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Violent Convictions: Punishment, Literature, and the Reconstruction of Race University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2015 Violent Convictions: Punishment, Literature, and the Reconstruction of Race Thomas Alan Dichter University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Literature in English, North America Commons Recommended Citation Dichter, Thomas Alan, "Violent Convictions: Punishment, Literature, and the Reconstruction of Race" (2015). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1685. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1685 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1685 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Violent Convictions: Punishment, Literature, and the Reconstruction of Race Abstract This dissertation examines the relationship between race and punishment in US culture from the post- Reconstruction era through the 1950s. After slavery's abolition, racial domination became embedded in popular understandings of state violence, while ideas of legitimate violence, in turn, became an important part of racial identity. “Violent Convictions” traces this development as reflected and enacted yb a range of texts from this period, including fiction, prisoner autobiography, sociological studies, political writings, jurisprudence, and journalism. In this period, the claims on citizenship made by African Americans in the wake of Emancipation were fiercely countered by emerging discourses that tied whiteness to the public interest and bound blackness to criminality, turning people of color into commonsense objects of legitimate violence. Amid debates over lynching, African American migration, prison reform, and bias in the criminal justice system, authors as different as Thomas Dixon, Jr., Ida B. Wells, Alexander Berkman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Gunnar Myrdal, and Chester Himes all participated variously in this remaking of the meaning of race and punishment. Starting in the late nineteenth century, racial identity and state violence were reimagined in intimate relation to one another, with lasting consequences for US racial ideology. These cultural developments paved the way for a carceral state that could conceive of itself as a colorblind force for justice and safety while simultaneously serving as an engine of racist violence. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group English First Advisor Amy Kaplan Keywords incarceration, legitimate violence, prison, punishment, race, state violence Subject Categories American Literature | American Studies | Literature in English, North America This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1685 VIOLENT CONVICTIONS: PUNISHMENT, LITERATURE, AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF RACE Thomas Dichter A DISSERTATION in English Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Supervisor of Dissertation: _______________________________ Amy Kaplan, Edward W. Kane Professor of English Graduate Group Chairperson: _______________________________ Melissa Sanchez, Associate Professor of English Dissertation Committee: Thadious Davis, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of English David Kazanjian, Associate Professor of English Marie Gottschalk, Professor of Political Science for my parents, Bronek and Patricia Dichter ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT In working on this project, I have accrued innumerable debts, from the many friends and colleagues who talked through these materials with me (or gave me something else to think about) to the countless others, seen and unseen, whose labor permitted me to research and write this dissertation in Philadelphia over the past three years. In this small space I wish to thank many of those without whose assistance, insight, and companionship this dissertation would not have been possible. First and foremost, I thank my advisor, Amy Kaplan, for her careful guidance and unwavering support of this project. Her careful reading, incisive feedback, and generous conversation has enriched this study immeasurably. Her confidence, even in difficult moments, has meant more to me than anyone can know. I also thank my dissertation committee members. Thadious Davis offered rigorous critique, invaluable advice, and much-needed perspective on a regular basis. David Kazanjian provided an inimitable amalgam of sharp analysis and intellectual encouragement. Marie Gottschalk graciously welcomed me into new disciplinary territory and helped me keep in mind why I undertook this project in the first place. My fellow graduate students at Penn have been a crucial source of inspiration, camaraderie, and compassion. I thank them all, and especially: Marina Bilbija, Monika Bhagat-Kennedy, Nava EtShalom, Julius Fleming, Caroline Henze-Gongola, Jess Hurley, Laura Finch, Alice McGrath, Divya Nair, Sal Nicolazzo, Alan Niles, Kelly Rich, Ana Schwartz, Laura Soderberg, Philip Tsang, Bronwyn Wallace, and Sunny Yang. Special thanks to Caroline for her generous editorial assistance. I also wish to thank Eric Lott, Heather Love, Katy Ryan, Caleb Smith, Chi-ming Yang, and the editors of J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists for thoughtful feedback on work from this project. While I wrote this dissertation, I was also engaged in the fight against mass incarceration through the grassroots activism of Decarcerate PA. The remarkable individuals with whom I have had the honor of working as part of that organization have inspired me and taught me on a daily basis. I can only hope that this study reflects in some small way how much I have learned from you. To those who have taught me from within the walls, I extend my most profound thanks. Many close friends have helped me hone the ideas in this dissertation and have also given me vital opportunities to laugh. Alex, Annette, Bruno, Isa, JD, Kaitlin, Sheff—I’m not sure where (or who) I’d be without you. My big brother Jan is my oldest and greatest interlocutor, as well as my oldest and greatest friend. My parents never wavered for a moment in their support of me in this or any other arduous endeavor I’ve ever undertaken. They made it all possible, and it is to them that I dedicate this dissertation. Finally, Sotonye Imadojemu has been my steadfast companion in good times and bad. She has shown me love that is fearsome and tender and brave. May I express to you, in my actions, a depth of gratitude that words can never fully capture. iii ABSTRACT VIOLENT CONVICTIONS: PUNISHMENT, LITERATURE, AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF RACE Thomas Dichter Amy Kaplan This dissertation examines the relationship between race and punishment in US culture from the post-Reconstruction era through the 1950s. After slavery's abolition, racial domination became embedded in popular understandings of state violence, while ideas of legitimate violence, in turn, became an important part of racial identity. “Violent Convictions” traces this development as reflected and enacted by a range of texts from this period, including fiction, prisoner autobiography, sociological studies, political writings, jurisprudence, and journalism. In this period, the claims on citizenship made by African Americans in the wake of Emancipation were fiercely countered by emerging discourses that tied whiteness to the public interest and bound blackness to criminality, turning people of color into commonsense objects of legitimate violence. Amid debates over lynching, African American migration, prison reform, and bias in the criminal justice system, authors as different as Thomas Dixon, Jr., Ida B. Wells, Alexander Berkman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Gunnar Myrdal, and Chester Himes all participated variously in this remaking of the meaning of race and punishment. Starting in the late nineteenth century, racial identity and state violence were reimagined in intimate relation to one another, with lasting consequences for US racial ideology. These cultural i v developments paved the way for a carceral state that could conceive of itself as a colorblind force for justice and safety while simultaneously serving as an engine of racist violence. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... IV INTRODUCTION: CARCERAL VIOLENCE & CARCERAL GRAMMAR .......... 1 History and Literature, Punishment and Race ............................................................................................9 Theorizing Legitimate Violence ..................................................................................................................18 Project Overview ..........................................................................................................................................25 1. THE RHETORIC OF RACIAL VIOLENCE: LYNCHING, LEGITIMACY, & THE STATE OF WHITENESS, 1878–1905 ................................................................ 34 Thomas Dixon, Jr. and the Spectacular Spirit of Whiteness ....................................................................46 James Elbert Cutler: Social Science and Public Sentiment ......................................................................66 Jim Crow Jurisprudence and Lynching’s Legislation ..............................................................................75 2. PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR’S
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