend,Haida.Uponhearingthe “Le Mal” that his old friend Shiro used to play on the piano years aftertheostracism, Tsukuru re-encountersthefamiliar him brokenanddeeplypessimisticaboutthefuture.Several has wounded the young Tsukuru so deeply that it has left the groupwithoutgivinghimanyreason.Thebanishment pained byhisfriendswhentheysuddenlybanishedhimfrom things together(Murakami24).Tsukuru wasthusextremely all fiveofthemarea“centripetalunit”thatalwaysdoes essentially an“orderly, harmoniouscommunity”inwhich and twogirls(ShiroKuro).To Tsukuru, thegroupwas community consistingofthreeboys(Tsukuru, Aka,andAo) friends. Inthepast,Tsukuru usedtobelongauniquelittle is causedbyhissuddenbanishmentfromgroupofclose have adeepconnectionwiththemusicalpiece. relationships withHaida,Shiro,andEri— to reconnectwithhislostcommunityisfleshedoutin group ofclose friends. Morespecifically, Tsukuru’s desire and reclaim the deep connection he used to have with a functioned asavehicleforhimtoaccessthenostalgicpast of discovery has suggested otherwise: the musical piece has function of Liszt’s “Le Mal” throughout Tsukuru’s journey ment fromhisgroupofclosefriends.However, thesymbolic that Tsukuru hasisolatedhimselfafterexperiencingbanish- lated and alienated. Such an argumentis true to the extent quintessential Murakami-esque character who is deeply iso- in reticence.ItiseasytoconcludethatTsukuru isanother truths ofapasttraumaticeventaftermanyyearssulking man whotravelsaroundtheworld,hopingtouncover man whoembarksonajourneyofdiscovery. Murakami’s protagonistinColorless:amiddle-agedJapanese In this regard, Liszt’s composition has a direct parallel to as his quest to discover a new artistic identity (Celenza 4). Tsukuru’s unspokendesireforconnectionisexplicitly The traumatic past that relentlessly haunts Tsukuru Colorless centers aroundTsukuru Tazaki— who alllikewise Tsukuru realizes a lonely particu- linked herdeeply withhim. for— discreet connection— However, attheveryleast,Tsukuru hasachievedfindinga the endofnovel,asmanyquestions remainunanswered. piece throughoutthenovel.There islikewisenoreliefat manifested andsustainedin the motifofLiszt’s musical Tsukuru’s longing andyearningforthenostalgicpastare of apersonhelplesslyyearningforwhatheorshehaslost. Tsukuru’s journey in Colorless conveys the emotional tolls melancholic ending inthelower register (Wright). Similarly, tinged withyearningandsorrow, andbringsnorelief witha “Le Mal”powerfullyevokesthehomesicknessofatraveler, (Murakami 258).InLiszt’s musicalpiece,themelodyof over himasiftheyarequietlybreathingrightbeside the pianopiece,vividmemoriesofhisfriendswouldsweep connects himtoHaidaandShiro;wheneverhelistens Liszt’s “LeMal”becauseitisa“fragile,thinvein”that connection manyyearslater. they are able to reach a deep emotional understanding and listen toShiro’s favoritemusicalpieceevenaftersheisgone, (Murakami 322).BecausebothTsukuru andEricontinueto They are,instead, linkeddeeplythroughtheirwounds” heart isnotconnectedtoanotherthroughharmonyalone. “Le Mal”together, Tsukuru suddenlyhasan epiphany: “One musical piece(Murakami321).Asthetwoquietlylistento that a vibrant and luminous part of Shiro still lives on in the similar toTsukuru, sheoftenlistensto“LeMal”andfeels group, Eri him andhisoldfriends.Hefindsout,outofeveryoneinthe lingering tracesofanyconnectionpossiblyexistingbetween play?” Tsukuru’s questionrevealsthatheisstillseekingthe is: “DoyourememberthepianopiecethatShirousedto of histraumaticpast,thelastquestionhealwaysasksthem searching forhisoldfriendsinhopetouncoverthetruths rest ofthegroup.WhenTsukuru travelsaroundtheworld words, arepresentationofmusictobothTsukuru andthe has alwaysremindedTsukuru ofmusic.Sheis,inother pianist whosefavoritesongtoplayisLiszt’s “LeMal,”she tion tohimandthepianopiece.BecauseShiroisaskilled friends inhisutopianclosedcircleholdadistinctiveconnec- human connection,preciselyoneofextremeintimacy. sexual interestandsexuality, reifyingthelatter’s cravingfor Haida likewise stimulates and uncages Tsukuru’s repressed of thelossconnectiontoauniquecommunity. Moreover, “Le Mal” back into Tsukuru’s life, once again reminding him connection tohimandthemusic— Whether Tsukuru