DOCSLIB.ORG

Daughters of the Dust, the White Woman Viewer, and the Unborn Child Chapter Author(S): RENÉE R

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Daughters of the Dust, the White Woman Viewer, and the Unborn Child Chapter Author(S): RENÉE R NYU Press Chapter Title: Daughters of the Dust, the White Woman Viewer, and the Unborn Child Chapter Author(s): RENÉE R. CURRY Book Title: Teaching What You're Not Book Subtitle: Identity Politics in Higher Education Book Editor(s): Katherine J. Mayberry Published by: NYU Press. (1996) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qfbvx.21 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. NYU Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Teaching What You're Not This content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:14:12 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 18 Daughters o f the Dust, the White Woman Viewer, and the Unborn Child RENEE R . CURR Y The firs t feature-lengt h fil m i n theatrical distributio n mad e by a n Af - rican America n woman , Daughters of the Dust (1992) , resounds wit h various discourse s o f journeying. Directo r Juli e Dash set s this fil m i n the remote Se a Islands alon g th e coas t o f Georgia . Th e history o f th e slave trade involving these Se a Islands intersects with Dash's concer n for Africa n America n journeys towar d origins . This intersection pro - vides th e settin g fo r both a personal an d a metaphoric guid e t o ren - dering and readin g Africa n America n women's lives : The genesi s o f th e ide a cam e fro m alway s hearin g m y fathe r bein g called a Gee-chee and the n wanting t o do something o n Gee-chee cul- ture, which i s als o called Gullah.... I also collecte d storie s fro m rela - tives who came from th e area. I included som e o f [m y mother's] recol- lections o f folklor e .. I included lot s o f my father' s stories , an d my grandmother's on my father's side, and my aunts. Things that they used to say, I used as dialogue.1 In thi s way , th e journe y o f makin g th e fil m name s th e persona l a s catalyst for researching and embracing the historical. The discourse s use d t o spea k thi s particula r histor y reflec t wha t feminist literar y criti c Debora h E . McDowell refer s t o a s a recurren t motif o f th e journe y i n blac k women' s literature. 2 Preparatio n fo r journeying floods th e on-screen imager y i n Daughters of the Dust, an d 335 This content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:14:12 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 336 RENEE R . CURR Y discussions abou t journeying abound a s the Gullah peoples livin g o n the Se a Island s alon g th e coas t o f Georgi a mak e arrangement s fo r their emigration to the North . When asked in an interview to provide a synopsis o f the film, Das h replied, It's abou t a famil y that' s preparin g t o migrat e Nort h an d th e grea t grandmother i s trying to get them to remain on the island. The story is concerned with conflic t an d struggl e a s the family prepare s to migrate North at the turn o f the century. That's not a great synopsis. It's such a dense script... There are so many subplots that it's hard to say that it is any one thing. To really make it simple, it's about a family o f women who carry their cultural traditions into the future. These women carried scraps o f memorie s fro m th e past , and , then , the y carr y thes e sam e scraps of memory into the future. 3 The fil m open s with fragmented image s o f blue-stained hands, a boat landing, an d a full y dresse d woma n risin g ou t o f th e water . Th e camera the n concentrate s lingering , medium-shot gaze s on thre e dif - ferent women. Yellow Mary and her companion Trul a travel in a boat that stops to pick up Viola. Trula and Viola, cousins, travel back to the Sea Islands i n order t o witness th e passage o f th e family' s migratio n North a s wel l a s t o facilitat e th e stayin g behin d o f th e great-grand - mother, Nana Peazant . Although muc h travelin g an d man y journey s permeate th e narrativ e constructio n o f thi s film , I wish t o discus s a different journe y a s regards Daughters of the Dust: th e journeying ey e of th e white woma n viewe r a s i t survey s th e firs t featur e fil m mad e by a n Africa n America n woman . Thi s journe y entail s discussio n o f theoretical issue s such a s positionality a s well as white women's per - sonal/political issues