DOCSLIB.ORG

Proquest Dissertations

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Proquest Dissertations INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has bean rspmducsd from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. 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 bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI 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. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, ctiarts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at ttie upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and wNte photographic prints are available for any ptwtographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Laaming 300 North zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 600-521-0600 UMI’ QUIET BROWN BUDDHA(S): BLACK WOMEN INTELLECTUALS, SILENCE AND AMERICAN CULTURE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Corrie Beatrice Claiborne, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved By Professor Valerie Lee, Adviser Professor Jacqueline Jones-Royster Professor Beverly Moss Adviser Department of English UMI Number 9982540 UMI' UMI Microform9982540 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howrell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Beii & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT Through examining current works of art, cultural criticism, literary theory, and racial theory, this dissertation examines the construction of a tradition of African-American women's intellectualism, inaugurated with the publishing of Anna Julia Cooper's ^ Voiœ From the South\x\.W i^l. More specifically, I explore what happens when intellectual discourse by black women, as Karla Holloway suggests, shifts or locates itself within an African-American cultural matrix. By interrogating the culturally specific strategies of reading, writing, and interpreting provided by women like bell hooks and Patricia Williams, this dissertation asserts that contemporary black women theorists are reconfiguring the intellectual life in new and empowering ways. Likewise, in looking specifically at the evidence of public intellectualism, taken largely firom w ritten and published manuscripts, I disprove here the notion that the voices and creativi^ black women have been silenced by a dominant culture that is outwardly hostile to black women's intellectual lives. Instead 1 argue that the opposite is true, that the hostility and extreme conditions in the Post-Reconstruction Era are responsible, almost more than any other factors, for i i black women's desire to create and to be conscious and complex thinkers, who explore the geography of their world through the mind. Using Marita Bonner's essay, "On being Young, Colored, and A Woman," Anna Julia Cooper's A Voice From the South, and Alice Walker's "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens" as frame texts, I seek to define what intellectualism is for black women. It seems that the definition must be race and gender specific and is vastly different from our traditional concepts of the term. Working principally with the concepts of intellectualism put forth by William Banks, Joy James, bell hooks. Cornel West, and Alice Walker, I locate the source of this difference. Moreover, I make the claim that intellectual writing by black women is almost always tied to the desire to establish a sense of agency or identity in the text. Beginning with Alice Walker's understanding of what it was like for a woman such as Phillis Wheatley, who was bom a slave, to attempt to become an artist, I trace the development of the intellectual impulse hrom slavery to the present. I end my work with an examination of the career of Toni Morrison, who has become perhaps the contemporary symbol of the intellectual black woman, with the publishing of her novels, short stories, plays, books of literary criticism and race theory, her winning of the Nobel Prize, and her frequent appearances on Oprah's book club. Tied in with this analysis of the intellectual lives of black women is a critique of the way that perceptions of black female identity both helps and hinders the reception of their cultural products. My work is in part i i i based on Ann duCille's and bell hooks' understanding of commodity culture and the seductiveness of narratives of "Otherness." Moreover, this study seeks to separate out female intellectualism from a tradition of black male intellectualism that is largely configured by people like W.E.B. Du Bois and Henry Louis Gates. The questions that this dissertation pose are: what exactly do race and gender have to do with the way that black women think, with what they write, and how they write it? How have our concepts of black women's identities influenced the way that we read black texts? And, finally, what is the difference between having a "voice" in the text as opposed to merely being a "presence" in the literature? This dissertation, contrary to the practice of cultural piracy that many in the dominant culture employ, finally allows black women to speak for themselves. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I wish to thank God with Whom I have become close personal friends during the writing of this dissertation. I would like to thank my Adviser, Valerie Lee, who literally saved my life in countless ways on too many occasions to mention. To the remaining committee members: Jacqueline Jones- Royster and Beverly Moss, who have inspired me by their work as scholars, I am indebted to you for constantly providing me with ways to think and present myself and my ideas. In particular, I wish to thank Professor Royster for giving me the initial idea for this dissertation as the result of her own phenomenal work and her innovative graduate course.The Essayist Tradition Am ong AMcan- Ameiican Women, that she offered in my second year as a Ph D. student. I want to thank The Ohio State University for providing a supportive environment in which to work. I especially want to thank the CIC Fellows Program and the Office of Minority Affairs for providing monetary support for my work throughout my graduate career. To all of my fellow Affican-American students in the English Department, thank you for providing me with a homeplace. I am of course deeply indebted to my family for not writingo ttme as the black sheep during my long and arduous journey through graduate school. I am thankful to my father who, as an intellectual in his own right, I owe the gift of always wanting to do "it" better, no matter what "it" is. 1 thank him for all his advice on navigating the pitfalls of the academic profession. 