Displaced memory: Oscar Micheaux, Carlos Bulosan, and the process of United States decolonization Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Pierce, Linda M. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 14:22:23 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280790 DISPLACED MEMORY: OSCAR MICHEAUX, CARLOS BULOSAN, AND THE PROCESS OF UNITED STATES DECOLONIZATION by Linda M. Pierce Copyright © Linda M. Pierce 2004 A Dissertation SubmiUed to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 4 UMI Number: 3165788 Copyright 2004 by Pierce, Linda M. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3165788 Copyright 2005 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 The University of Arizona Graduate Coilege As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Linda M. Pierce entitled Displaced Memory: Oscar Mieheaux, Carlos Bulosaiis and the Process of United States Decolonization. and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Annette Kolodny ,3 r Suresji Raval date date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Co-Dissertation Director: Anp^te Kolodny and Suresh Raval date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the guidance of my wonderM co-chairs, Dr. Annette Kolodny and Dr. Suresh Raval, whose collaborative efforts complemented one another well to guide this project to fruition. Thanks especially to Annette for her meticulous readings and keen editorial eye, for teaching, mentoring and believing in me, for providing a feminist role model, introducing me to the profession, pushing me beyond the boundaries of my own imagined possibilities, sharing her wisdom, and giving me the gift of her friendship. Thanks especially to Suresh for his wonderful theoretical insights, for teaching, advising, and guiding me, for providing a model of alternative pedagogy, for his boundless encouragement and professional and personal support, for sharing his stories, his wisdom, and his friendship with me, and for making me a part of his family while 1 was away from my own. I have found lifelong friends and colleagues in Annette and Suresh. and I owe them both a debt of gratitude. Throughout this process I was inspired by committee member Dr. Melinda deJesus, who reached out across departments and campuses to offer much needed support, solidarity and mentoring. Thanks especially to Melinda for providing a critical Pinay Peminist eye. for introducing me to the Association for Asian American Studies, for her tireless work to provide invaluable spaces for women of color in the Arizona academy, for her commitment to readings which theorize, historicize. and examine issues of gender and sexuality in Filipino/a American Studies, for filling a void that existed on my own campus, and for her activism, energy, and friendship. Salamat Po! Countless individuals at the University of Arizona contributed to the success of this project. Thanks especially to Dr. Naomi Miller and Dr. Maria Theresa Velez, whose advice and support were invaluable during the dissertation process and beyond. Naomi and 'MTV were my mentors and advocates, my cheerleaders and my safe space. Thanks to the core members of the University of Arizona Women of Color Organization and the statewide Arizona Women of Color Conference Steering Committee for providing empowering intellectual spaces. Thanks to Dr. Vermonja Alston and Sahee Kil for reading drafts of my work and offering useful feedback in our Dissertation Reading Group. Thanks to the Arizona faculty and staff members who assisted me along the way, including Dr. Irene D'Almeida, Dr. Daniel Cooper-Alarcon, Marcia Marma, and countless others who provided advice, support, and scholarly direction. Thanks to my many wonderful friends and colleagues at Arizona for cheering me on, especially Dr. Heidi Breuer, whose support was instrumental in the completion of this project. Heidi's reciprocity, generosity, and feminism during this process were truly unparalleled. I also owe my thanks to the Association for Asian American Studies community where I tested some of the earlier theories in this dissertation, and to Dr. Rosanne Kanhai, my Master's thesis director, with whom this project originated. Rosanne was my original model for feminist pedagogy and women of color activism; she is a true warrior, and has impacted my life and my scholarship in immeasurable ways. Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to my family, most especially my mother—my ultimate supporter, my model for womanhood, and the impetus for all of the work that 1 do. None of this would have been possible without her. 5 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my parents, Marion Ann Douglas Pierce and the late Alan Lloyd Pierce, Sr., the hardest workers I have ever known. Your unflinching belief in me, your generosity, and unconditional love have moved me to give back in service to others. Your dedicated work ethic has inspired me as much as your idealism; you provided me with the seeds of a dream and gave me the confidence to pursue it aggressively. You have always been my models of perseverance and triumph, instilling in me a fierce sense of social justice and a desire to take action, to make positive change in the world. You convinced me that all worthwhile dreams should be pursued vigorously, even the daunting and unfamiliar territory- of a college education. I dedicate this work to my mother, who has been there with me every step of the way; and to the memory of my father, who has long been awaiting the arrival of a Dr. Pierce in the family. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 7 INTRODUCTION: TOWARDS A READING OF COMPARATIVE COMMUNITIES 9 Considerations of Genre 11 A Postcolonial Hermeiieiitic 27 CHAPTER I: CRITICAL RESPONSES TO AMERICA IS IN THE HEART 32 CHAPTER II: CONTEXTUALIZING BULOSAN: INTERSECTIONS OF FILIPINO FACT AND U.S. FICTION 67 Early American Mythologies 67 Re-membering Crevccoeur's America 74 The Forgotten Letters: Revisiting the Nantucket Series 92 Inscribing Early "American" Ideologies onto the Frontier 100 CHAPTER III: READING CARLOS BULOSANASA POSTCOLONIAL .......... 110 The Exportation of "American" Ideologies 110 Reading America is In the Heart 133 Foundations of Colonial Education 135 CHAPTER IV: MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH. 170 Constructing a Vision ..173 A Vision Interrupted ...183 Understanding Micheaux's Obsession 195 Licensing a Postcolonial Subjectivity 202 Re-reading Micheaux as a Postcolonial Subject 208 The Conquest Revisited 212 The Significance of The Conquest 216 Resuscitating a Vision: The Homesteader 221 The Significance of The Homesteader .226 Movie Magic 233 Returning to the Page 238 CONCLUSION 248 WORKS CITED 253 ABSTRACT "Displaced Memory: Oscar Micheaux. Carlos Bulosan, and the Process of U.S. Decolonization." uses new applications for existing colonial and postcolonial theories in order to explain common incongruities in ethnic minority autobiographies in early twentieth-century America. Using Carlos Bulosan (1914-1956) and Oscar Micheaux's (1894-1951) •'fictional autobiographies" as case studies. I argue that the seemingly contradictor}^ coexistence of assimilationist and subversive narratives can be explained when understood as textual representations of the process of decolonization. Reading these narrators as postcolonial subjects, however, would require both a radical rethinking of colonial and postcolonial theory and careful revaluation of early American mythology. While recognizing the United States as a former