isawareornot,Haidaholdsaspecial he experiencesthesurrealsexualencounterwithHaida. with Eri, whose understanding of Liszt’s “Le Mal” has Colorless As indicatedbyTsukuru’s dream,thetwofemale 6 istheonlyonewhoremembers.Erirevealsthat, at onepointrevealsthatTsukuru hasloved one hehasbeenlongingandseeking as itisHaidawhobrings Toward World Literature circulating beyond its linguistic and cultural point of ori- gin (6). Murakami’s novels and short stories, in this sense, The analysis of the key musical reference in Colorless are already part of the global literary network as they have demonstrates that Murakami’s use of intercultural refer- been translated into many different languages and circu- ences, otherwise regarded as merely commercial by many lated around the world. Nevertheless, what is particular scholars, has a more profound significance. Murakami’s about Murakami’s works is their ability to create and sustain incorporation of Liszt’s musical piece suggests that Tsukuru communities around its circulation and consumption. As is not the typical Murakami-esque hero who is deeply alien- Tsukuru who reaches connection with his friends through ated. On the contrary, Tsukuru yearns for a sense of belong- “Le Mal,” Murakami’s readers, who all read in different ing, and he seems to cannot forget the one musical piece languages, are likewise able to experience such a similar that serves as his memory of his colorful friends. Beyond the connection. Murakami’s novels have given rise to forms of way it forces us to recharacterize Tsukuru, the reference to community and shared cultural performances in which his “Le Mal” in Colorless serves as a case study that illustrates the fans have created playlists on music streaming sites, such as contention that Murakami’s strategic use of intercultural ref- YouTube and Spotify, for every musical reference found in erences contributes to creating a distinctive voice that glo- his novels. He has allegorized forms of connection, in works balizes his novel. The globality of Murakami’s narrative not like Colorless, that the same novels enact in their circulation only stems from his employment of cross-cultural references around the world. but also the fact that those references are simultaneously global and local. The use of musical reference in Colorless is Despite the contention of scholars that Murakami’s global in that it presents to the reader two disparate cultures works are a compromise of commercialism, I maintain that at once: Liszt’s musical piece is western, whereas the con- Murakami’s works carry a deeper significance and should text of Murakami’s narrative is Japanese. While the musical not be easily dismissed as vacuous and shallow. If anything, reference is specifically Western, it is presented from a nar- Murakami has ruptured the stereotypical representation of rative that speaks from the local perspective of a Japanese Japanese culture in literature through his idiosyncratic nar- character. In other words, Murakami demonstrates how rative style. He has presented to the world— or if not to the a seemingly exclusively-Western reference can travel and world, at least to the Anglophone readers— a different kind create different meanings and resonances in another context of Japan that is already global and not subjected to forms beyond its point of national origin. The fact that Tsukuru of Orientalist fabrication. In particular, Murakami’s use of achieves reconnecting with Eri— the only character who intercultural references further contributes to creating a lives in a foreign land— through a Western musical piece voice emblematic of a global identity forged by modern further suggests the cross-border mobility of individuals in experiences, contemporary cultures, and the forces of glo- today’s globalized society. balization. From this, I build to this idea that Murakami’s works are closer to representing world literature intended Many scholars have criticized Murakami’s un-Japa- for the contemporary literary stage. Murakami’s novels are nese narrative style and common use of cross-cultural ref- not a passive product that glorifies Western cultural hege- erences as a perpetuation of Western