Cultural Sites of Critical Insight

Description

Bringing together criticism on both African American and Native American women writers, this book offers fresh perspectives on art and beauty, truth, justice, community, and the making of a good and happy life. The essays draw on interdisciplinary, feminist, and comparative methods in the works of writers such as Toni Morrison, Leslie Silko, Alice Walker, Linda Hogan, Paula Gunn Allen, Luci Tapahonso, Phillis Wheatley, and Sherley Anne Williams, making them more accessible for critical consideration in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy, and critical theory. The contributors formulate unique frameworks for interpreting the multiple levels of complex, cultural play between Native American and African American women writers in America, and pave the way for innovative hermeneutic possibilities for reassessing writers of both traditions.
I. Introduction

1. On the “Res” and in the “Hood”: Making Cultures, Leaving Legacies
      Angela L. Cotten

II. Transformative Aesthetics

2. Self-Help, Indian Style? Paula Gunn Allen’s Grandmothers of the Light, Womanist Self-Recovery, and the Politics of Transformation
      AnaLouise Keating

3. Making the Awakening Hers: Phillis Wheatley and the Transposition of African Spirituality to Christian Religiosity
      Elizabeth J. West

4. “Any Woman’s Blues”: Sherley Anne Williams and the Blues Aesthetic
      Michael A. Antonucci

III. Critical Revisions

5. Through the Mirror: Re-Surfacing and Self-Articulation in Linda Hogan’s Solar Storms
      Ellen L. Arnold

6. The Red-Black Center of Alice Walker’s Meridian: Asserting a Cherokee Womanist Sensibility
      Barbara S. Tracy

7. Womanist Interventions in Historical Materialism
      Angela L. Cotten

IV. Re(In)Fusing Feminism

8. “Both the Law and Its Transgression”: Toni Morrison’s Paradise and “Post”–Black Feminism
      Noelle Morrissette

9. Luci Tapahonso’s “Leda and the Cowboy”: A Gynocratic, Navajo Response to Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan”
      Maggie Romigh

10. Mother Times Two: A Double Take on a Gynocentric Justice Song
      Margot Reynolds

References
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Philosophy

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791480571
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Cultural Sites of Critical Insight

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Cultural Sites of Critical Insight

Philosophy, Aesthetics, and African American and Native American Women’s Writings

Edited by Angela L. Cotten and Christa Davis Acampora

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2007 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384

Production by Judith Block Marketing by Fran Keneston

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Cultural sites of critical insight : philosophy, aesthetics, and African American and Native American women’s writing / edited by Angela L. Cotten, Christa Davis Acampora. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6979-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6980-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. American literature— African American authors—History and criticism. 2. American literature— Indian authors—History and criticism. 3. American literature—Women authors—History and criticism. 4. African American women authors—Aes- thetics. 5. Indian women authors—Aesthetics. 6. African American women in literature. 7. Indian women in literature. 8. Feminism in literature. I. Cotten, Angela L., 1968- II. Acampora, Christa Davis, 1967-

PS153.N5C85 2007 810.9’928708996073—dc22

2006009009

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Angela’s two mothers— Mary Rogers Cotten and Martine Watson Brownley

And to Christa’s grandmothers— Lillian, I wish I had known you, Stella, I am glad I did, and Ila James, I’m so very grateful I do.

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Contents

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I. INTRODUCTION

O N THE “R ES ” AND IN THE “H OOD ”: M AKING C ULTURES , L EAVING L EGACIES Angela L. Cotten

II. TRANSFORMATIVE AESTHETICS

S ELF -H ELP , I NDIAN S TYLE ? P AULA G UNN A LLEN ’ S G RANDMOTHERS OF THE L IGHT , W OMANIST S ELF - R ECOVERY , AND THE P OLITICS OF T RANSFORMATION AnaLouise Keating

M AKING THE A WAKENING H ERS : P HILLIS W HEATLEY AND THE T RANSPOSITION OF A FRICAN S PIRITUALITY TO C HRISTIAN R ELIGIOSITY Elizabeth J. West

“A NY W OMAN ’ S B LUES ”: S HERLEY A NNE W ILLIAMS AND THE B LUES A ESTHETIC Michael A. Antonucci

III. CRITICAL REVISIONS

T HROUGH THE M IRROR : R E -S URFACINGAND S ELF - A RTICULATION IN L INDA H OGAN ’ S S OLAR S TORMS Ellen L. Arnold

T HE R ED -B LACK C ENTER OF A LICE W ALKER ’ S M ERIDIAN : A SSERTING A C HEROKEE W OMANIST S ENSIBILITY Barbara S. Tracy

W OMANIST I NTERVENTIONS IN H ISTORICAL M ATERIALISM Angela L. Cotten

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CONTENTS

IV. RE(IN)FUSING FEMINISM

“B OTH THE L AW AND I TS T RANSGRESSION ”: T ONI M ORRISON ’ S P ARADISEAND “P OST ”–B LACK F EMINISM Noelle Morrissette

L UCI T APAHONSO ’ S “L EDA AND THE C OWBOY ”: A G YNOCRATIC , N AVAJO R ESPONSE TO Y EATS ’ S “L EDA AND THE S WAN ” Maggie Romigh

M OTHER T IMES T WO : A D OUBLE T AKE ON A G YNOCENTRIC J USTICE S ONG Margot R. Reynolds

R EFERENCES

C ONTRIBUTORS

I NDEX

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Part I Introduction