1 owe to my mother my strength of purpose and my life-thank you. To my sister and brother, thanks for the company. To my grandmothers, thank you for your spirit and humor. Finally, to William Moore, Jr., thank you for developing my soul and always pushing me to grow up and to learn to love myself. You have changed my life. VI VITA October 13,1970 ................................... Bom--Durham, North Carolina 1993 ..................................................... B.A. in English, Syracuse University 1995..................................................... M.A. in English, University of South Carolina 1997 ..................................................... Adjunct Professor, Antioch College 1999-2000.............................................. Graduate Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS “Leaving Abjection: Where ‘Black’ Meets Theory.”Modem Language Studies. 26.4 (Fall 1996): 27-36. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: English Concentration: African-American Literature vu TABLE OF CONTENTS A bstract.......................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments......................................................................... v V ita................................................................................................... vii Introduction.................................................................................... 1 Chapters: 1. What My Grandmother Knew: A Personal Memoir................................................................ 34 2. Perspicacity............................................................................. 61 3. Silence..................................................................................... 96 4. O f Love and Lies: Understanding the Divide Between Black Male and Female Intellectuals..................................... 118 5. "I Will Call Her Beloved, Which Was Not Beloved:" Black Female Identity and The Pitfalls of Popularity........................................................142 Conclusion........................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence As Figures Who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate
    Art versus Propaganda?: Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence as Figures who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Caroline Roberta Hill, B.A. Graduate Program in Theatre The Ohio State University 2019 Thesis Committee: Jennifer Schlueter, Adviser Beth Kattelman Copyright by Caroline Roberta Hill 2019 Abstract The Harlem Renaissance and New Negro Movement is a well-documented period in which artistic output by the black community in Harlem, New York, and beyond, surged. On the heels of Reconstruction, a generation of black artists and intellectuals—often the first in their families born after the thirteenth amendment—spearheaded the movement. Using art as a means by which to comprehend and to reclaim aspects of their identity which had been stolen during the Middle Passage, these artists were also living in a time marked by the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and segregation. It stands to reason, then, that the work that has survived from this period is often rife with political and personal motivations. Male figureheads of the movement are often remembered for their divisive debate as to whether or not black art should be politically charged. The public debates between men like W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke often overshadow the actual artistic outputs, many of which are relegated to relative obscurity. Black female artists in particular are overshadowed by their male peers despite their significant interventions. Two pioneers of this period, Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880-1966) and Eulalie Spence (1894-1981), will be the subject of my thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Thesis Committee for Rachel Leigh
    To the University Council: The Thesis Committee for Rachel Leigh Smith certifies that this is the final approved version of the following electronic thesis: ―‗The Young Blood Hungers‘: Mapping Young Black Manhood in Marita Bonner‘s Frye Street Fiction.‖ _________________________________ Verner Mitchell, Ph.D. Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: ________________________________ Shelby Crosby, Ph.D. ________________________________ Ladrica Menson-Furr, Ph.D. Accepted for the Graduate Council: _________________________________ Karen D. Weddle-West, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate Programs ―THE YOUNG BLOOD HUNGERS‖: MAPPING YOUNG BLACK MANHOOD IN MARITA BONNER‘S FRYE STREET FICTION by Rachel Leigh Smith A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Women‘s and Gender Studies The University of Memphis December 2010 Copyright © 2010 Rachel Leigh Smith All rights reserved ii Dedication To my parents, Mallory and Wesley, for their incredible and unwavering support iii ABSTRACT Smith, Rachel Leigh. MA. The University of Memphis. December 2010. 'The Young Blood Hungers': Mapping Young Black Manhood in Marita Bonner's Frye Street Fiction. Major Professor Verner Mitchell. Marita O. Bonner, early twentieth century African American public intellectual and creative writer, wrote particularly about the experiences of blacks in Chicago. Though most Bonner scholarship focuses primarily on her working class female characters, this study provides close readings of the young male figures in the short stories in ―One Boy‘s Story,‖ ―The Makin‘s,‖ ―The Whipping,‖ ―There Were Three,‖ ―Tin Can,‖ and ―Nothing New.‖ I analyze how these texts confront notions of family, personal identity, and violence, and how Bonner configures young life as a volatile liminal space of human development.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Women's Contribution to the Little Magazines of the 1920S and 1930S
