Black Folklore and the Politics of Racial Representation

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Black, American, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Folklore & Mythology
Cover of the book Black Folklore and the Politics of Racial Representation by Shirley Moody-Turner, University Press of Mississippi
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Shirley Moody-Turner ISBN: 9781617038860
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi Publication: October 26, 2013
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi Language: English
Author: Shirley Moody-Turner
ISBN: 9781617038860
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication: October 26, 2013
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi
Language: English

Before the innovative work of Zora Neale Hurston, folklorists from the Hampton Institute collected, studied, and wrote about African American folklore. Like Hurston, these folklorists worked within but also beyond the bounds of white mainstream institutions. They often called into question the meaning of the very folklore projects in which they were engaged.

Shirley Moody-Turner analyzes this output, along with the contributions of a disparate group of African American authors and scholars. She explores how black authors and folklorists were active participants--rather than passive observers--in conversations about the politics of representing black folklore. Examining literary texts, folklore documents, cultural performances, legal discourse, and political rhetoric, Black Folklore and the Politics of Racial Representation demonstrates how folklore studies became a battleground across which issues of racial identity and difference were asserted and debated at the turn of the twentieth century. The study is framed by two questions of historical and continuing import. What role have representations of black folklore played in constructing racial identity? And, how have those ideas impacted the way African Americans think about and creatively engage black traditions?

Moody-Turner renders established historical facts in a new light and context, taking figures we thought we knew--such as Charles Chesnutt, Anna Julia Cooper, and Paul Laurence Dunbar--and recasting their place in African American intellectual and cultural history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Before the innovative work of Zora Neale Hurston, folklorists from the Hampton Institute collected, studied, and wrote about African American folklore. Like Hurston, these folklorists worked within but also beyond the bounds of white mainstream institutions. They often called into question the meaning of the very folklore projects in which they were engaged.

Shirley Moody-Turner analyzes this output, along with the contributions of a disparate group of African American authors and scholars. She explores how black authors and folklorists were active participants--rather than passive observers--in conversations about the politics of representing black folklore. Examining literary texts, folklore documents, cultural performances, legal discourse, and political rhetoric, Black Folklore and the Politics of Racial Representation demonstrates how folklore studies became a battleground across which issues of racial identity and difference were asserted and debated at the turn of the twentieth century. The study is framed by two questions of historical and continuing import. What role have representations of black folklore played in constructing racial identity? And, how have those ideas impacted the way African Americans think about and creatively engage black traditions?

Moody-Turner renders established historical facts in a new light and context, taking figures we thought we knew--such as Charles Chesnutt, Anna Julia Cooper, and Paul Laurence Dunbar--and recasting their place in African American intellectual and cultural history.

More books from University Press of Mississippi

Cover of the book Touring Literary Mississippi by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Great Smoky Mountains Folklife by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book A Decade of Dark Humor by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Eddy Arnold by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Panel to the Screen by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Alan Ball by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Bad Sixties by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book A Lifetime Burning by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Stephen Sondheim and the Reinvention of the American Musical by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Barbara Kopple by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Sowing the Wind by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Faulkner at 100 by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Jazz Diplomacy by Shirley Moody-Turner
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy