Description
Book SynopsisArgues for a redefinition of the genre of black American autobiography to include the images of women as well as their memoirs, reminiscences, diaries, and journals - as a corrective to both black and feminist literary criticism.
Trade Review"In this illuminating study Joanne Braxton shows the continuity and tradition in the writing of Afra-American women. An important work for teachers and students of Literature, History, and Women's Studies."—
Gerda Lerner"Braxton's book is scrupulously researched. She has been creative in finding resources and courageous in analyzing and interpreting her finds. This is the word of a diligent mind. The material is mountainous, yet the book sings. Braxton is a poet. Thank goodness."
—Maya Angelou
"Joanne Braxton's essays on black women's autobiographies delineate and illuminate the personal and historical dimension of an important literary tradition. Emphasizing the distinct character of Afra-American women's experience and relations with each other, she ground their writing of their lives in the struggles and triumphs of the lives they actually led."
—Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments A Tradition Within a Tradition Part I: Making a Way Out of No Way 1. Outraged Mother and Articulate Heroine: Linda Brent and the Slave Narrative Genre 2. Fugitive Slaves and Sanctified Ladies: Narratives of Vision and Power Part II: Emerging from Obscurity 3. A Poet's Retreat: The Diaries of Charlotte Forten Grimke 4. Crusader for Justice: Ida B. Wells Part III: Claiming the Afra-American Self 5. Motherless Daughters and the Quest for a Place: Zora Neale Hurston and Era Bell Thompson 6. A Song of Transcendence: Maya Angelou A Circle Closing and Expanding References Index