    BLACK WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE LITTLE MAGAZINES OF THE 1920S AND 1930S Thesis Submitted to . The College of Arts and Sciences University of Dayton In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Master of Arts in English By Melissa Kathryn Fore University of Dayton Dayton, Ohio April, 2001 Il Approved By: (Faculty Advisor) (Faculty Reader) ■V (Faculty Reader) ABSTRACT: BLACK WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE LITTLE MAGAZINES OF THE 1920S AND 1930S: PRESERVING CULTURAL HISTORY Fore, Melissa, Kathryn University of Dayton, 2001 Advisor: Dr. Joyce Durham This study of female participation in the little magazines such as The Crisis, Opportunity, Fire!!, and Challenge, attempts to expand the voices of the New Negro to include a variety of black women’s social, political, and literary concerns during the 1920s and 1930s. The leadership roles and promotional strategies of black female writers are also traced, revealing a previously ignored connection between patroness and artist, and often a discrepancy between propaganda and literature. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION I. Introduction.....................................................................1 Statement and Significance of the Problem II. Research and Findings................................................ 4 Black Women Editors and Promoters Literary Contributions to the Little Magazines III. Conclusion...................................................................32 VI. Works Cited.................................................................34 iv Section I The voices of the New Negro resounded during the early part of the Twentieth Century, and men like W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Alain Locke found outlets for their art and political views. This male dominated movement attempted to elevate the position of the New Negro in a society that devalued black Americans. Although modern scholars tend to study male writers, female voices of the 1920s and 1930s also deserve examination.
    [Show full text]
  • Contested Boundaries : Race, Class and Gender in the Writings of Four
    CONTESTED BOUNDARIES: RACE, CLASS AND GENDER IN THE WRITINGS OF FOUR HARLEM RENAISSANCE WOMEN By LILLIAN TEMU OSAKI A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2000 Copyright 2000 by LILLIAN TEMU OSAKI To K.M.O ACKNOWLEDGMENTS By its very nature the task of writing a doctoral dissertation is seldom exclusively the effort of a single individual. I benefitted from the support and assistance of several institutions and many individuals. I gratefully thank them all. I acknowledge, with grateful appreciation, the four-year financial sponsorship I received from the Fulbright Scholarship Board. It was this support that enabled me to complete course work and begin research for this dissertation. I also wish to thank the University of Florida for granting me both academic affiliation and hospitality. The academic and social environment at UF made my stay memorable and fruitful. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the Center for African Studies, University of Florida, for the partial financial support they extended me in the final year of my studies. I especially wish to thank the center's director. Dr. Michael Chege, and the assistant director. Dr. Maria Grosz-Ngate, for their sympathetic understanding of my situation. Finally I wish to register my thanks to the University of Dar es Salaam for granting me a iv five-year study leave that enabled me pursue graduate studies at the University of Florida. Dr. Debra King, my supervisory chair, tops the list of those individuals who have greatly sharpened my critical awareness.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Companion to African American Women's Literature
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-85888-5 - The Cambridge Companion to African American Women’s Literature Edited by Angelyn Mitchell and Danille K. Taylor Frontmatter More information the cambridge companion to african american women’s literature The Cambridge Companion to African American Women’s Literature covers a period dating back to the eighteenth century. These specially commissioned essays highlight the artistry, complexity and diversity of a literary tradition that ranges from Lucy Terry to Toni Morrison. A wide range of topics are addressed, from the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts movement, and from the perform- ing arts to popular fiction. Together, the essays provide an invaluable guide to a rich, complex tradition of women writers in conversation with each other as they critique American society and influence American letters. Accessible and vibrant, with the needs of undergraduate students in mind, this Companion will be of great interest to anybody who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of this important and vital area of American literature. angelyn mitchell is Associate Professor of English and African American Studies, Georgetown University. danille k. taylor is Dean of Humanities, Dillard University. A complete list of books in the series is at the back of this book © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-85888-5 - The Cambridge Companion to African American Women’s Literature Edited by Angelyn Mitchell and Danille K. Taylor Frontmatter More information THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S LITERATURE EDITED BY ANGELYN MITCHELL Georgetown University, Washington, DC AND DANILLE K.