cultural hegemony. mony but a product of hybrid languages and culture that has Such a claim, however, overlooks the Japanese social and the mobility to transcend national borders while drawing cultural milieu underpinning most of Murakami’s works. together a global literary community— an idea that even a It is important to highlight that Murakami is a post-war critic of the global novel like Tim Parks cannot dismiss, as Japanese writer who belongs to a society where tradition he remarks: “Buying a book, a reader becomes part of an coexists with modernity and Western influences. One can- international community.” What Murakami’s works suggest not simply forget that Murakami, born in 1949, had come of is that the motivation of finding a literary connection— one age in the late 1960s and early 1970s in a country that “had that is simultaneously local and global— is slowly expanding been assiduously importing American culture for more than the horizon of the world literature canon, as globalization two decades” (Walley 41). Murakami’s novels are thus highly continues to bring changes to the world in ways unimag- reflective of the characteristics Japan manifests in the late inable to previous generations. twentieth century, as Rebecca Suter puts it— “non-Western but modernized, hybrid, and ambiguous” (21). In other Endnotes words, Murakami’s novels cannot be exclusively-Japanese if they seek to reflect the sociohistorical context and trajectory 1 Japanese names are written in Western order of given name followed by of Japan as a post-war country. family name. 2 See Strecher 856–7. According to David Damrosch, a work becomes 3 In Off Center, literary critic Masao Miyoshi describes Murakami’s tales as a “smooth, popular item of consumption” (234). world literature by dint of being read as literature and by 147 4 Murakami’s literary approach, which includes his un-Japanese writing Suter, Rebecca. The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki style and trademark themes of alienation and critique of urban life, has between Japan and the United States. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard been described as “Murakami-esque.” See Muhamad Rafy Aditayana on University Asia Center: Distributed by Harvard University Tsukuru’s experience of social and self-alienation, and Alona U. Guevarra on “Marakami-esque” and alienation as one of Murakami’s “trademark Press, 2008. themes.” 5 Years of Pilgrimage “consists of twenty-six piano compositions published Walley, Glynne. “Two Murakamis and Their American Influence.” in three volumes (in 1855, 1858, and 1883 respectively)”: Premiere Annee, Japan Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 1, 1997, pp. 41–50. Suisse (First Year, Switzerland), Deuxieme Annee, Italie (Second Year, Italy), and Troisieme Annee (Third Year). See the booklet of Sinae Lee’s album Wright, Andrew. “Franz Liszt.” The Cross-Eyed Pianist, 9 Dec. and Dolores Pesce 398–410. 2017, crosseyedpianist.com/tag/franz-liszt/. 6 Eri’s full name is Eri Kurono Haatainen. She refuses to be called by “Kuro” after the small group disbanded. See Murakami 300.
Works Cited
Adityana, Muhamad Rafy. “Self and Social Alienation in Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years Of Pilgrimage.” Passage, vol. 6, no. 1, 2018, pp. 89–99.
Celenza, Anna Harwell. “Liszt, Italy, and the Republic of the Imagination,” Franz Liszt and His World, edited by Christopher H. Gibbs and Dana Gooley, Princeton University Press, 2004, pp. 3–36.
Damrosch, David. What Is World Literature? Princeton University Press, 2003.
Guevarra, Alona U. “The Creation of a Japanese Writer for the Global Age: The Case of Haruki Murakami.” Unitas Journal. 2019, pp. 25–49.
Iwabuchi, Ko¯ichi. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. Duke University Press, 2002.
Liszt, Franz. Annees de pelerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). Perf. Sinae Lee, Nimbus, 2012, CD.
Marling, William. Gatekeepers: The Emergence of World Literature and The 1960s. Oxford University Press, 2016.
Miyoshi, Masao. “Epilogue.” Off Center: Power and Culture Relations between Japan and the United States. Harvard University Press, 1991.
