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: 9781628467550
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi Publication: October 2, 2013
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi Language: English
Author: Shirley Moody-Turner
ISBN: 9781628467550
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication: October 2, 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 The State of Health and Health Care in Mississippi by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Projections of Passing by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Civil War in Mississippi by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Sinking of the USS Cairo by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Coming to Colorado by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Mississippi Fiddle Tunes and Songs from the 1930s by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Connecting Childhood and Old Age in Popular Media by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Mulatta and the Politics of Race by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Michael Winterbottom by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Whitewashing America by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Mississippi Cookbook by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book African American Religion and the Civil Rights Movement in Arkansas by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Southern White Ministers and the Civil Rights Movement by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev, Volume II by Shirley Moody-Turner
Cover of the book Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control 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