such as fear, resistance, mastery, and psycholog - ical safety . The precedin g descriptio n o f th e film' s openin g accuratel y high - lights th e women picture d i n Daughters of the Dust, th e camer a tech - niques, the remot e settin g tha t instigate s th e journey, th e action , an d the movement o f the plot. However, Toni Cade Bambara's descriptio n of the film' s openin g reminds m e t o transcend th e general accuracie s This content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:14:12 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Daughters of the Dust ffl of m y "privileged " whit e gaze . Sh e immediatel y situate s mor e com - plex axe s o f journey s define d b y politica l actio n an d a particula r historical moment : We meet the Peazants in a defining moment— a famil y council . Demo- cratic decision-making , a righ t rippe d fro m the m b y slaver y an d re - gained through emancipation, hallmarks the moment. The Peazants and guests gathe r o n th e islan d a t Ib o Landin g fo r a picni c a t a critica l juncture in history—they are one generation away from the Garvey and the Ne w Negr o movements , a decad e shor t o f th e Niagara/NAAC P merger. They are in the midst o f rapid changes; black people are on the move North , West , an d bac k t o Afric a (th e Oklahom a project , fo r in - stance). Setting the story amid oa k groves, salt marshes, and a glorious beach i s not fo r th e purpose o f presenting a nostalgic communit y i n a pastoral setting. They are an imperiled group. 4 Bambara read s th e ofte n untol d an d eve r accumulatin g histor y o f enslavement an d it s consequences i n the mere settin g o f Daughters of the Dust, where I had read mostly visual details o f the scene. Historian Margaret Washington Cree l points out that the predomi - nantly African-bor n slave s brough t t o thes e Se a Island s originate d from th e same parts o f Africa: th e Kongo-Angola region , the Liberia n Hinterland, the Windward Coast , and perhaps Upper Guinea. 5 View - ing this film as a white woman requires grappling with the particulari- ties of slavery and origins offered b y Bambara and Creel. Viewing thi s film a s a whit e woma n require s grapplin g wit h assumption s abou t definitions o f Unite d State s involvement i n th e enslavemen t o f blac k peoples, about where slavery occurred in the United States, and abou t generalizations regardin g slavery . Viewin g thi s fil m studiousl y re - quires replacin g assumption s an d generalization s wit h a n immersio n into particula r historica l an d representationa l detail s onl y recentl y uncovered an d mad e availabl e b y historians , anthropologists , lin - guists, literar y critics , an d fil m scholar s workin g o n th e histor y o f enslavement and it s consequences in the United States .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Implications of a Feminist Narratology: Temporality, Focalization and Voice in the Films of Julie Dash, Mona Smith and Trinh T
    Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 11-4-1996 Implications of a Feminist Narratology: Temporality, Focalization and Voice in the Films of Julie Dash, Mona Smith and Trinh T. Minh-ha Jennifer Alyce Machiorlatti Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Machiorlatti, Jennifer Alyce, "Implications of a Feminist Narratology: Temporality, Focalization and Voice in the Films of Julie Dash, Mona Smith and Trinh T. Minh-ha" (1996). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1674. http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1674 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. IMPLICATIONS OF A FEMINIST NARRATOLOGY: TEMPORALITY, FOCALIZATION AND VOICE IN THE FILMS OF JULIE DASH, MONA SMITH AND TRINH T. MINH-HA Volume I by JENNIFER ALYCE MACHIORLATTI DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 1996 MAJOR: COMMUNICATION (Radio/Television/Film) Approved by- © COPYRIGHT BY JENNIFER ALYCE MACHIORLATTI 1996 All Rights Reserved her supportive feminist perspective as well as information from the speech communication and rhetorical criticism area of inquiry. Robert Steele approached this text from a filmmaker's point of view. I also thank Matthew Seegar for guidance in the graduate program at Wayne State University and to Mark McPhail whose limited presence in my life allowed me consider the possibilities of thinking in new ways, practicing academic activism and explore endless creative endeavors.