Murakami, Haruki. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage: A Novel. Translated by Philip Gabriel, Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.
Parks, Tim. “The Dull New Global Novel,” The New York Review of Books, February 9, 2010, http://www.nybooks.com/ daily/2010/02/09/the-dull-new-global-novel.
Pesce, Dolores. “Expressive Resonance in Liszt’s Piano Music.” Nineteenth-Century Piano Music, edited by R. Larry Todd, Routledge, 2004, pp. 398–410.
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 Strecher, Matthew. “At the Critical Stage: A Report on the State of Murakami Haruki Studies.” Literature Compass, vol. 8, no. 11, 2011, pp. 856–69. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1111/j.1741–4113.2011.00856.x.
148 The Black Frontier: African Americans, Slavery, and Freedom in Mexico, 1820–1840 Victoria Zabarte, Rice University
Victoria Zabarte is a junior at Rice University, majoring in Entitled “Emigration to Mexico,” this author pre- History and minoring in African and African American Studies. sented herself not just as a female abolitionist of color, but She focuses her research on the issues of race and slavery and also as an antislavery leader interested in the future of Afro- writes about the relationship between black Americans and descended people. This woman of color was more than just the people of Mexico throughout the nineteenth century. After an abolitionist. She was also an imperialist who advocated she graduates, Victoria plans on applying to PhD programs in for black emigration to the “sister republic” of Mexico.2 History in order to continue her research in the field. To C.F.P., Mexico not only offered a place to realize the promises of democracy, but it also offered the opportu- Abstract nity in which black Americans could expand and “civilize” the American frontier. C.F.P. saw Mexico as the black peo- This paper covers a portion of a larger research project ple’s version of Manifest Destiny, a haven from the onslaught about free black Americans’ idealized notion of Mexico as a of the expansion of proslavery Americans and their princi- place in which they could create the multiracial democracy ples throughout the western hemisphere. This paper draws that the United States only promised. Using newspaper upon Frederick Jackson Turner’s “Frontier Thesis” and the articles and personal correspondence from both sides of ideas associated with U.S. Manifest Destiny to reflect on the U.S.-Mexico border, this paper argues that popular the ways in which Americans understood Mexico in relation notions of the Mexican frontier circulated across northern to slavery, abolitionism, and freedom. In 1893, Frederick free black communities during the 1820s and 1830s as part Jackson Turner delivered a seminal address at the American of the general discourse on Manifest Destiny. In 1832, a Historical Association’s meeting in Chicago. Entitled “The woman who used the pseudonym “A Colored Female of Significance of the Frontier in American History,” this Philadelphia” (C.F.P.) penned an article in William Lloyd essay outlined a vision of the western frontier, which he Garrison’s abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, outlining described as “the outer edge of the wave— the meeting the reasons why Mexico would allow her people to manifest point between savagery and civilization.” In Turner’s view, their destiny of establishing a multiracial democracy. This U.S. democracy and identity were not found along the paper draws upon Frederick Jackson Turner’s “Frontier eastern North American seaboard but “it is in the great Thesis” and the ideas associated with U.S. Manifest Destiny West.”3 By focusing on the decades leading up to the U.S.- while also addressing the sentiments of Mexican citizens Mexico War (1846–1848), this paper sheds light on how who faced encroachment on their land from both pro and some African American abolitionists viewed expansionism, antislavery forces during this period. Manifest Destiny (domestic and overseas), and the annex- ation of Texas.
