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Slavery's Influence on Hospitality and Black Personhood in Late University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2018 MEETING AT THE THRESHOLD: SLAVERY’S INFLUENCE ON HOSPITALITY AND BLACK PERSONHOOD IN LATE-ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN LITERATURE Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8935-7775 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.506 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Wiggins, Rebecca Wiltberger, "MEETING AT THE THRESHOLD: SLAVERY’S INFLUENCE ON HOSPITALITY AND BLACK PERSONHOOD IN LATE-ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN LITERATURE" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--English. 83. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/83 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins, Student Dr. Armando Prats, Major Professor Dr. Jill Rappoport, Director of Graduate Studies MEETING AT THE THRESHOLD: SLAVERY’S INFLUENCE ON HOSPITALITY AND BLACK PERSONHOOD IN LATE-ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN LITERATURE ___________________________ DISSERTATION ___________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Armando Prats, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky 2018 Copyright © Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins 2018 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION MEETING AT THE THRESHOLD: SLAVERY’S INFLUENCE ON HOSPITALITY AND BLACK PERSONHOOD IN LATE-ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN LITERATURE In my dissertation, I argue that both white and black authors of the late-1850s and early-1860s used scenes of race-centered hospitality in their narratives to combat the pervasive stereotypes of black inferiority that flourished under the influence of chattel slavery. The wide-spread scenes of hospitality in antebellum literature—including shared meals, entertaining overnight guests, and business meetings in personal homes—are too inextricably bound to contemporary discussions of blackness and whiteness to be ignored. In arguing for the humanizing effects of playing host or guest as a black person, my project joins the work of literary scholars from William L. Andrews to Keith Michael Green who argue for broader and more complex approaches to writers’ strategies for recognizing the full personhood of African Americans in the mid-nineteenth century. In the last fifteen to twenty years, hospitality theory has reshaped social science research, particularly around issues of race, immigration, and citizenship. In literary studies, scholars are only now beginning to mine the ways that theorists from diverse backgrounds—including continental philosophers such as Derrida and Levinas, womanist philosopher and theologian N. Lynne Westerfield, and post-colonial writers and scholars such as Tahar Ben Jelloun—can expand the reading of nineteenth century literature by examining the discourse and practice of hospitality. When host and guest meet at the threshold they must acknowledge the full personhood of the other; the relationship of hospitality is dependent on beginning in a state of equilibrium grounded in mutual respect. In this project I argue that because of the acknowledgement of mutual humanness required in acts of hospitality, hospitality functions as a humanizing narrative across the spectrum of antebellum black experience: slave and free, male and female, uneducated and highly educated. In chapter one, “Unmasking Southern Hospitality: Discursive Passing in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred,” I examine Stowe’s use of a black fugitive slave host who behaves like a southern gentleman to undermine the ethos of southern honor culture and to disrupt the ideology that supports chattel slavery. In chapter two, “Transformative Hospitality and Interracial Education in Webb’s The Garies and Their Friends,” I examine how the race- centered scenes of hospitality in Frank J. Webb’s 1857 novel The Garies and Their Friends creates educational opportunities where northern racist ideology can be uncovered and rejected by white men and women living close to, but still outside, the free black community of Philadelphia. In the final chapter, “Slavery’s Subversion of Hospitality in Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” I examine how Linda Brent’s engagement in acts of hospitality (both as guest and host) bring to light the warping influence of chattel slavery on hospitality in Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. In conclusion, my project reframes the practices of antebellum hospitality as yet another form of nonviolent everyday resistance to racist ideology rampant in both the North and the South. This project furthers the ways that American literature scholars understand active resistance to racial oppression in the nineteenth century, putting hospitality on an equal footing with other subversive practices, such as learning to read or racial passing. KEYWORDS: Antebellum American Literature, Slavery in Literature, Hospitality in Literature, American Women Writers, African American Writers Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins November 30, 2018 Date MEETING AT THE THRESHOLD: SLAVERY’S INFLUENCE ON HOSPITALITY AND BLACK PERSONHOOD IN LATE-ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN LITERATURE By Rebecca Wiltberger Wiggins Dr. Armando Prats Director of Dissertation Dr. Jill Rappoport Director of Graduate Studies November 30, 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is the fruit of many hours of labor that could not have come to maturity without the support, encouragement, and insight of many, many people. I would like to thank Dr. Armando Prats for taking on me and this project even though he rarely takes on new graduate students. You pushed me to take these ideas deeper and farther and the project is significantly better for it. To Dr. Marion Rust I extend my great thanks for your mentorship, consideration, and support during tumultuous times. Your deep and wide knowledge of American literature and critical theory was essential to the formation of the critical lens of this project. Dr. Michelle Sizemore was a dedicated reader and a stalwart mentor during this entire process. My work is indelibly marked by your incisive thinking and meticulous craftsmanship in both prose and argument. Dr. Patricia Ehrkamp and Dr. Andy Doolen started me on this path and challenged me to consider the complexities of hospitality in relationship to issues of race and nationalism. In addition to the contributions of my various committee members I am also indebted to my reading/writing group: Noor Al-Attar, Jonathan Tinnin, Megan Pillow Davis, and Nicole Atkinson. Your words and company kept me reading, writing, and plowing ahead when the way seemed bleak or overwhelming. Tess Givens was a reader par excellence and reminded me continually that the Writing Center isn’t only for first year students. Our conversations and your electronic feedback played an important role in the evolution of my project. Finally, this would have never come to pass without the support and care of Sara Ball and my community at Providence Community Church. You fed me, hugged me, listened to my rants, prayed for me, and reminded me that life is iii more than academics. You helped me stay whole in the midst of a stressful and demanding season and without you this project would never have started, let alone been completed. For all the encouragement, insight, and brilliance these friends and colleagues provided, I am truly thankful. Any errors or weaknesses in this project speak only to my limitations, not their contributions. Although there were many people involved in this process, I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize the most constant support, the freshest inspiration, and the most dedicated companion
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