    [Show full text]
  • Filming Feminist Frontiers/Frontier Feminisms 1979-1993
    FILMING FEMINIST FRONTIERS/FRONTIER FEMINISMS 1979-1993 KATHLEEN CUMMINS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN WOMEN’S, FEMINIST AND GENDER STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO November 2014 © Kathleen Cummins, 2014 ii ABSTRACT Filming Feminist Frontiers/Frontier Feminisms is a transnational qualitative study that examines ten landmark feature films directed by women that re-imagined the frontiers of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S through a feminist lens. As feminist feature films they countered Eurocentric and masculinist myths of white settlement and expansionism in the grand narrative tradition. Produced between 1979 and 1993, these films reflect many of the key debates that animated feminist scholarship between 1970 and 1990. Frontier spaces are re-imagined as places where feminist identities can be forged outside white settler patriarchal constructs, debunking frontier myths embedded in frontier historiography and the Western. A central way these filmmakers debunked frontier myths was to push the boundaries of what constitutes a frontier. Despite their common aim to demystify dominant frontier myths, these films do not collectively form a coherent or monolithic feminist revisionist frontier. Instead, this body of work reflects and is marked by difference, although not in regard to nation or time periods. Rather the differences that emerge across this body of work reflect the differences within feminism itself. As a means of understanding these differences, this study examines these films through four central themes that were at the centre of feminist debates during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
    [Show full text]
  • From Colorism to Conjurings: Tracing the Dust in Beyoncé's Lemonade Cienna Davis Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany, [email protected]
    Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education Volume 16 | Issue 2 Article 4 September 2017 From Colorism to Conjurings: Tracing the Dust in Beyoncé's Lemonade Cienna Davis Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/taboo Recommended Citation Davis, C. (2018). From Colorism to Conjurings: Tracing the Dust in Beyoncé's Lemonade. Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education, 16 (2). https://doi.org/10.31390/taboo.16.2.04 Taboo,Cienna Fall Davis 2017 7 From Colorism to Conjurings Tracing the Dust in Beyoncé’s Lemonade Cienna Davis Abstract Colorism creates relentless tension and pressure in the lives of Black women. Pop-star Beyoncé Gisele Knowles-Carter is an interesting case in the discussion of colorism because her career has expressed a rich intimacy to Southern Black cul- ture and female empowerment while also playing into tropes of the mulatta “fancy girl,” whose relative proximity to whiteness adheres social value within mainstream culture. Finding aesthetic and thematic parallels between Beyoncé’s recent project Lemonade (2016) and Julie Dash’s cult-classic film Daughters of the Dust (1991) I draw a critical connection between Yellow Mary Peazant and Beyoncé, the prodigal child and the licentious “post-racial,” pop-star to argue that while Lemonade may not present the same critique of exclusionary Black womanhood present within Daughters of the Dust, reactions to the Beyoncé’s visual album and the “Formation” music video inadvertently demonstrate the longevity of harmful colorist prejudices and the disparaging of Black female sexual and creative agency within the Black community.
    [Show full text]
  • Gullah Womanism in the Creative Works of African American Women
    i OOMAN’S WUK: GULLAH WOMANISM IN THE CREATIVE WORKS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN by JUDITH LYNN STRATHEARN B. S. Rochester Institute of Technology, 1993 B.A., Metropolitan State College of Denver, 2004 M.A., University of Colorado at Boulder, 2008 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English 2017 ii This dissertation entitled: Ooman’s Wuk: Gullah Womanism in the Creative Works of African American Women written by Judith Lynn Strathearn has been approved for the Department of English Adam F. Bradley (Committee Chair) Michael J. Preston (Committee Member) Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. iii ABSTRACT Strathearn, Judith Lynn (Ph.D., English) Ooman’s Wuk: Gullah Womanism in the Creative Works of African American Women Dissertation directed by Associate Professor Adam F. Bradley “Ooman’s Wuk: Gullah Womanism in the Creative Works of African American Women” investigates Gullah history and culture as a usable past for modern African American female artists. This project explores the history of rice production and the vital but under-discussed role of women that led to the African retentions still at work on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. By exploring the often disavowed female roles, this dissertation argues that once acknowledged, the Gullah woman’s role as ‘keepa a da kulca’ formulates a Gullah womanism or a form of cultural and community activism that is found in the daily lives of the female descendants of Africans living on the Sea Islands.