Acknowledgements This essay argues that popular notions of the Mexican frontier circulated across northern free black communi- I would like to thank Dr. Fay Yarbrough for being ties during the 1820s and 1830s as part of the general dis- a wonderful mentor and for her time and patience as we course on Manifest Destiny. Furthermore, black Americans worked to edit this paper. I would also like to recognize my at the time visualized Mexico as the land of opportunity in Rice MMUF Coordinators who supported me throughout which they could enjoy the multiracial democratic system of the submission process, especially Dr. José F. Aranda, Jr. government that the United States only promised. By the who helped me with edits. I would also like to acknowl- late 1820s, Mexico had already declared its independence edge Dr. William E. Skidmore who inspired me to write from Spain and several Afro-descended individuals served this paper in the first place and assisted me throughout the in prominent political and military positions. But the most writing process. notable reason why Mexico seemed like such a promising country for black Americans centered on the fact that it had In January 1832, a woman of color proposed a black abolished the legal institution of slavery within its national version of Manifest Destiny over a decade before white borders. This paper proves that Mexico functioned as an newspaper editor John O’Sullivan coined the term. While improved version of the United States for black Americans Afro-descended enslaved people struggled for freedom in in which white Americans and their European influences did the Caribbean and the New England Anti-Slavery Society not control the government. Black Americans envisioned mobilized in Boston, a woman of color who used the pseud- residing in Mexico because they believed that in this nation, onym “A Colored Female of Philadelphia” (C.F.P.) pub- they would have a voice. lished an article in William Lloyd Garrison’s Bostonian The issue of proslavery and antislavery expansionism newspaper, The Liberator.1 extended into Mexico and affected those beyond the borders 149 of the United States. By analyzing the reaction of Mexican the rights of black people in order to limit the possibility of citizens and not just focusing on the views of black and another revolt. white Americans, this paper also historicizes how people on the receiving end of expansionism also had agency in the She also played on Jefferson’s words in the Declaration extension of the U.S. frontier. In the end, black Americans of Independence when she explained, “There is an indepen- fell short in establishing a colony of interracial democracy in dent nation, where indeed ‘all men are born free and equal,’ Mexico because Mexicans fundamentally opposed the idea possessing those inalienable rights which our constitution 7 of people from the United States (whether they were black guarantees.” Although she recognized that her opinion or white) encroaching on their land and commandeering it was not popular at the time, her views were worth noting as their frontier. While British Canada embraced a white because she proposed that living in Mexico would be the ful- savior complex in allowing black refugees from the United fillment of the principles of the American Revolution. C.F.P. States into its borders, Mexico did not encourage emigration suggested that Mexico was the ideal place for black people from its northern neighbor, especially after the conflict that from the United States to move to because Mexico was the proslavery expansionists caused in the struggle with Texas. place in which they found a true democracy. Thus, the new “American Dream” for black Americans awaited them in * * * Mexico, making this nation their new frontier.
In her article about Mexican colonization, C.F.P. laid Mexico’s appeal was extensive because it allowed peo- out a variety of rights that black Americans would be able to ple of color to have political, economic, and social freedom have full access to in Mexico that they did not have in the in an ideal location. If she lived in Mexico, C.F.P. believed United States. She expressed: that she could acquire full citizenship.8 Conversely, the United States did not adopt the 14th Amendment until By leaving the land of oppression, and emigrating 1868, which gave all people born in the U.S. citizenship, where we may be received and treated as brothers; regardless of their race.9 In line with the notion of a frontier where our worth will be felt and acknowledged; and where we may acquire education, wealth not only being available to expand democracy, C.F.P. also and respectability, together with a knowledge of discussed the favorably warm and agreeable climate that the arts and sciences; all of which may be in our black Americans could find in Mexico. She explained, “The power— of the enjoyment of which the government climate [in Mexico] is healthy and warm, and of course of the separate states in the union is adopting means adapted to our nature; the soil is rich and fertile, which to deprive us.4 will contribute to our wealth,” a practical