Title: Transgressive black female selfhood
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2011, vol. 37, iss. 2, pp. [31]-40
Extent
[31]-40
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2011-2-3
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/118138
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
By using textual examples from three autobiographies written by African American women in different periods of U.S. history, this paper argues that two distinct features mark black female autobiographical selfhood. One is its being a "selfhood-in-relation" that stands in stark opposition to "a lonely hero" subjects created by both black and white male American autobiographers. And the other is the political nature of African American autobiography as a genre which leads the authors to intense consideration of their reading public in the process of creating their autobiographical selves. The discussed texts include Harriet Jacobs's (or Linda Brent's) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861), Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) and Angela Davis's Angela Davis: An Autobiography (1974).
References
[1] Brantley, Will (1993) Feminine Sense in Southern Memoir: Smith, Glasgow, Welty, Hellman, Porter, and Hurston. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
[2] Butterfield, Stephen (1974) Black Autobiography in America. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
[3] Campbell, Josie P. (2001) Student Companion to Zora Neale Hurston. Westport: Greenwood Press.
[4] Carby, Hazel V. (1987) Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist. New York: Oxford University Press.
[5] Davis, Angela Y. (1974) An Autobiography. New York: Bantam.
[6] Fleischner, Jennifer (1996) Mastering Slavery: Memory, Family, and Identity in Women's Slave Narratives. New York: New York University Press.
[7] Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (1985) 'A Negro Way of Saying' (review of Dust Tracks on a Road). The New York Times. 21 April 1985.
[8] Hemenway, Robert E. (1977) Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
[9] hooks, bell (1992) Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press.
[10] Hurston, Zora Neale (1942) 'Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Wall, Cheryl A. (ed.) Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings. New York: The Library of America. 559–808.
[11] Jacobs, Harriet A. (1987 [1861]) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself. In: Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (ed.) The Classic Slave Narratives. New York: Mentor. 335–513.
[12] Johnson, Yvonne (1998) The Voices of African American Women: The Use of Narrative and Authorial Voice in the Works of Harriet Jacobs, Zora Neale Hurston, and Alice Walker. American University Studies, Series XXIV, American Literature, 59. New York: Peter Lang.
[13] Lionnet Françoise (1993) 'Autoethnography: The An-Archic Style of Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Andrews, William L. (ed.) African American Autobiography: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. 113–137.
[14] Mc Kay, Nellie Y. (1988) 'Race, Gender, and Cultural Context in Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Brodzki, Bela and Celeste Schenk (eds.) Life/Lines: Theorizing Women's Autobiography. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 175–88.
[15] Meisenhelder, Susan Edwards (1999) Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Race and Gender in the Work of Zora Neale Hurston. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press.
[16] Mercer, Trudy (2001) 'Representative Woman: Harriet Jacobs and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl'. 9 October 2001. http://www.drizzle.com/t~mercer/Jacobs/representative.shtm/.
[17] Mostern, Kenneth (1999) Autobiography and Black Identity Politics: Racialization in Twentieth-Century America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[18] Perkins, Margo V. (2000) Autobiography as Activism: Three Black Women of the Sixties. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press.
[19] Plant, Deborah G. (1995) Every Tub Must Sit on Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
[20] Raynaud, Claudine (1992) '"Rubbing a Paragraph with a Soft Cloth?" Muted Voices and Editorial Constraints in Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Smith, Sidonie and Julie Watson (eds.) De/Colonizing the Subject: The Politics of Gender in Women's Autobiography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 34–64.
[21] Rayson, Ann L. (1973) 'Dust Tracks on a Road: Zora Neale Hurston and the Form of Black Autobiography'. Negro American Literature Forum 7(2), 39–45. | DOI 10.2307/3041267
[22] Reith, Nicole E. (1998) 'Dust Tracks on a Road: Zora Neale Hurston's Autobiography and the Rhetoric of "Feather-bed Resistance"'. In: Bak, Hans, and Hans Krabbendam (eds.) Writing Lives: American Biography and Autobiography. Amsterdam: VU University Press. 75–81.
[23] Rodríguez, Barbara (1998) 'On the Gatepost: Literal and Metaphorical Journeys in Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Roberson, Susan L. (ed.) Women, America, and Movement: Narratives of Relocation. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. 235–257.
[24] Smith, Sidonie (1993) Subjectivity, Identity, and the Body: Women's Autobiographical Practises in the Twentieth Century. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
[25] Smith, Valerie (1987) Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[26] Snyder, Phillip A. (1988) 'Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks: Autobiography and Artist Novel'. In: Cronin, Gloria L. (ed.) Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Hall. 173–189.