    [Show full text]
  • The Purple Flower (1928) Marita Bonner
    SPEAKING IN OUR OWN TONGUES: LANGUAGE AND CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN AFRICAN BASED CREATIVE THEORY AND WESTERN BASED TRADITIONAL THEORY TOWARDS A THEORY OF WOMANIST DRAMATIC DISCOURSE By MONICA T. WHITE A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2003 Copyright 2003 by Monica T. White This document is dedicated to Ella Mae Patterson, Esther Robinson and Joshua Robinson, my lifeline. To everyone in my cypher who has contributed to the making of me. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to be a part of the Source of all life and to be free to travel my path. I thank the Creator for All things. I thank Esther Robinson and Joshua Robinson for their ever-present love and support during every project I have had an opportunity to participate. I appreciate all of my family’s love and support. I thank my mentors. I thank Debra Walker King for recognizing and nurturing my scholar potential and providing my Womanist foundation, which has been instrumental in the development of this work. I thank Leah Rosenberg for always making herself available and asking pertinent questions that assisted me in taking the next step as well as inspiring me to further my knowledge in Caribbean literature, politics and performance. I thank Mikell Pinkney for mentoring me in directing, performing and scholarship in African theatre. He has also inspired within me the pursuit of understanding and articulating spirituality in performance, which is a major aspect of this work.
    [Show full text]
  • Black History December 6, 2019 (Pdf) Download
    Scoop Black History SCOOP USA MEDIA Celebrating 59 Years of Community News ScoopUSA Black History Corner by Adelaide Abdur-Rahman was born in Decatur, GA. [email protected] 1980 Mary Littlejohn Singleton, first African American woman elected to the Jacksonville, Florida City Council, SAGITTARIUS - November 22 - December 21 dies in Tallahassee, FL. 1987 Richard Taylor, singer with The Manhattans, dies. SAGITTARIUS – The Happy-Go-Lucky One 1990 (Quintin) Kwame Alexander, professional basket- Good-natured optimist. Doesn’t want to grow up ball player (The Finnish League), was born in Moreno Val- (Peter Pan syndrome). Indulges self. Boastful. Likes ley, CA. luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing. Impa- 1990 Dee Clark, singer (Raindrops), dies in Smyrna, GA. tient. Fun to be around. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Does 1992 Chancellor James Williams, sociologist, historian like rules. Dislikes being confined – tight space or ever-tight and writer (The Destruction of Black Civilization), dies in clothes. Doesn’t like be doubted. Beautiful inside and out. Washington, DC. Turquoise was the stone for the month of December 1994 Marjorie Joyner, inventor of the permanent wave In ancient Mexico, turquoise was reserved for the gods machine patent number 1,522,258 and hot curling rods pat- and could not be worn by mere mortals. In the 13th ent number 1,693,515 dies in Chicago, IL. century, turquoise was thought to protect its wearer 2000 Levi Jackson, first African American football cap- from falling especially from horses. Legend says tears tain at Yale University and first African American ex- of joy combined with rain seeped into mother earth to ecutive at Ford Motor Company, dies.
    [Show full text]
  • Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance
    University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2013-09-23 Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance Copp, Madeleine Copp, M. (2013). Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27433 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/998 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Printed Voices: Women, Print, and Performance by Madeleine Copp A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2013 © Madeleine Copp 2013 Abstract This thesis suggests the limitations of the term ‘closet drama’ when applied to marginalized playwrights from the early modern and modern periods. Using four case studies, two British playwrights from the early modern period, Elizabeth Cary (1585-1639) and Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673), and two Americans from the modern period, Djuna Barnes (1892-1982) and Marita Bonner (1898-1971), I argue that these dramatists used printed play-texts to subvert social restrictions relating to gender, sexuality, class, and race, access new spaces, and reframe and confront traditional narratives. Each of my case studies examines how print served a specific performative and political purpose for individual playwrights in specific socio-historical contexts.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics and Institution Building in the New Negro Renaissance Anthologies
    Politics and Institution Building in the New Negro Renaissance Compiled for the 2010 NEH Summer Institute at Washington University in St. Louis Emily Bono, Shawn Hornung, Joe Hunter, Lenard Jackson Erin Lynch, Antwayn Patrick, Petra Riviere, Joe Regenbogen Anthologies: Brown, Tamara L., Gregory S. Parks, and Clarenda M. Phillips, ed. African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2005. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., and Gene Andrew Jarrett, eds. The New Negro: Readings on Race, Representation, and African American Culture, 1892-1938. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. This extensive collection of essays is a valuable, foundational tool for those wishing to understand the intellectual movement for racial uplift that sought to redefine/recreate and promote a new African-American identity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The New Negro Movement sought to replace the Old Negro identity, tied to slavery, minstrelsy, subservience and lynching, with a new identity of race pride, economic success, artistic prowess and political equality—the New Negro. The editors state, “By reprinting approximately one hundred canonical and lesser-known essays written or published between 1892 and 1938, we lay the groundwork for scholars, teachers, students, and general readers to learn more about the political interconnection of race, representation and African American culture.” The essays are written by a wide array of intellectuals for whom the meaning and significance of art, culture, and politics were incontrovertibly tied to racial representation. The editors’ introductory comments provide an overview of the movement’s main themes as well as a guide to the structure and content of the collection.
