Melvette Melvin Davis
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts DAUGHTERS READING AND RESPONDING TO AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE: THE UMOJA BOOK CLUB A Dissertation in English by Melvette Melvin Davis © 2009 Melvette Melvin Davis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2009 The dissertation of Melvette Melvin Davis was reviewed and approved* by the following: Keith Gilyard Distinguished Professor of English Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Linda Selzer Assistant Professor of English Julia Kasdorf Associate Professor of English and Women’s Studies Jeanine Staples Assistant Professor of Education Robert Edwards Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature Director of Graduate Studies, Department of English *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT This dissertation details efforts undertaken by the researcher to address a group of African American adolescent girls’ need for positive role models and Black female-centered spaces where discussions of issues such as Black female identity, voice, and relationships could take place. During the 2005-2006 school year, I facilitated a book club with ninth and tenth grade girls participating in the Umoja Youth Empowerment Program. This book club provided an opportunity for teen girls to read and discuss with peers and adult mentors issues in young adult texts written by African American female authors. This book club aimed to examine how African American female readers discussed African American young adult literature (AAYAL) in an out-of-school context. In Chapter One, I outline the theoretical framework that undergirds this study. It is largely informed by feminist and Black feminist/womanist theories that offer a way to discuss social, personal, cultural, and literacy issues concerning African American adolescent girls and women. Chapter Two describes the youth empowerment group from which participants were recruited and details my data collection methods and analysis procedures. In Chapter Three, I present the results of my textual analysis of AAYA novels read in the book club. I use Black feminist literary criticism to analyze works by Sharon Flake, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Connie Porter and to demonstrate how these authors use AAYA fiction as a tool to tell Black girls’ and women’s stories and to challenge the ways we view Black teenage girls. Chapter Four reveals the most frequently discussed topics among participants during the book club: relationships with mothers, relationships with boys, and support and guidance for girls. I employ Black feminist and reader-response theory to analyze the ways the girls responded to these topics. In Chapter iii Five, I reflect on the research experience and emphasize the need for continued efforts to identify adolescent girls’ personal, social, and cultural needs and to affirm their identities. I also discuss the significance of this study to in-school and out-of-school literacy research and teaching practices. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 1 Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Research Questions…………………………………………………………………………… 5 Significance of the Study...…………………………………………………………………… 5 Researcher Stance.……………………………………………………………………………. 7 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………………….. 10 Feminist and Black Feminist/Womanist Epistemology.....……………………………….. 10 (African American) Women-Centered Networks and Women’s Ways of Being.........…… 13 African American Women’s Ways of Being: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy........………. 15 African American Female Adolescence: Voice & Identity Development.......…………… 17 Literacy: Personal and Social Functions of Reading.....…………………………………. 20 Review of Relevant Literature.……………………………………………………………….. 23 Literature in the Lives of African American Youth....……………………………………. 24 Female Protagonists in Young Adult Literature....….……………………………………. 26 Adult Women, Adolescent Girls, and Literature Discussion......……………….………… 30 Summary...………………………..…………………………………………………………… 32 CHAPTER TWO Book Club Methods.………….……………………………………………………………… 33 Research Context Site Selection……………………………………………………………………………… 34 The Umoja Youth Empowerment Organization....…….………………………………….. 38 The Umoja Book Club My Role as Researcher...………………………………………………………………….. 41 Participants...……………………………………………………………………………… 45 Book Club Meetings…….………………………………………………………………… 46 Book Club Pedagogy....…………………………………………………………………… 49 Data Collection…...…………………………………………………………………………… 51 Participant Observation..………………………………………………………………….. 52 Fieldnotes Observation Journal & Reflection Journal...…………………………………………. 53 Book Club Meeting Recordings..………………….……………………………………… 56 Interviews...……………………………………………………………………………….. 58 Writing Exercises…………………………………………………………………………. 61 Transcription Methods.…………………………………………………………………… 62 Data Analysis Methods.........……………………………………………………………... 64 Summary...………………………………………………………………………….………..... 69 v CHAPTER THREE African American Girls Growing into Womanhood in YA Fiction: A Literary Analysis....................................................................................................................................... 70 African American Women Telling Their Stories....……………………………………………. 70 AAYA Literature Writers: Black-Educationist-Activist Authors......……………………… 75 Textual Analysis Methods........................................................................................................... 77 Issues in African American Women’s YA Fiction....................................................................... 78 Mother(ing)hood………………………………………………………………….……….. 78 Coming of Age..………………………………………………………………….……….. 94 Support and Guidance for Girls..….………………………………………………………. 112 Summary…………………………………………………………………………..…………… 127 CHAPTER FOUR “Mommy Commere. Ya Heard Dis?”: Daughters Making Sense of/with YA Literature.... 130 Who Am I Without Her?: Book Club Conversations about Daughters and the Women in Their Lives........................................................................................................................ 131 Who Am I Without Him?: Book Club Conversations about Daughters and the Boys in Their Lives........................................................................................................................ 142 Who Am I Without Them?: Book Club Conversations about Support and Guidance in Daughters’ Lives............................................................................................................... 149 Book Club as Homeplace............................................................................................................ 155 CHAPTER FIVE Reflections, Suggestions, and Implications.............................................................................. 157 Reflections: Making Sense of/with Findings......................................................................... 157 Suggestions for Future Research........................................................................................... 159 Culturally Relevant Pedagogies in Out-of-School Zones: Implications for Practice............ 162 REFERENCES...……………………………………………………………………………… 164 APPENDIX A: Recruitment Flyer.....……………………………………………………...… 185 APPENDIX B: Parent Newsletter............................................................................................. 186 APPENDIX C: Book Club Correspondence Sample.............................................................. 187 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Issues that Stimulated Responses Across Novels Chart page 67 Figure 2 Ways Girls Responded to Issue Across Novels Chart page 68 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be? I thank God for helping me carry this project through to completion. You are the best advisor and coach a woman could ask for. Thank you for guiding me. I would also like to thank my mentor and auntie Dr. E. You are truly a treasure, a great scholar, teacher, mentor, momma, singer, and friend. To my advisor, Keith Gilyard, and my committee, I sincerely appreciate your time, energy, and support. To Ms. Pia Deas. Your friendship is priceless--your listening, your encouraging, and your challenging me. You have a beautiful spirit, and I thank God for you. To my church family at Abyssinia Baptist, thank you for all of your spiritual and financial support as I’ve progressed on this journey. You’ve been a great blessing to me. I also want to thank the Fairmont Heights High School Alumni Association for their financial support. To the SSRC-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program, thank you for all of the financial and academic support that you’ve provided me and other Mellon Fellows. You help us achieve our goals and carry academic scholarship to higher heights. Because of you, my research was possible, and I sincerely thank you. To my Umoja family, thank you, thank you, thank you. To the young ladies who participated in the book club and the families that supported this project, thank you. This would not be were it not for you. Thank you for your voice and your courage. To Tiffany,