    [Show full text]
  • Magical Realism in Transnational Cinema
    MAGICAL REALISM IN TRANSNATIONAL CINEMA CODY LANG A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO August 2020 © Cody Lang, 2020 ii Abstract This project is an analysis of the magical realist genre in cinema, specifically its multiple forms found in transnational cinema. The status of magical realism in film as a genre will be questioned and this project argues that the concept is best understand as a transgeneric critical category rather than a genre in the conventional understanding of the term. Magical realism as academic concept has been discussed in-depth in literary theory and this project extends those discussions into the field of cinema. The history of criticism of magical realism is summarized as it applies to studying film with special attention given towards the semiotic differences between literature and cinema. Furthermore, this project explicates the distinct ways that magical realism operates in cinema in contrast to literature while also noting the shared aesthetic strategies between each media. Each section covers a thematic topic observed in transnational magical realist cinema: metafiction in overt and covert forms; the representation of historicity; and the representation of marginalized subjectivities, specifically looking at how magical realist cinema presents issues of class, gender, race, and sexual identity. The final thematic discussion discusses the possibility of utopian discourses in magical realist cinema, the attempts to envision a less exploitative social collective according to a variety of cultural and national contexts in late-capitalism.
    [Show full text]
  • Women's Journeys, Women's Stories: in Search of Our Multicultural Future
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 418 161 UD 032 220 AUTHOR Shevitz, Linda Pollack; Shaffer, Susan Morris TITLE Women's Journeys, Women's Stories: In Search of Our Multicultural Future. Units in U.S. Women's History. Teacher Guide. INSTITUTION Educational Development Center, Inc., Newton, MA. WEEA Equity Resource Center. SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 129p.; For the accompanying "Student Manual," see UD 032 221 CONTRACT RP92136001 AVAILABLE FROM Women's Educational Equity Act Resource Center, Education Development Center, Inc., 55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02158-1060; toll-free phone: 800-225-3088; world wide web: http://www.edc.org/WomensEquity PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Teacher (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS American Indians; Asian Americans; *Curriculum; *Females; *Futures (of Society); Guides; Hispanic Americans; Immigrants; Intermediate Grades; Jews; Junior High School Students; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Multicultural Education; *United States History; *Womens Studies IDENTIFIERS Middle School Students; United States (South) ABSTRACT This collection of curriculum units in U.S. history tells some of the untold women's stories that describe some of the historical events and social settings of the past and illustrate some trends for the future. These stories are intended to encourage middle school and junior high school students to explore contemporary women's history themes that correlate with themes previously highlighted in "In Search of Our Past," also from the Women's Educational Equity Act Resource Center. Three main units on contemporary topics are presented in both this "Teacher's Guide" and the "Student Manual." Each unit of the teacher's guide contains an overview of the unit, an introduction to the topic and background on the topic, ideas for additional student activities, and selected annotated resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Water and Liminality in Praisesong for the Widow and Daughters of the Dust Carmen López Atencia University of Málaga 2016 Acco
    Water and Liminality in Praisesong for the Widow and Daughters of the Dust Carmen López Atencia University of Málaga 2016 According to scientific arguments, life was created with and within water. Existence is now possible as a result of the appearence of this element in Planet Earth more than four million years ago, once the collision of galactic “dust” compacted in an enormous rock that is today recognized as Planet Earth. Vapours were emitted to the yet non-conformed atmosphere. These vapours dispersion began its dynamics and cyclic flow on contacting the Globe’s incandescent surface. Time elapsed (during millions of years), and the planet’s cooling down promoted the appearance to the third state of matter, non-existent up to then, known as “liquid”. Geodynamics thus, gave way to an energetically active planet with multi- interactional convective flows between the different representations of “matter” over all the “stratum”. However, it was not until electric discharges of energy produced by atmospheric thunder, straight into this fluid, which scientists colloquially named “the original bouillon”, containing a mixture of various chemical components, that the first forms of life began to develop. Life as it is established nowadays has been the result of a yet unidentifiable number of physical interactions of these “mixed up waters’” energy exchange with the physical and aerial spaces surrounding them, affecting every single biological kingdom’s multi-cosmos. Mankind hurting the rivers has led to the alteration of waters’ paths, streams and boundaries. Water had always been present in this planet, playing an important role to human consideration and needs, with regards to its multi-interactional implications in micro and macro-ecosystems, inasmuch as African-American diaspora writing and performance have.
