moving against clothespins:the poli(poe)tics of embodiment in the poetry of miriam alves and audre

269 Pages·2017·2.14 MB·English

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Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses
July 2017
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Flávia Santos de Araújo
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Santos de Araújo, Flávia, "MOVING AGAINST CLOTHESPINS:THE POLI(POE)TICS OF EMBODIMENT IN
THE POETRY OF MIRIAM ALVES AND AUDRE LORDE" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations. 924.
https://doi.org/10.7275/9921533.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/924
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MOVING AGAINST CLOTHESPINS:THE POLI(POE)TICS OF EMBODIMENT
IN THE POETRY OF MIRIAM ALVES AND AUDRE LORDE

A Dissertation Presented

by

FLÁVIA SANTOS DE ARAÚJO

Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

May 2017

W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
© Copyright by Flávia Santos de Araújo 2017
All Rights Reserved
MOVING AGAINST CLOTHESPINS: THE POLI(POE)TICS OF EMBODIMENT
IN THE POETRY OF MIRIAM ALVES AND AUDRE LORDE

A Dissertation Presented

by

FLÁVIA SANTOS DE ARAÚJO

Approved as to style and content by:

_______________________________________
James E. Smethurst, Chair

_______________________________________
Karen Y. Morrison, Member

_______________________________________
Steven C. Tracy, Member

_______________________________________
Sonia E. Alvarez, Outside Member

_______________________________________
Antonio D. Tillis, Member

_____________________________________________
John H. Bracey, Chair
W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
DEDICATION

To Miguel and Henrique, my most precious gifts -
no horizonte, vejo vocês.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

This research has been a journey – a literal and a symbolic one. Since my departure from
João Pessoa (Brazil) on July 26, 2008 bound for the U.S., there have been times I felt alone, but I
am grateful for knowing I have never been alone. The following is a brief acknowledgment of
those who offered support to my work and my dreams. Without their support, I would have never
been able to accomplish my academic goals and the completion of this work.
As a recipient of the Fulbright/CAPES Doctorate Fellowship from 2008 to 2012, I am
thankful for having received the financial and logistic sponsorship for the first years of my doctoral
program. As a partnership between the U.S. and Brazilian Federal agencies, the fellowship was
co-sponsored by CAPES, a foundation of Brazil’s Ministry of Education, and the Institute of
International Education/Fulbright in the U.S. The hands of dear friends and mentors guided me
and supported my application to this highly-competitive fellowship. Muito obrigada to Dr. Liane
Schneider, Dr. Simone Schmidt, and Dr. Lúcia V. Sander, in particular.
At UMass, I was fortunate to serve as research assistant for the Center for Latin American,
Caribbean, and Latino Studies (CLACLS) and its Afro-Latino Diasporas Research Working Group
from 2008 and 2010. During that period, I was able to connect with and learn from an amazing
team of scholars and experts in the field, particularly Dr. Sonia Alvarez, Dr. Agustín Lao-Montes,
and Dr. Aurora Vergara Figueroa. Being surrounded by their enthusiasm, academic sophistication,
and working-festive gatherings – nourished by intellectual creativity, salsa, merengue, and a bit of
samba – helped me face the difficult first years of my doctoral program and cultural adjustment.

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In 2012, I gratefully received the Summer Pre-Dissertation Research Award by CLACLS, a grant
that helped support the archival research at the Audre Lorde Collection, housed by the Women’s
Research and Resource Center at Spelman College – an important step towards the
accomplishment of this research.
The teaching assistantship at the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
offered me with an opportunity to bring into the classroom some of the discussions I explore in
this work. I am grateful for the invaluable input provided by my students in the Introduction to
Black Studies course. Their critical perspectives over the intellectual and artistic production by
black women in the U.S. and beyond helped me build my research framework.
For the past three years I have worked as the Graduate Program Assistant for the Women
of Color Leadership Network (WOCLN) at the Center for Women & Community at UMass.
WOCLN has been an enriching working space where I could learn and develop my skills as
mentor, advisor, educator, and organizer. I am grateful for having worked with talented and
empowered women of color in the WOCLN staff team. In particular, I am indebted to my power-
house-friend-visionary-mentor-supervisor Hind Mari, WOCLN Director.
During my journey, I was fortunate to meet and be inspired by amazing women scholars.
Some of them shared with me the agony, challenges, and victories of the graduate school odyssey.
Supported by their brilliance, encouragement and resilience, I was able to regain perspective, a
sense of belonging, and moments of laughter when all seemed impossible. At different stages, they
became my accountability partners, writing buddies, and sounding boards. Special thanks to my
peers at the support group for Women in Academia: Surviving the Dissertation at the Center for
Women & Community, a.k.a. “Warrior Club”: Johanna Ortner, Crystal Donkor, Jamele Watkins,
Annette Hunt, Allison Page, Ogechi Nwaokelemeh, and Elizabeth Cartier. Also, Leta Hooper and

