Ethnic Modernisms: Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the Aesthetics of Dislocation PDF
Preview Ethnic Modernisms: Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the Aesthetics of Dislocation
Ethnic Modernisms (cid:2) This page intentionally left blank Ethnic Modernisms (cid:2) Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the Aesthetics of Dislocation Delia Caparoso Konzett ETHNICMODERNISMS Copyright © Delia Caparoso Konzett, 2002. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-312-29345-1 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVEMACMILLANis the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-38746-5 ISBN 978-0-230-10753-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230107533 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Konzett, Delia Caparoso. Ethnic modernisms : Anzia Yezierska, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Rhys, and the aesthetics of dislocation / by Delia Caparoso Konzett. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-38746-5 1. American literature—Women authors—History and criticism. 2. Emigration and immigration in literature. 3. Women and literature— United States—History—20th century. 4. Yezierska, Anzia, 1880?–1970—Criticism and interpretation. 5. American literature—20th century—History and criticism. 6. Hurston, Zora Neale—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Rhys, Jean—Criticism and interpretation. 8. African Americans in literature. 9. Ethnic groups in literature. 10. Expatriation in literature. 11. Immigrants in literature. 12. Modernism (Literature) 13. Jews in literature. I. Title. PS228.E55 K66 2002 810.9’920691—dc21 2002069379 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Letra Libre, Inc. First edition: November 2002 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Dedications For Matthias & For My Parents, Antonio and Magdalina This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Permissions xi Abbreviations xiii Introduction Ethnic Modernisms and Their Avant-Gardes 1 Chapter I Anzia Yezierska and the Experience of the Assimilated Jew 19 Introduction The New Immigration as Ethnic Catalyst The Experience of Immigrant English in Hungry Hearts The Conscious Pariah: Toward a Transnational Aesthetics From Hollywood to Hester Street: The Image of the Assimilated Jew in Hungry Heartsthe Film Chapter II Black Folk Culture and the Aesthetics of Dislocation in Zora Neale Hurston 69 Introduction Race, Nation and Art: The Harlem Renaissance The Folk in Harlem: Zora Neale Hurston’s Urban Folklore The Transnational Perspective: The Experience of the African Diaspora in Tell My Horseand Moses, Man of the Mountain “Getting in Touch with the True South”: Pet Negroes, White Crackers and Racial Staging in Seraph on the Suwanee Chapter III White Mythologies: Jean Rhys’s Aesthetics of Posthumanism 127 Introduction Wide Sargasso Sea:White Masks and Their Creolization An Expatriate among Expatriates: The Banality of Exile Good Morning, Midnight:Commodity, Distraction, and the Displaced Masses Concluding Remarks on the Marketability of Ethnicity 167 Notes 169 Works Cited 187 Index 197 Acknowledgments This study has benefited greatly from the help and commentary of Miriam Hansen, Katie Trumpener, Angel Medina, Mary Lou Emery, Donald Marshall, Charles Musser, and Matthias Konzett as well as the excellent anonymous readers supplied by Palgrave. I would also like to thank the editors of American Literature,Journal of Film and Video,and Jour- nal of Caribbean Literature, in which early versions of chapters have ap- peared. At Palgrave, my appreciation goes to Kristi Long for her very generous help and support, as well as Roee Raz and Meg Weaver for their as- sistance in preparing this manuscript. This study was also made possible through a dissertation grant from the Mellon Foundation. And for their sup- port and love, I am especially grateful to my family.
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