argument that appealed to black Americans.10 Not only would Mexico Straying from Garrison’s early opinion, C.F.P. referred to provide her people with political opportunities through cit- the United States not as the cradle of “freedom and indepen- izenship, but it would also allow them to be more successful 5 dence,” but as “the land of oppression.” She believed that as in agriculture and raising livestock, since they were activities a nation composed of people of color, black Americans could that were possible year-round. In addition to the climate, easily integrate into Mexican society and begin to partici- C.F.P. was “of the opinion that Mexico would afford us a pate in the government. C.F.P. also recognized the fact that large field for speculation, were we to remove thither,” and Mexico had abolished slavery in 1829, which gave everyone this promise of land was enough to indicate that she foresaw in the country the right for the government to treat them Mexico as a promising frontier.11 as human beings, unlike in the United States where the practice of slavery was still legal and expanding in 1832. C.F.P. explained to her audience that she was While Garrison claimed that in South America “cultivating “informed that the population of Mexico is eight mil- the arts and sciences with avidity” were “expectations” that lions of colored, and one million of whites.”12 Therefore, were “blighted and destroyed in the bud,” C.F.P. asserted she believed that these demographics would attract black that Mexico would allow black Americans to “acquire edu- Americans who were looking to be included in the majority cation, wealth and respectability, together with a knowledge rather than in the minority. Since white Americans consid- of the arts and sciences.”6 Conversely, she explained that ered their black counterparts as “others,” and often excluded in the United States, many states were adopting laws that them from reaping the benefits of living in the United deprived black Americans of their rights. Contextualizing States, black Americans desired to become members of the C.F.P.’s article also identifies the fact that she published majority.13 To achieve this aim, black Americans looked The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 it in The Liberator the year after Nat Turner’s Rebellion, toward Mexico as the frontier that would afford them this when lawmakers throughout the state of Virginia and the opportunity. C.F.P. wanted to show other black Americans entire slaveholding South were attempting to cut down on who were reading her article in The Liberator that emigrat- ing to Mexico was their opportunity to be part of the racial 150 majority that could make political decisions and have a between Mexico and the United States. Black abolitionists higher socioeconomic status. For example, even though it were aware of the debate and the issues that arose when was not allowed for black men to enlist in the U.S. military attempting to flee to Mexico. Published in the same month as soldiers at the time, Mexico’s promise led C.F.P. to believe as C.F.P.’s editorial, an article from Freedom’s Journal indi- that young black men would “feel proud to enlist under the cated how black antislavery communities understood what Mexican banner, and support her [Mexico’s] government,” was at stake if they took up the cause of the black Manifest when faced by an outside threat.14 Because she claimed that Destiny in Mexico.20 If the colony failed, they had every- black Americans would gladly take up arms against Mexico’s thing to lose, including their freedom, but if it succeeded, enemies, she believed that the generations after her could they could expand antislavery principles and true multiracial become merchants and soldiers in Mexico despite the infe- democracy throughout the American continent. Although rior status that they held in the United States.15 C.F.P. trusted that Mexico would pave a new way forward for black Americans, her view was only limited to free black But beyond merely integrating into Mexican society, Americans in the northern United States who may not have she also fostered an idea of black Manifest Destiny, one that been as familiar with the institution of slavery as those who would lead her people to Mexico where they could expe- were still in bondage. rience a truly interracial democracy. Besides her idealistic motives, she also wanted to spread Protestantism, much * * * like white pioneers moving to the Western territories of the United States did at the time.16 Her one objection to the Mexican newspapers at the time vocalized their views emigration of black Americans to Mexico was the simple about the United States and the state of slavery in the coun- fact of “the religion of that nation being Papist [Catholic].”17 try. Particularly, El Sol and El Mosquito Mexicano unabashedly Nonetheless, she had a solution that could have changed the expressed the sentiment that the United States was incred- course of Mexican history if it had come to fruition. C.F.P. ibly hypocritical since it espoused the notions of equality believed that “we can