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Neelofer Qadir whose paths crossed mine and for that I feel blessed. For her insight and warmth,
I am deeply grateful to the counsel offered by Dr. Mamta Dadlani, who guided many of us into
our academic warriorship.
I would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions from the members of my
dissertation committee. My advisor, Dr. James Smethurst, for being respectful of my voice and
pace, and for his understanding when life was just hard. Dr. Karen Y. Morrison, my dear “Kym”,
for fruitful intellectual provocations and shared moments of intellectual passion. Dr. Steven Tracy,
for the inspiring curiosity about my work and prompt feedback. Dr. Sonia Alvarez, for showing
me new routes in the initial phase of my research. Dr. Antonio Tillis, for helping me navigate –
and expand - the boundaries of language and style in my writing.
As I travel the Atlantic in all directions, I see the faces of many who offered me a hand, an
ear, hugs, a dance, cafuné, a home-made meal, a word of wisdom or encouragement – their care,
expressed in so many different ways. I am forever grateful to my cheerleading front and dear
friends of the Pioneer Valley: Rachel Rudman, Bobby Dolan, John Barrett, and meu amor Andrew
Lawrence. And how I could forget the generosity of my UMass colleague Michael Mongeau,
doctoral student at the Sociology Department, for taking the time to help me scan a huge amount
of research materials? You are the best, Michael!
As I wrap up the final pages of this dissertation, I become aware that it all started a long
time ago deeply in my heart. I owe my mom, Maria do Socorro, my love for literature, my hunger
for justice, and my thirst for learning. Her strength and dignity, despite all the storms our family
has gone through, has sustained me all the way from the South to the North Atlantic.
Years ago, as I was preparing to embark on this journey overseas, my children, Miguel and
Henrique – now two young men – said to me: “Mãe, vai e escreve uma estória bem bonita!”

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[“Mom, go ahead and write a beautiful story!”]. Since then, the three of us have been moving
across five thousand kilometers of saudade – The Netherlands (where they now live), the U.S.,
and Brazil. I am certain that it has been by far the most difficult dance we have had to learn
together. I am endlessly grateful for my sons’ trust in me, even before I started my doctoral
program. I write this “story” filled with appreciation for their courage, resilience and
independence; for their ever-present love, despite the transatlantic distance. I hope I have fulfilled
their wish.

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ABSTRACT

MOVING AGAINST CLOTHESPINS: THE POLI(POE)TICS OF EMBODIMENT
IN THE POETRY OF MIRIAM ALVES AND AUDRE LORDE

MAY 2017

FLÁVIA SANTOS DE ARAÚJO

B.A. UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DA PARAÍBA (BRAZIL)

M.A. UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DA PARAÍBA
AND UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Ph.D, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

Directed by: Dr. James E. Smethurst

This dissertation examines literary representations of the black female body in selected poetry by
U.S. African American writer Audre Lorde and Afro-Brazilian writer Miriam Alves, focusing on
how their literary projects construct and defy notions of black womanhood and black female
sexualities in dialogue with national narratives and contexts. Within an historical, intersectional
and transnational theoretical framework, this study analyses how the racial, gender and sexual
politics of representation are articulated and negotiated within and outside the political and literary
movements in the U.S. and Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s. As a theoretical framework, this research
elaborates and uses the concept of “poli(poe)tics of embodiment”: a multi-layered artistic endeavor
interwoven with the body politics Afro-diasporic women artists articulate and negotiate vis-à-vis
the cultural, historical, and political communities in which they exist. A significant contribution of
this study to the field of Afro-diasporic literary studies is, therefore, to historicize black women’s
writings, examining their politics/poetics as interlaced threads of their literary production, as well
as the writers’ trajectories as artists, intellectuals, and activists. In addition, this research aims at
unraveling the socio-historical implications of Lorde’s and Alves’ literary representations in re-

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