    [Show full text]
  • Androgynous Democracy: American Modernity and the Dual-Sexed Body Politic
    ANDROGYNOUS DEMOCRACY: AMERICAN MODERNITY AND THE DUAL-SEXED BODY POLITIC By AARON SHAHEEN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 Copyright 2005 by Aaron Shaheen ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation owes its completion to so many wonderful people, not least the five leading ladies in my life: my wife Amanda, my mother Julie, my sisters Lisa and Kelly, and my cat Brontë. Amanda, like my late father, has shown me the true virtues of patience, love, and diplomacy. She has kept me funded, fed, and free-spirited throughout the dissertation=s drafting. From my mother Julie I have learned a strong work ethic, tenaciousness, and a love for the unanswerable question. I am constantly in awe of her inner strength and selflessness. Lisa and Kelly never let me take myself too seriously. I find it particularly heartening to know that though they respect me as their equal, I will always be their ABear.@ Finally, Brontë has given me the unconditional love that only a cat can. As I write these acknowledgments now she is perched atop my lap, swiping at my fingers as they move rather gracelessly across this keyboard. My committee chair David Leverenz has been both friend and mentor. Even when I took a semester off to attend to family matters he never missed a beat. Working with him made transferring to the University of Florida a true joy. I hope that after a full career in academics I will still be as puzzled, as surprised, and as dazzled by American literature as he has been throughout his career.
    [Show full text]
  • The Representation of African American Women in the Art And
    “Women to the Rescue!”: The Representation of African American Women in the Art and Illustration of African American Harlem Renaissance Publication By Katherine Dahl University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Professor Robert Gough History 489 Capstone Spring 2011 Wright, Roscoe C, “Negro Womanhood.” In The Crisis, cover. January 1928. Reprinted in Art in Crisis: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Struggle for African American Identity and Memory, by Amy Helene Kirschke, 145. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007. Copyright for this work is owned by the author. This digital version is published by McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with the consent of the author. i Abstract The “New Negro” was a concept created by Alain Locke, W.E.B Du Bois, and other African American intellectuals during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. This concept promoted the social uplift, greater equality, and the creation of a new identity from within the black community. Fine art and literary works promoted the creation of this new identity. The movement, however, was largely based on the concepts of the “New Negro” being male. This leads one to question, what was the woman‟s role in the Harlem Renaissance Movement? To what extent was she included? Were efforts made to change her social status and negate her segregation and discrimination? This essay will show that although sexism, racism, and classism are portrayed in her depiction, the “New Negro” female identity was present and promoted. This identity was associated with separate roles in the movement that attempted to conform to white middle class standards of patriarchy; nonetheless those tasks held importance and were celebrated in the African American woman‟s depiction in art and illustration.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Female Playwrights
    Page i Black Female Playwrights Page ii BLACKS IN THE DIASPORA Darlene Clark Hine, John McCluskey, Jr., and David Barry Gaspar General Editors Page iii Black Female Playwrights An Anthology of Plays before 1950 Kathy A. Perkins Page iv First Midland Book Edition 1990 © 1989 by Kathy A. Perkins All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Publication Data Black female playwrights: an anthology of plays before 1950 / Kathy A. Perkins, editor. p. cm.—(Blacks in the diaspora) Bibliography: p. ISBN 0­253­34358­5 1. American drama—Afro­American authors. 2. Women and literature—United States. 3. American drama—Women authors. 4. Afro­American women—Drama. 5. Afro­Americans—Drama. I. Perkins, Kathy A. II. Series. PS628.N4B54 1989 88­46040 812'.008'09287—dc 19 CIP ISBN 0­253­20623­5 (pbk.) 4 5 6 01 00 99 98 Page v CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Georgia Douglas Johnson 19 Plumes 24 A Sunday Morning in the South 31 Blue Blood 38 Blue­Eyed Black Boy 47 Mary P. Burrill 53 Aftermath 57 They That Sit in Darkness 67 Zora Neale Hurston 75 The First One 80 Color Struck 89 Eulalie Spence 103 Undertow 107 Fool's Errand 119 Her
    [Show full text]