Black Women's Identities and the Politics of Home in Transnational Black American Women's Fiction

University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2006 Mapping intersections: Black women's identities and the politics of home in transnational Black American women's fiction/ Sandra Caona Duvivier University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Duvivier, Sandra Caona, "Mapping intersections: Black women's identities and the politics of home in transnational Black American women's fiction/" (2006). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 921. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/921 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. University of Massachusetts Amherst Library Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/mappingintersectOOduvi This is an authorized facsimile, made from the microfilm master copy of the original dissertation or master thesis published by UMI. The bibliographic information for this thesis is contained in UMI's Dissertation Abstracts database, the only central source for accessing almost every doctoral dissertation accepted in North America since 1861. From:Pro£vuest COMPANY 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1346 USA 800.521.0600 734.761.4700 web www.il.proquest.com Printed in 2006 by digital xerographic process on acid-free paper MAPPING INTERSECTIONS: BLACK WOMEN'S IDENTITIES AND THE POLITICS OF HOME IN TRANSNATIONAL BLACK AMERICAN WOMEN'S FICTION A Dissertation Presented by SANDRA CAONA DUVIVIER Submitted to the Graduate School of the iversity of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY MAY 2006 W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies UMI Number: 3215912 Copyright 2006 by Duvivier, Sandra Caona All rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform 3215912 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 © Copyright by Sandra Caona Duvivier 2006 All Rights Reserved MAPPING INTERSECTIONS: BLACK WOMEN'S IDENTITIES AND THE POLITICS OF HOME IN TRANSNATIONAL BLACK AMERICAN WOMEN'S FICTION A Dissertation Presented by SANDRA CAONA DUVIVIER Approved as to style and content by: James E. Smethurst , Chair Esther M.A. Terry, Member Steven C. Tracy, Member Pau 1 a J . G i dd i ngs , Membe r Michelle A. Stephens, Member Esther M.A. Terry, Chair W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro- American Studies MAPPING INTERSECTIONS: BLACK WOMEN'S IDENTITIES AND THE POLITICS OF HOME IN TRANSNATIONAL BLACK AMERICAN WOMEN'S FICTION A Dissertation Presented by Sandra Caona Duvivier Approved as to style and content by v ames E. Smethurst, Chair Esther M.A. Terry/'erryl Member Steven^C Tracy? 'Member au 1 a^KV^do! i ng ^kembe r ichelle A. Stephens, Member Esther M.A. Terr/, Chair W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro- American Studies DEDICATION To (the loving memory of) my maternal grandmother, Caona Bernadin Granville (1920-1989), after whom I am honored and proud to be named ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Not often do I have an opportunity to thank, in writing, those who have, individually and collectively, supported and invested in me during major academic and life milestones. I will do my best, then, to make the most of this occasion. • I am forever grateful to have a supportive and caring family that has provided a foundation for my personal, professional, and career development. My parents Solange and Antoine Duvivier have always encouraged my personal and intellectual pursuits, and, very importantly, instilled in me a desire to challenge myself in all facets of life. My sister Dr. Tanya Duvivier, who, in knowing at a very young age that she would become a physician, inspired me, even as a four-year old, to achieve professional "greatness." Fol- lowing in this tradition is my brother Ansel "Randy" Du- vivier, whose academic successes and achieved career goals at a young age also set a precedent for me to follow and maintain. Lastly, my baby niece, Br i anna, has provided the last two-and-a-half years of my life--which largely coin- cides with the very intense dissertation writing phase-- with joys and pleasures beyond what I could have imagined. I have also been fortunate to have an ever-present ex- tended family that has supported me academically and pro- v . fessionally. 