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Disrupting Dissemblance : Transgressive Black Women As Politics of Counter-Representation in African American Women's Fiction/ Trimiko C

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Disrupting Dissemblance : Transgressive Black Women As Politics of Counter-Representation in African American Women's Fiction/ Trimiko C University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2005 Disrupting dissemblance : transgressive black women as politics of counter-representation in African American women's fiction/ Trimiko C. Melancon University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Melancon, Trimiko C., "Disrupting dissemblance : transgressive black women as politics of counter-representation in African American women's fiction/" (2005). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 919. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/919 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 B R A R Y DISRUPTING DISSEMBLANCE: TRANSGRESS I VE BLACK WOMEN AS POLITICS OF COUNTER-REPRESENTATION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S FICTION A Dissertation Presented by TRIMIKO C. MELANCON Submitted to the Graduate School of the fulfillment University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2005 Studies W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American © Copyright by Trimiko C. Melancon 2 All Rights Reserved DISRUPTING DISSEMBLANCE: TRANSGRESS I VE BLACK WOMEN AS POLITICS OF COUNTER-REPRESENTATION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN' S FICTION A Dissertation Presented by TRIMIKO C. MELANCON Approved as to style and content by: James E. Smethurst, Chair EstherECsther M.A. Terry/Terry^ Chaincnair W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro- American Studies For my mother Ramona Ann Howard Melancon my model, my sustaining cup and Ida Mary Oliver Howard (1927-1999) , my maternal grandmother, who never ceases to inspire me ACKNOWLEDGMENT S Expressing one's appreciation should never be a mean- ingless task but, rather, a moment filled with heartfelt of this sincerity. I have been, throughout the course process, and especially during the stages of dissertation individuals writing, fortunate to have been surrounded by would be re- who have supported me on multiple levels. I to each of them. miss if I did not express my gratitude foremost, for their un- I thank my family, first and me through- yielding love and support, which have sustained and Ramona (Howard) out this endeavor. My parents Sterling faith in my ability Melancon, especially, have never lost but were, during times of to not only succeed triumphantly, unceasing in their distress and temporary "immobilization," support. Words can- encouragement, optimism, and selfless profound love for and grati- not even begin to express my sisters Drs. Trina and tude to them. I thank my older professional degrees in Trichelle Melancon who, in having women are overwhelmingly fields in which African American stereotypes and served under-represented, have invalidated professional models for me. My as both personal and a combination of vi- younger sister Trichlyn possesses and drive that not only brance, resilience, intelligence, she will succeed in all inspires me, but assures me that the endeavors her promising future holds. Also, my baby- nephews Shaun, Sterling Ramon, and Aaron have always pro- vided warm, pleasant, and welcomed "distractions" from the tediousness and rigidity of writing; I love and thank them dearly. In the academic realm, I am especially grateful to the cadre of scholars/intellectuals/academicians I am privi- leged to refer to collectively as my committee: James Smethurst, Esther Terry, John Bracey, Andrea Rushing, and Paula Giddings. Throughout this process, they have been generous with their support, knowledge, and attention to this project. Invaluable were the enthusiasm, accessibil- ity, and optimism of my advisor James Smethurst, who never doubted my intelligence or ability to succeed. Esther Ter- ry, while meeting the demands of heading the department and serving as Vice Chancellor, was always supportive and ac- cessible, and has served as a model of protocol and profes- sionalism. John Bracey expressed interest in my project at its inception, always encouraging me to write in ways that affirmed my feminist politics and ideologies. Especially instrumental during the initial stages, Andrea Rushing helped usher this project from something abstract and con- ceptual to something written and tangible. Lastly, Paula Giddings has always expressed interest in and enthusiasm vi ideas about my dissertation, insisting that I articulate my her in complex, succinct, and complicated ways. I thank for serving not only as a mentor, but model of modesty, brilliance, and scholarship. intellec- I have been fortunate