All Stories Are True: History, Myth, and Trauma in the Work of John Edgar Wideman (Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies)

331 Pages·2011·1.6 MB·English

by  Tracie Church Guzzio

All Stories Are True
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All Stories Are True
HISTORY, MYTH, AND TRAUMA IN THE
WORK OF JOHN EDGAR WIDEMAN
(cid:2)
TRACIE CHURCH GUZZIO
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI / JACKSON
Margaret Walker Alexander Series
in African American Studies
Publication of this book was made possible, in part,
by a grant from the State University of New York
and the Plattsburgh College Foundation.
www.upress.state.ms.us
The University Press of Mississippi is a member of
the Association of American University Presses.
Copyright © 2011 by University Press of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2011
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Guzzio, Tracie Church.
All stories are true : history, myth, and trauma in the
work of John Edgar Wideman / Tracie Church Guzzio.
p. cm. — (Margaret Walker Alexander series in
African American studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-61703-004-8 (cloth) — isbn 978-1-61703-
005-5 (ebook) 1. Wideman, John Edgar—Criticism and
interpretation. 2. African Americans in literature. I.
Title.
PS3573.I26Z68 2010
813’.54—dc22 2010044961
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
Contents
vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
3 INTRODUCTION
15 CHAPTERONE
“ALLSTORIESARETRUE”: PALIMPSESTICSTORYTELLING
48 CHAPTERTWO
DECONSTRUCTINGHISTORY: TRAUMA AND THE ALIENATION NARRATIVES
97 CHAPTERTHREE
THERETURNHOME: MYTHIC NARRATIVES AND FAMILY HISTORY
144 CHAPTERFOUR
THE JOURNEY BACK (AGAIN):THE POST-TRAUMATIC NARRATIVES
190 CHAPTERFIVE
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION: THE BLUES AND THE HEROICROMANCE
241 CONCLUSION
249 NOTES
295 BIBLIOGRAPHY
311 INDEX
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Acknowledgments
I must begin by thanking E. Ethelbert Miller, poet and teacher, currently at
Howard University, for introducing me to African American literary scholar-
ship and nurturing my love of African American literature. He was my first
reader on my work on John Edgar Wideman, and his continued mentorship,
enthusiasm, and support are immeasurable. He has been the inspiration for
what I do in the classroom and in my academic work.
Enormous credit must also be given to Robert DeMott, at Ohio Univer-
sity, who provided me with so many opportunities for growth as a scholar and
teacher. He is a teacher’s teacher and an honest critic, and his endless supply of
energy and devotion to his students’ research is miraculous. He unreservedly
dove into this project from the very beginning to its completion and beyond.
He always encouraged me to turn this into something more.
My work on John Edgar Wideman was fostered by Wilfred Samuels at the
University of Utah, former president of the African American Literature and
Culture Society (AALCS). His invitation to join the organization gave me a
community and a confidence I had never known before. I still remember the
afternoon that he, Keith Byerman, Karen Jahn, and several others suggested
that we form the John Edgar Wideman Society. That group of charter members
continues to motivate my responses to Wideman’s work. Several of my former
conference presentations for the Wideman Society and AALCS were nascent
versions of this study. Further thanks are extended to Keith Byerman, currently
serving as president of the Wideman Society. His dedication to scholarship
on Wideman evokes my best efforts. As well, his and Bonnie TuSmith’s collec-
tion, Critical Essays on John Edgar Wideman, opened the door for innovative
and important work on Wideman’s writings. Bonnie, especially, was helpful in
focusing my ideas.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank the University of Tennessee Press for permission to
reprint a version of my essay “All My Father’s Texts: John Edgar Wideman’s His-
torical Vision in Philadelphia Fire,The Cattle Killing, and Fatheralong” for the
TuSmith and Byerman collection, Critical Essays on John Edgar Wideman, here.
Likewise, I thank Palgrave Macmillan for the permission to reprint a version
of my essay “Courtside: Race and Basketball in the Works of John Edgar Wide-
man” from In the Game. I am also grateful to the editor of that collection, Amy
Bass, for letting a literary critic into the mix of historians and cultural studies
scholars.
This project is the result of Seetha Srinivasan’s perseverance while at the
University Press of Mississippi. She never gave up on the idea of this book
and passed the torch on to Walter Biggins when she retired from active duty.
Walter’s equally steadfast and patient pursuit made this a viable manuscript.
Additional thanks to the staff at the University Press of Mississippi for all of
their hard work seeing this to fruition. I also am eternally grateful to the anon-
ymous readers of the manuscript. Their insights and suggestions were clear,
helpful, and generous and seriously improved this work. I would also like to
thank Karen Johnson for her work on this project.
I would also like to thank my colleagues in the English Department—my
home—and in the History Department. Their guidance and friendship have
been invaluable in completing this book. The semester that I was able to lock
myself away and do further research was the result of being awarded the Dr.
Nuala McGann Drescher Leave. I am also grateful to the United University
Professionals of New York and their stewardship of this program. I am also
indebted to Dr. Thomas Moran and the fellows at the Institute for Ethics in
Public Life. The lively and thoughtful discussions while I was in residence
offered me a wider, interdisciplinary context to formulate the ideas in this
study. I would also like to thank the staff of the office of the Dean of Arts and
Sciences at SUNY Plattsburgh for their support.
Finally, I owe the greatest and most humble thanks to my friends and fam-
ily for their support, especially during the years spent on this book. I am grate-
ful as well to them for helping me weather all the ups and downs during the
last few years. I have been absolutely dependent on my “council”—both old and
new members alike—who listen to my stories and, thankfully, share their own.
Their humor and concern got me through some tempestuous times. I also must
include my thanks for my continued friendship with Tom Guzzio and his sup-
port over the years. He read versions of this work countless times, always with
great care and encouragement.
Thank you to my mother, Lynn, for her unconditional love, for making me
a lifelong reader, and for her help in keeping my household going when I need
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
to write. And thanks to Gary Kroll, who provided expert and much-needed
advice, especially during the final weeks of the project. He should be especially
commended for how well he balances the roles of colleague, best friend, and
partner in our lives. It’s not easy to wear so many hats at once, but he is the only
man I know who could have handled it as effectively and as gracefully as he has.
And, finally, thanks to my daughter and little storyteller, Mirren, for sharing
me with this project, which stole me away from her childhood pleasures more
times than I would have ever wanted. The long nights at the laptop were less
lonely and less stressful with her cuddled up against me asleep, dreaming of her
stories.