    [Show full text]
  • Multicultural Films: a Reference Guide
    Multicultural Films: A Reference Guide JANICE R. WELSCH J. Q. ADAMS GREENWOOD PRESS MULTICULTURAL FILMS y A Reference Guide JANICE R. WELSCH AND J. Q. ADAMS GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Welsch, Janice R. Multicultural films : a reference guide / Janice R. Welsch and J. Q. Adams. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–31975–8 (alk. paper) 1. Minorities in motion pictures. 2. Motion pictures—United States—Catalogs. I. Adams, J. Q. II. Title. PN1995.9.M56W45 2005 016.79143'6556—dc22 2004022529 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2005 by Janice R. Welsch and J. Q. Adams All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004022529 ISBN: 0–313–31975–8 First published in 2005 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 In memory of John Ogbu Contents Preface xiii African American Films 1 Overview 1 The Films 2 Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery 2 Amistad 3 Antwone Fisher 4 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The 5 Baby Boy 6 Bamboozled 7 Bird 8 Birth of a Nation, The 9 Color Purple, The 10 Daughters
    [Show full text]
  • Cooking and Writing in African-American Cultures Representation, Genre, Ceremony
    Cooking and Writing in African-American Cultures Representation, Genre, Ceremony Andrew Warnes Submitted in Accordance with the Requirements for the Degree of PhD The University of Leeds School of English September, 2001 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. Acknowledgements This thesis has been improved immeasurably by support offered throughout the last three years by supervisors, other members of the Leeds University faculty, and family and friends. Occasionally, when advice has required me to rethink aspects of my research, I have perhaps not welcomed or appreciated these suggestions sufficiently at the time. To correct this, I must now thank the editors of Gastronomica for commentaries provided on an early draft of the Zora Neale Hurston chapter, which has also benefited greatly from the always encouraging remarks of Rachel Fairbrother. My research on Richard Wright’s Black Boy (American Hunger) has benefited similarly from suggestions offered by Richard King, Richard Godden, Richard Haw and Ben Caines. The difficult task of teasing out the multiple textual references and interconnections of Toni Morrison’s Tar Baby, meanwhile, has been eased considerably by David Stirrup and Brian Scobie, who played a pivotal role as supervisor in the earlier stages of this research. Mention must also be made of Alistair Stead, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the American canon has been a source of constant enlightenment over the last three years. Like Alistair, my supervisors Mick Gidley and Dennis Flannery have been a constant source of support, bringing to our meetings an enthusiasm that has helped to ignite (and sometimes reignite) my own.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Haptic Media
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Haptic Media: Sexuality, Gender, and Affect in Technology Culture, 1959–2015 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Media Studies by Diana M. Pozo Committee in charge: Professor Anna Everett, Chair Professor Constance Penley Professor Michael Curtin Professor Mireille Miller-Young Professor Lisa Cartwright December 2016 The dissertation of Diana M. Pozo is approved. ____________________________________________ Constance Penley ____________________________________________ Michael Curtin ____________________________________________ Mireille Miller-Young ____________________________________________ Lisa Cartwright ____________________________________________ Anna Everett, Committee Chair November 2016 Haptic Media: Sexuality, Gender, and Affect in Technology Culture, 1959–2015 Copyright © 2016 by Diana M. Pozo iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have finished this project without the many people who touched me along the way. My dissertation committee—Anna Everett, Constance Penley, Michael Curtin, Mireille Miller-Young, and Lisa Cartwright—made this unique piece of research possible with their openness, as well as their many areas of diverse expertise. Many others at UC Santa Barbara were instrumental to my intellectual and personal development, including members of my MA committee Janet Walker, Lisa Parks, and Charles Wolfe; Paul Amar, who I worked with as a manuscript editor during the later years of my dissertation; and Edward Branigan, whose library office was an idyllic retreat for the first year of the project. My research would not have been possible without a number of collaborators and mentors. Some of my earliest helpers were those I met or heard speak at the conferences I attended for this project, including Heather Kelley, Kyle Machulis, Maggie Mayhem, Dee Dennis, Mark Kernes, Kelly Holland, Lafe Spietz, Jiz Lee, and Shine Louise Houston, among many others.