to have had additional been a tual and professional mentors. Carole Bencich has pleasant and vibrant spirit, forever exuding remarkable of dedication to, as well as enthusiasm about, the art Washington for her teaching. I especially thank Mary Helen to be her academic support and investment in me; I am proud scholar and in- student and am, needless to say, a better tellectual in part because of her. professional Special thanks go to the personal and/or helped make this friends who, as kindred spirits, have Words (at least journey not just endurable but pleasant. even begin to express none in the English language) cannot Duvivier, my marassa, the profundity of my thanks to Sandra encouragement and support; who has been generous with her during the most challenging her friendship has comforted me thank Tina Alpough, times and is truly priceless. Also, I Thompson, and Jessica Jamie Gray, Calandra Tate, Letitia that have provided Nelson for quarter-lifelong friendships pleasurable, and humor-filled ex- me with a more balanced, istence outside the academy. Vll Last but not least, I extend my gratitude to the we W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, as W. as the Social Science Research Council and the Andrew Mellon, Woodrow Wilson, Ford, and Nellie Mae Foundations, whose financial support helped alleviate the financial bid- cor den of graduate school, thereby enabling me to learn, duct research, and write more freely and comfortably. ... there is glory, I know to whom it belongs. viii ABSTRACT WOMEN AS DISRUPTING DISSEMBLANCE: TRANSGRESS I VE BLACK AFRICAN POLITICS OF COUNTER-REPRESENTATION IN AMERICAN WOMEN'S FICTION MAY 2005 UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA TRIMIKO C. MELANCON, B.A., XAVIER AMHERST M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Smethurst Directed by: Professor James E. rights novels by My dissertation examines post-civil and Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison, Ann Allen Shockley, representations of investigates their subversion of myopic and cultural imagina- black women in the American literary study examines these writers' tion. More precisely, this not only diverge from characterizations of black women who ideologies of "whiteness," stereotypical images imposed by against constructions but who also rebel unapologetically gener- by nationalist discourse of female identity imposed particularly. ally and black nationalism theoretical frameworks, Drawing upon black feminist postmodernist notions, this study performance theory, and c transgressiv«franqnressive behavior, specifi- analyzes these characters means sexuality, as,ad min paDart, a cally with regards to their have been . notions , ^'4- Whilewh-Mp tnesethese n to create a modern identity. IX that explicate how race and engaged in non-literary texts they have been largely nationalism construct gender roles, fiction. This dissertation understudied in black women's nexus in which literary texts, seeks to establish, then, a politics of identity and represen- raovement ideologies, and interdisciplinary and broad dis- tation meet to provide an cursive framework. study explores the aes- organized conceptually, this represen- an introduction, four thetics of transgression in introduces conclusion. Chapter One tative chapters, and a black women characters within and situates transgressive particular literary tradition and both the African American Chap- and political contexts. socio-cultural, historical, examines Morrison's Sula (1973), and ter Two analyzes Toni transgressive behav- who emblematizes the protagonist Sula, -classical black female script." ior, as subverting the employs sexuality. Chapter Three Foregrounding politics of ways and investigates the Shockley's Lovins Her (1974) interra- protagonist Renay, via her Shockley's black female essen- relationship, transgresses cial same-gender loving desire, and blackness, same-sex tialist binaries regarding homosexuality. and belong- of-f transgresst-ranqaression Exploring the dialectics Meridian and ana- examines^= Alice Walker'swax ing, Chapter Four x circumscriptions lyzes the ways Meridian Hill transgresses participatory ac- for women, while concomitantly playing a reemphasizing the tivist role in various communities. And, illustrates potential of this study, the concluding chapter American and American this project's centrality to African and literature, African American and American Studies, Women's and Gender Studies. xi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v 1X ABSTRACT CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1 CREATING SPACES, OVERSTEPPING BOUNDARIES: I AMERICAN TRANSGRESS I VE BLACK WOMEN AND THE AFRICAN 11 LITERARY TRADITION MORRISON'S SULA AND THE II "UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED": TONI SUBVERSION OF THE
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