1 thank my aunts Claudette Granvil and Mar- lene Glaudin, and my uncles Constant, Ernst, and Thomas Granvil and Carlo Glaudin. Also, my first cousins have had an invaluable presence in my life, and I am very thankful to have sibling-like relationships with them: Nerlande, Or- line, Burt land, Carl and Jennifer Granvil, Pascal e Jean- Noel, and Carline Lou i s-Letang My academic and intellectual endeavors provided me with a space to encounter people who have had a profound impact on me as a student, scholar, and person. In particular, I am very appreciative and blessed to have met and cultivated a friendship with Trimiko Melancon, who has not only been supportive, encouraging, and consistent in providing (salient) feedback to help strengthen my dissertation considerably, but has also served as an example of scholar ly/academic and personal excellence that has been truly inspiring. I thank my dissertation committee for their training, assistance, and enthusiasm about my research. My advisor, James Smethurst , has been very accessible and meticulous in providing feedback on my entire dissertation, and was invaluable throughout but especially during crucial stages. Esther Terry has consistently encouraged me to never lose sight of my personal investment in my research, and has vi f supported my endeavor to merge the se 1 - referent i a 1 with the scholarly. Steve Tracy has been insistent that I pro- duce a structurally-sound dissertation, and his excitement about my project has been particularly motivating. Mi- chelle Stephens not only helped me further complicate my work, but her suggestion that I construct and utilize ter- minology that illuminates, not undermines, my thesis was immeasurable and led to what I am delighted to refer to as "transnational black American." Lastly, Paula Giddings helped transform my dissertation from a comparative to an intersect ional project, which took my work into newer tra- jectories, and has always challenged and encouraged me to further conceptualize and articulate my dissertation's com- plexity and efficacy. Additionally, I am thankful to have encountered others whose presence and assistance during the various stages of my graduate career have been invaluable. In particular, Alex Deschamps ' and Rhonda Cobham- Sander ' s courses on black feminism(s) and Caribbean literature, respectively, helped me further develop as a critical thinker and scholar. Paul Udofia has been a very enthusiastic, supportive, and colle- gial cohort since Fall 2000, when we entered the Afro- American Studies department. Jami la Dunbar-Harris' friendship was especially appreciated and comforting my first vi i year of graduate school, particularly during its trying mo- ments. Also, over the past two years. Keisha-Khan Perry, a fellow at Smith College, has not only become my academic family, but also a friend. Lastly, I want to thank those who provided the re- sources and much-needed financial assistance for me to con- tinue my studies and further my research and teaching: the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies; the Nellie Mae Foundation; Graduate Opportunity Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts; the Frederick Douglass Teaching Fellowship; and the Cornell University Africana Studies Fellowship. I thank each and every person and en- tity for her/his/its support, assistance, and encourage- ment—which will not be forgotten. vi i i ABSTRACT MAPPING INTERSECTIONS: BLACK WOMEN'S IDENTITIES AND THE POLITICS OF HOME IN TRANSNATIONAL BLACK AMERICAN WOMEN'S FICTION MAY 2006 SANDRA CAONA DUVIVIER, B.A., QUEENS COLLEGE, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor James E. Smethurst Transnational black American women writers' literary renderings of "home" evidence an intersect ional relation- ship among black American literature and cultures. This dissertation analyzes, through the trope of home, these au- thors' portrayals of the multiplicity of experiences in- forming black American women's lives and identities both domestically and transnat ional ly. Embracing the transnational ism of black American female subjects, as well as a paradigm of intersect ional i ty , this dissertation creates a framework that challenges not only canon formation with re- gards to black women's literature in the Americas, but also the rigidity surrounding rac i a 1 /ethn i c and national identities generally. To this end, it distinguishes itself from other scholarship that has largely analyzed these women's ix writings comparatively or within a larger diasporic framework—which, while insightful, tends to undermine the impact and specificity of "New World" or black American cultures . This dissertation consists of an Introduction that de- lineates " intersect ional i ty, " explicating its significance and relational aspects to what I refer to as "transnational black American." Chapter I analyzes how these black women writers' representations of home problematize "nation"; and, it situates the novels within particular historical, sociopolitical, gendered, and literary contexts. Chapter II investigates Paule Marshall's depictions of African American and Caribbean settings as homespaces integral to protagonist Avey Johnson's black cultural consciousness and healing in Praisesong for the Widow.

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