    [Show full text]
  • Afrocentric Ideologies and Gendered Resistance in Daughters of the Dust and Malcolm X: Setting, Scene, and Spectatorship
    Jones-Ideologies Afrocentric Ideologies and Gendered Resistance in Daughters of the Dust and Malcolm X: Setting, Scene, and Spectatorship David Jones University of Minnesota "Myth, of course, plays a very important partin all of our lives, in everyone's culture. Without myth and tradition, what is there"? Julie Dash Introduction This study of scenes from the films Daughters of the Dust and Malcolm X, describes images of myth, gender, and resist­ ance familiar to African-American interpretive communities. Key thematic and technical elements of these films are opposed to familiar Hollywood practices, indicating the direc­ tors' effort to address resisting spectators. Both filmmakers, Julie Dash and Spike Lee respectively, chose subjects with an ideological resonance in African-American collective memory: Malcolm X, eulogized by Ossie Davis as "our living black man­ hood"i and the women of the Gullah Sea Islands, a site often celebrated for its authentically African cultural survivals. Both films combine images of an African past with an American present using a pattern of historically specific myths and tropes. 71 Ethnic Studies Review Volume 21 I am interested in the design of two scenes, in particular, which rely on audience engagement with complex elements of African-American collective memory: an early scene in Dash's film where Eli and Nana discuss Eli's forthcoming migration from the Sea Islands in which Nana comments extensively on the importance of remembering one's African ancestors and Lee's presentation of Malcolm X confronting white precinct offi­ cers after an NYPD assault on a black man. The relationship between gender, resistance, and Afrocentric authenticity is made clear in these scenes through the directors' use of move­ ment, music, and character development.
    [Show full text]
  • THE GULLAH KALEIDOSCOPE Daughters of the Dust
    Cercles 15 (2006) THE GULLAH KALEIDOSCOPE Daughters of the Dust (1991) by African American film director and writer Julie Dash ANNE-MARIE PAQUET-DEYRIS Université de Rouen Julie Dash’s visually hypnotic film Daughters of the Dust opens with a close up of a young African American woman’s indigo-stained hands holding Sea Island soil blowing through her fingers like dust. In the next scene the same eighty-eight-year-old Nana Peazant rises out of the water fully dressed at Ibo Landing, the main drop-off point of African captives. In two shots and a cut, the diasporic story of the Ibos brought over from West Africa on slave ships and the family story of the Peazants start unfolding. The poisonous blue indigo dye, the damaged hands that farmed it and the thick cotton of the Gullah Islands often dyed dark bridge the gap between slavery time and 1902, the year some Peazant family members decide to cross over to mainland America. When the film finally came out in 1991, Julie Dash had been doing extensive research on the Sea Islands’ history and trying to get some financing for quite a few years. Very early on, and partly because stories from her own family sparked the idea of Daughters of the Dust, Dash proved determined to fight the construction of stereotypes in mainstream films. First conceived of as a short silent movie about the migration of Afro- American relatives from the Gullah Islands off the coast of South Carolina to the continent and then North, the movie became much more than just a kind of “ ‘Last Supper’ before migration and the separation of the family.”1 Possibly for the first time ever for a female film director, black people became subjects of a (rather unconventional) narrative development geared toward spectators who would take special interest in black peoples’ perspectives on American culture.
    [Show full text]