TESIS DOCTORAL La Influencia Del Blues Y El Jazz En Tres Autoras Afro

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TESIS DOCTORAL La Influencia Del Blues Y El Jazz En Tres Autoras Afro PROGRAMA DE DOCTORADO LITERATURA EN LENGUA INGLESA / PROGRAMA DE DOUTORADO EM LETRAS TESIS DOCTORAL La influencia del blues y el jazz en tres autoras afro-estadounidenses: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker y Gayl Jones Tesis que presenta para optar al título de Doctora: María Rocío Cobo Piñero Dirigida en cotutela internacional por: El Profesor Dr. D. Juan Ignacio Guijarro González (Universidad de Sevilla) y la Profesora Dra. Dña. Stelamaris Coser (Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo) Sevilla, 2014 AGRADECIMIENTOS No habría sido posible concluir la presente Tesis sin el apoyo y la motivación de profesores, familiares, amigas y amigos. Le agradezco a mi Director de Tesis Juan Ignacio Guijarro González los ánimos para no abandonar la investigación en momentos de desaliento, así como sus revisiones. A Stelamaris Coser, codirectora de la Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (Brasil), por sus recomendaciones, sus aportaciones y por invitarme a seminarios que han enriquecido el presente estudio. A los docentes de los cursos de doctorado del Programa de Literatura en Lengua Inglesa de la Universidad de Sevilla y a los del Máster en Literatura Inglesa de la University of Pennsylvania, en particular a Michael Awkward, Robin Leidner y Herman Beavers. Le agradezco a mi familia el apoyo incondicional y la paciencia, en especial a mi madre, que fue mi primera profesora de literatura en el colegio y quien despertó mi interés por la musicalidad en la poesía, ya que recitábamos poemas acompañados de la música de nuestra elección. A Meiry, compañera de vida y de viaje, que además, antes de mi llegada a Brasil me preparó “una habitación propia” para investigar y escribir en esta última etapa. Tampoco habría sido posible desarrollar esta Tesis sin los magníficos fondos de las bibliotecas de la University of Pennsylvania, del College of William and Mary, de la University of Houston, de la Universidad de Sevilla y de la Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo. Gracias a las profesoras y amigas Esther Alarcón Arana, Carla Buck, Francie Cate-Arries y a mi querido amigo Guillermo de los Reyes por facilitarme el acceso a revistas académicas estadounidenses. Mi especial agradecimiento a la Universidad de Sevilla por concederme la “Ayuda al Desarrollo de Tesis en Cotutela Internacional” para el año 2013. RESUMEN La presente Tesis parte de un acercamiento poliédrico al blues y al jazz como temas literarios, como ritmos transgresores, como espacios de reivindicación y como estandartes de la música que surgió del contacto cultural en la diáspora. Se explora la influencia de estos géneros musicales en tres obras literarias de cada una las siguientes autoras: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker y Gayl Jones. Estos textos literarios, publicados principalmente entre los años setenta y principios de los ochenta del siglo XX, son una buena muestra de la influencia del legado de las cantantes de blues, de los ritmos sincopados del jazz y de la cultura vernácula de las personas afro-estadounidenses. Las escritoras rompen con la tradición literaria de vincular el blues y el jazz a autores masculinos y protagonizan el renacer literario femenino negro de los años setenta. Esta investigación aúna la crítica feminista negra, los estudios literarios y las historias de la música negra, para determinar el papel del blues y el jazz como testimonios de la resistencia ante la desigualdad de raza, clase y género, esta última visibilizada por las cantantes de blues primero y por las autoras objeto de estudio después. Asimismo, se hace especial énfasis en el trasfondo social de la música que sonaba en el momento histórico en el que las autoras sitúan la trama de los textos. PALABRAS CLAVE: literatura negra, blues femenino, jazz, feminismo negro. RESUMO A presente Tese parte de uma aproximação poliédrica ao blues e ao jazz como temas literários, como ritmos transgressores, como espaços de reivindicação e como estandartes da música que surgiu do contato cultural na diáspora. Explora-se a influência destes gêneros musicais em três obras literárias de cada uma das seguintes autoras: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker e Gayl Jones. Estes textos, publicados principalmente entre os anos setenta e princípios dos oitenta do século XX, são somente uma mostra da influência do legado das cantoras do blues, dos ritmos sincopados do jazz e da cultura vernácula afro-estadunidense sobre a literatura. As escritoras rompem com a tradição literária de vincular o blues e o jazz a autores masculinos e protagonizam o renascer literário feminino negro dos anos setenta. Esta pesquisa associa a corrente feminista negra, os estudos literários e as historias da música negra com vistas a determinar o papel do blues e do