take with us the Holy Bible, which is and democracy when, in reality, it did not adhere to these able to make us wise unto salvation,” and she wanted black practices. In a reprinting in El Sol of the proceedings in the people from the United States to “be made the honored Camara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators) from January instruments in the hands of an all-wise God, in establishing 1827, Mexican senators discussed their lack of understanding 21 the holy religion of the Protestant Church in that coun- of U.S. chattel slavery. Though the Mexican government try.”18 Clearly, she not only believed that Mexico was the did not abolish slavery until two years after the publication black frontier, but she also desired to carry out a black ver- of this newspaper in 1829, they had already questioned the sion of Manifest Destiny in that country as well. notion of a nation that claimed that all people were equal but treated Afro-descended people as property. Notably, these * * * debates over slavery occurred in Mexico before they did in the United States.22 Though C.F.P. envisioned Mexico as her ideal fron- tier, in the eyes of enslaved and formerly enslaved peo- In an article in El Mosquito Mexicano from January ple, Mexico did not manifest the same destiny for them 1836, the author used extensive footnotes to comment on that Canada did. The Monroe Doctrine claimed the entire the hypocrisy of the United States. At the time, Mexico western hemisphere as an entity that the United States was in the midst of the second French intervention, and controlled. The only part of the hemisphere into which the the Texas Revolution was coming to an end in favor of the United States could not extend its dominion was British proslavery expansionist colonists from the United States. Canada. As part of an empire that abolished slavery, the The writer of the article entitled “Francia” poked fun at British Canadian colonies appealed to enslaved communities both France and the United States since they respectively throughout the United States, principally because there was claimed to be nations that valued freedom and independence not a threat of American slavery’s expansion into this region. but were imposing their ideas on Mexico.23 That same year, the paper also reprinted a piece from the New York American William Wells Brown, a former fugitive slave, rec- about the conflict for Texan independence at the time. The ognized how slavery in the United States and its proposed editor inserted sarcastic commentary in footnotes through- expansion into the Mexican province of Texas was the cause out the article, saying that he included the reprinting of “this of the Mexican American War. Brown explained how the article for the honor and glory of the philanthropic liberty abolition of slavery in Mexico directly challenged the insti- of the North American village,” in diminutive reference to 19 tution of slavery throughout the American continent. This Texas and the United States.24 In addition, the editor wrote, situation prompted the armed conflict that ensued for the “Oh yes! That is a very good thing, that the African race will annexation of Texas and the demarcation of the border not be free in the territory of the republic of Texas. Only the 151 diabolical race, like the race of that congress of theirs, will 3 Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American be forever free.”25 In the same issue of El Mosquito Mexicano, History,” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1893 (1894): p. 200. See also John Mack Faragher, ed., Rereading a letter to the editor asked if the United States would dare Frederick Jackson Turner “The Significance of the Frontier in American “recognize a colony as independent that does not have the History” and Other Essays, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), pp. elements nor any other reason to be one,” referring to 33–60; Tiziano Bonazzi, “Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis and the Self-Consciousness of America,” Journal of American Studies 27, no. 26 Texas. Mexico viewed the United States as hypocritical in 2 (1993): 149–71; Glenda Riley, “Frederick Jackson Turner Overlooked its practice— or lack thereof— of the tenets that it preached. the Ladies,” Journal of the Early Republic 13, no. 2 (1993): 216–30. During the 1830s, Mexican people clearly opposed the insti- 4 C.F.P., “Emigration to Mexico,” p. 14. tution of slavery in the United States, but they did not 5 A.O.B., “Communication: South America.— No. I.,” p. 3; C.F.P., “Emigration to Mexico,” p. 14. appreciate the encroachment of their borders, whether those 6 Ibid. who attempted to establish colonies were pro or antislav- 7 C.F.P., “Emigration to Mexico,” p. 14. ery. This perspective from Mexican newspapers highlights 8 Ibid. the disconnect between C.F.P.’s hopes for expanding into 9 U.S. Const. Amend. XIV. Mexico and the reality of how Mexican people refused to 10 C.F.P., “Emigration to Mexico,” p. 14. accept U.S. colonies within their borders. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. * * * 13 Edmund Sears Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975). p. 2. When C.F.P. penned her article in The Liberator about 14 C.F.P., “Emigration to Mexico,” p. 14. emigration to Mexico, she reshaped the ideologies sur- 15 Ibid. rounding colonization and expansionism. Writing the article 16 Ibid. For more on the Protestant work ethic, see: Max Weber, The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (New York: Harper was her way of propagating the concept of a black frontier Collins Press, 1930); For more ideas about the Protestant work ethic thesis. Not only did she desire to extend American democ- in relation to Iberian America see: Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, Puritan racy into a place that would accept it, but she also wanted Conquistadors: Iberianizing the Atlantic, 1550–1700, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006). to broaden its definition to include a multiracial dimension 17 C.F.P., “Emigration to Mexico,” p. 14. that it could not achieve in the United States. This interra- 18 Ibid. cial democracy was only possible in Mexico, a nation that, 19 William Wells Brown. “American Slavery.” The Liberator, October 12, although it had its own governmental structure, C.F.P. also 1849. believed could learn from the U.S. Protestant work ethic. 20 “From the Ohio Monitor, Another View of Colonization,” Freedom’s She promoted both the vision of a black frontier and a black Journal, January 31, 1829, p. 344–345; “Mexican Insurrection,” Freedom’s Journal, January 31, 1829, p. 342. Manifest Destiny that could teach people in Mexico the ben- 21 “Congreso General. Cámara de Senadores.” El Sol, January 22, 1827, p. eficial values that the United States offered. Though white 1–2. abolitionists were skeptical of her black Manifest Destiny 22 Ibid. and black Americans were afraid that proslavery expansion- 23 “Francia,” El Mosquito Mexicano, January 26, 1836, p. 2–4. ists would re-enslave them if they took over a black colony in 24 “Batalla de los libres en Tejas,” El Mosquito Mexicano, September 6, 1836, Mexico, C.F.P.’s thesis still stands. Mexico was her frontier, p. 1; my translation. 25 “Batalla de los libres en Tejas,” El Mosquito Mexicano, September 6, 1836, and it was the place where she could manifest her destiny of p. 2; my translation. genuine freedom and democracy at a time when the United 26 “Comunicados,” El Mosquito Mexicano, September 6, 1836, p. 3; my States denied her people of those rights. translation.
Endnotes Works Cited
1 A Colored Female of Philadelphia, “Emigration to Mexico,” The Primary Liberator, January 28, 1832. p. 14. Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify the author of this letter with complete certainty. As a result, A Colored Female of Philadelphia. “Emigration to Mexico.” The I have decided to use the abbreviation “C.F.P.” (A Colored Female of Philadelphia) hereinafter, which I base on the moniker that this black Liberator (January 28, 1832): 14. female antislavery writer elected to use in her article published in The Liberator. A.O.B. “Communication: South America.— No. I.” Newburyport 2 For more on Mexico as one of the “sister republics,” see Caitlin Fitz, Herald (July 16, 1822): p. 3. Our Sister Republics: The United States in an Age of American Revolutions (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2017). “Batalla de los libres en Tejas.” El Mosquito Mexicano (September The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Journal 2020 6, 1836): 1.
Brown, William Wells. “American Slavery.” The Liberator (October 12, 1849). 152 “Comunicados.” El Mosquito Mexicano (September 6, 1836): 3.
“Congreso General. Cámara de Senadores.” El Sol (January 22, 1827): 1–2.
“Francia.” El Mosquito Mexicano (January 26, 1836): 2–4.
“From the Ohio Monitor, Another View of Colonization.” Freedom’s Journal (January 31, 1829): 344–345.
“Mexican Insurrection.” Freedom’s Journal (January 31, 1829): 342.
U.S. Const. Amend. XIV.
Secondary
Bonazzi, Tiziano. “Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis and the Self-Consciousness of America.” Journal of American Studies 27, no. 2 (1993): 149–71.
Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge. Puritan Conquistadors: Iberianizing the Atlantic, 1550–1700. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006.
Faragher, John Mack. Rereading Frederick Jackson Turner: “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” and Other Essays. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.
Fitz, Caitlin. Our Sister Republics: The United States in an Age of American Revolutions. New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.
Morgan, Edmund Sears. American Slavery, American Freedom. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975.
Riley, Glenda. “Frederick Jackson Turner Overlooked the Ladies.” Journal of the Early Republic 13, no. 2 (1993): 216–30.
Turner, Frederick Jackson. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1893. 1894.
Weber, Max. The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Harper Collins Press, 1930.
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