[27] Tate, Claudia (1992) Domestic Allegories of Political Desire: The Black Heroine's Text at the Turn of the Century. New York: Oxford University Press.
[28] Yellin, Jean Fagan (2000) 'Introduction'. In: Yellin, Jean Fagan (ed.) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ix–xli.
[2] Butterfield, Stephen (1974) Black Autobiography in America. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
[3] Campbell, Josie P. (2001) Student Companion to Zora Neale Hurston. Westport: Greenwood Press.
[4] Carby, Hazel V. (1987) Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist. New York: Oxford University Press.
[5] Davis, Angela Y. (1974) An Autobiography. New York: Bantam.
[6] Fleischner, Jennifer (1996) Mastering Slavery: Memory, Family, and Identity in Women's Slave Narratives. New York: New York University Press.
[7] Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (1985) 'A Negro Way of Saying' (review of Dust Tracks on a Road). The New York Times. 21 April 1985.
[8] Hemenway, Robert E. (1977) Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
[9] hooks, bell (1992) Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press.
[10] Hurston, Zora Neale (1942) 'Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Wall, Cheryl A. (ed.) Folklore, Memoirs, and Other Writings. New York: The Library of America. 559–808.
[11] Jacobs, Harriet A. (1987 [1861]) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself. In: Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (ed.) The Classic Slave Narratives. New York: Mentor. 335–513.
[12] Johnson, Yvonne (1998) The Voices of African American Women: The Use of Narrative and Authorial Voice in the Works of Harriet Jacobs, Zora Neale Hurston, and Alice Walker. American University Studies, Series XXIV, American Literature, 59. New York: Peter Lang.
[13] Lionnet Françoise (1993) 'Autoethnography: The An-Archic Style of Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Andrews, William L. (ed.) African American Autobiography: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. 113–137.
[14] Mc Kay, Nellie Y. (1988) 'Race, Gender, and Cultural Context in Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Brodzki, Bela and Celeste Schenk (eds.) Life/Lines: Theorizing Women's Autobiography. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 175–88.
[15] Meisenhelder, Susan Edwards (1999) Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Race and Gender in the Work of Zora Neale Hurston. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press.
[16] Mercer, Trudy (2001) 'Representative Woman: Harriet Jacobs and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl'. 9 October 2001. http://www.drizzle.com/t~mercer/Jacobs/representative.shtm/.
[17] Mostern, Kenneth (1999) Autobiography and Black Identity Politics: Racialization in Twentieth-Century America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[18] Perkins, Margo V. (2000) Autobiography as Activism: Three Black Women of the Sixties. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press.
[19] Plant, Deborah G. (1995) Every Tub Must Sit on Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
[20] Raynaud, Claudine (1992) '"Rubbing a Paragraph with a Soft Cloth?" Muted Voices and Editorial Constraints in Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Smith, Sidonie and Julie Watson (eds.) De/Colonizing the Subject: The Politics of Gender in Women's Autobiography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 34–64.
[21] Rayson, Ann L. (1973) 'Dust Tracks on a Road: Zora Neale Hurston and the Form of Black Autobiography'. Negro American Literature Forum 7(2), 39–45. | DOI 10.2307/3041267
[22] Reith, Nicole E. (1998) 'Dust Tracks on a Road: Zora Neale Hurston's Autobiography and the Rhetoric of "Feather-bed Resistance"'. In: Bak, Hans, and Hans Krabbendam (eds.) Writing Lives: American Biography and Autobiography. Amsterdam: VU University Press. 75–81.
[23] Rodríguez, Barbara (1998) 'On the Gatepost: Literal and Metaphorical Journeys in Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks on a Road'. In: Roberson, Susan L. (ed.) Women, America, and Movement: Narratives of Relocation. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. 235–257.
[24] Smith, Sidonie (1993) Subjectivity, Identity, and the Body: Women's Autobiographical Practises in the Twentieth Century. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
[25] Smith, Valerie (1987) Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[26] Snyder, Phillip A. (1988) 'Zora Neale Hurston's Dust Tracks: Autobiography and Artist Novel'. In: Cronin, Gloria L. (ed.) Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Hall. 173–189.
[27] Tate, Claudia (1992) Domestic Allegories of Political Desire: The Black Heroine's Text at the Turn of the Century. New York: Oxford University Press.
[28] Yellin, Jean Fagan (2000) 'Introduction'. In: Yellin, Jean Fagan (ed.) Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ix–xli.