jazz, como formas de resistência ante a desigualdade de raça, classe e gênero, esta última visibilizada pelas cantoras de blues primeiro e pelas autoras objeto de estudo depois. Acentua-se também a história social da música que ressoava no espaço temporal em que as autoras situam a trama dos textos. PALABRAS CHAVE: literatura negra, blues feminino, jazz, feminismo negro. ABSTRACT This Thesis approaches blues and jazz from a multiple perspective: as literary themes, as transgressive rhythms, as sites of vindication and as symbols of the music that emerged from the cultural contact during the diaspora. We explore the influence of these musical genres in three literary works written by each of the following authors: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Gayl Jones. These texts, mainly published between the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, show the influence of the musical legacy of the female blues singers, the syncopated rhythms of jazz and the vernacular culture of US African descendants. Female black writers break with the literary tradition of connecting just male authors with blues and jazz, leading the black female literary renaissance of the 1970s. This investigation brings together black feminist criticism, literary studies, and the history of black music to establish the role of blues and jazz as a means of resistance to race, class, and gender inequalities; the latter was pointed out by the female blues singers first and by the authors analyzed in this Thesis afterwards. The connection between the social background of music and the historical time in which the literary texts are settled is highly emphasized in this study. KEY WORDS: black literature, female blues, jazz, black feminism. ÍNDICE INTRODUCCIÓN 1 CAPÍTULO 1. “THERE HAS TO BE A MODE TO DO WHAT THE MUSIC DID FOR BLACKS:” MÚSICA, FICCIÓN Y TESTIMONIO EN TRES NOVELAS DE TONI MORRISON 48 1.1. The Bluest Eye: repeticiones y variaciones de una melodía 50 1.1.1. La música como reflejo de identidad: “blues wisdom” femenino 50 1.1.2. El lenguaje musical 70 1.1.3. Las características técnicas del blues y su representación formal 77 1.2. Song of Solomon: memoria, historia y música 83 1.2.1. Pilate: una cantante de Blues Clásico 83 1.2.2. El espacio musical y el lenguaje del blues 100 1.2.3. Lo simbólico en Sugarman / Solomon / Sugargirl Blues 109 1.3. Jazz: fragmentación y modernidad 117 1.3.1. La germinación del jazz en el Harlem de los años veinte: “a site of exile” 118 1.3.2. Transgresión formal: el jazz y la voz narrativa 136 1.3.3. La estructura jazzística de la novela 147 Coda 153 CAPÍTULO 2. ALICE WALKER: LA REIVINDICACIÓN DE LOS REFERENTES MUSICALES NEGROS 156 2.1. Meridian: de los márgenes al centro de la revolución artística y política 160 2.1.1. “The Music Tree:” tradición oral y musical 160 2.1.2. Regreso al sur: freedom songs y compromiso político 173 2.2. The Color Purple: el poder regenerador de la música 187 2.2.1. “The Empress of the Blues” / “The Queen Honeybee:” rebeldía y libertad sexual en el Blues Clásico 188 2.2.2. Minstrelsy, vaudeville y juke joints: lo teatral en el blues 202 2.2.3. “Let me convert your soul:” la utopía de África 214 2.3. You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down: autoafirmación racial y sexual 223 2.3.1. La autenticidad en la música negra como parámetro cultural y discursivo 224 2.3.2. “They want what I got only it ain’t mine:” apropiación e imitación 237 Coda 247 CAPÍTULO 3. GAYL JONES Y LA LIBERACIÓN DE LAS VOCES 251 3.1. Corregidora: narrativas opresivas y sus reinterpretaciones 252 3.1.1. “Mother of the Blues:” la (re)presentación de la esclavitud 253 3.1.2. Billie Holiday y la improvisación de significados 269 3.1.3. Del blues al bebop: análisis estilístico y formal 281 3.2. Eva’s Man: la perversión de la lógica discursiva 292 3.2.1. “Blood Hound Blues:” la violencia en Eva’s Man 293 3.2.2. “Suspended in time and place:” el jazz como paradigma narrativo 308 3.3. Song for Anninho: testimonio y oralidad 320 3.3.1. Poesía, blues y modernismo 321 3.3.2. “All of the women are singing:” cantar como forma de resistencia 325 Coda 339 CONCLUSÕES 343 LISTA DE ILUSTRACIONES 352 REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS 353 INTRODUCCIÓN i live in music is this where you live i live here in music. (Shange, “i live in music”)1 I. Motivaciones Cuatro han sido las etapas de esta investigación y de sus motivaciones. En primer lugar, el interés por la música y su relación con la literatura negra en Estados Unidos se inició durante el cuarto año académico de Filología Inglesa, realizado en la Thames Valley University de Londres (1997-1998), con beca de estudios Erasmus. Uno de los cursos semestrales sobre literatura estadounidense dedicó un mes al Harlem Renaissance. En cada sesión, se escuchaban blues y jazz, mientras el profesor recitaba versos de Langston Hughes o de Sterling Brown, y leía fragmentos de la obra de Zora Neale Hurston.
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