Narratives of recovery : trauma history and the use of the supernatural in comtemporany African American cultural productions /

236 Pages·2003·9 MB·English

by  Ouimet, Lorraine

NARRATIVESOFRECOVERY:TRAUMA,HISTORY,ANDTHEUSEOFTHE
SUPERNATURALINCONTEMPORARYAFRICANAMERICANCULTURAL
PRODUCTIONS
By
LORRAINEOUIMET
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2003
Copyright2003
, by
LorraineOuimet
ThisdocumentisdedicatedtothegraduatestudentsoftheEnglishDepartmentof
UniversityofFlorida.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thisprojectwouldneverhavecometocompletionwithouttheeffortsofagroupof
dedicateddreamers,allofwhombelievedthatIcouldpullthisoff. Alan,thebiggest
1 dreamerofall,dreamtofbeingmarriedtoadoctor.Hisdreamhascometrue. His
unwaveringlove,throughlongseparations,fedmysoul. Gratefullyandwithsomuch
love,Iacknowledgemymother'sdeterminationtoseeingmethroughthisacademic
process.Herconstantpraises,countlessridestothetrainstationandtotheairport,her
soothingwordsofwisdomwhenlonelinessthreatenedtoovertakemeand,mostofall,
hercommittededitorialhelpsustainedmethroughthe10yearsofundergradand
graduatework.Thisdissertationishersandmine.Mysister-whoalwaystoldmethatI
wassmartandthatIcouldwritebeautiflilly-andmyfather-whoseloveforintellectual
endeavorinspiredmine-mustknowthattheirloveandsupportwereinvaluable.Ariel,my
starryroommate,couldnothelpbuttoshinesomeofherbeautifiillightonthisproject.
Hergenuinekindness,soveryrarelyencountered,andherseeminglyendlesshidden
supplyofMilkDuds,carriedmethroughroughandhappytimesalike.ImustthankBrian
Meredith,myfirstsupportsystem,myfirstpillarofstrength.Sarah,Meg,Laura,Nicole,
Martha,Emily,Nishant,Julie,Todd,Andrew,BrianD.-noonewaseversoluckyasto
;
havethesupportofsuchpreciousfriends.HamnandBradley(Nerds!)inspiredmeevery
i
i day;Iknowthey'lldogreatthings.Kathy,Loretta,Jerry,andCarla-theirhugsand
manylittleattentionsmademylifeawayfromhomesomucheasiertobear.Dr.Leavy's
andDr.Dobrin'sguidancemadelifeasagraduatestudentrich,productive,evennoble.
iv
I
I
Dr.MaudeHines',Dr.MarkReid',andDr.MikkellPinkney'sbrilliantandexcitinginput
injectedtheprojectwithnewlifeoverandoveragain.ThepeopleattheUniversityof
Florida'sInternationalStudents'Officedeserveallthepraiseintheworld.Theymanage
tomakeeveryinternationalstudentwhowalksthroughtheirdoorfeellikewebelong,
despitetheculturalandgeographicaldislocationthatoftenparalyzesus. Thecompetence
anddevotionwithwhichtheysolveeverylastproblem-fromthequagmireof
immigrationregulationstothebitingpainofloneliness-simplywarmtheheart. Finally,
DavidLeverenz,whobelievedinmyideas,whoalwaysnudgedmealittlefurther,who
mademerewriteandrewriteandrewrite,istheintellectualbeaconthatguidedmesafely
throughobstacles,andtotheportofcallofacademia.
V
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv
ABSTRACT viii
CHAPTER
1 RECOVERING(FROM)THEPAST 1
Introduction ^
Methodolog(ies) ^4
2 THEMASTER'STOOLS:AFRICANAMERICANWRITINGAND
AMERICANLITERARYREALISM 27
Realism(s)inBlackandWhite 28
TheFailureofRealism 50
FantasticRealities-RealFantasies 55
3 TRAVELING(THROUGH)TRAUMA:KINDREDANDSANKOFA 60
Kindred "70
Sankofa ^1
4 DTERAAUTMHAOTFITCHREELPAESTTITBILOANCSKIMNANNAIYNLOTRH'ESWMHAOMLAEEDNATYI,RPEARWKORSL'DT,HEAND
LEMMONS'EVE'SBAYOU. 99
MamaDay
TheDeathoftheLastBlackManintheWholeEntireWorld 120
Eve'sBayou 127
5 DANGEROUSINTIMACIES:SEXUALITY,SPIRITSANDTRAUMAIN
VOODOODREAMS,MIDDLEPASSAGE,ANDOXHERDINGTALE 144
VoodooDreams 150
OxherdingTaleandMiddlePassage 169
6 CONCLUSION 189
vi
LISTOFREFERENCES 215
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 226
vii
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
NARRATIVESOFRECOVERY:TRAUMA,fflSTORY,ANDTHEUSEOFTHE
SUPERNATURALINCONTEMPORARYAFRICANAMERICANCULTURAL
PRODUCTIONS
By
LorraineOuimet
May2003
Chair:DavidLeverenz
Major:Department:English
Thepastthirtyyearshavebroughtforthavibrantrenaissanceofvisualand
literaryartdealingwiththehorrorsofslavery.Clearly,contemporaryAfricanAmerican
artistsareparticipatingina(re)writing/rightingofhistory.Iproposethatmorethan
attemptingtorecoverthepast,manyofthesecontemporarynarrativesofslaveryalsoaim
atarecoveryfromthepast.Psychoanalyticalliteraturedealingwithtrauma,whenread
alongsidetheAfricanAmericannovels,films,plays,andartexhibitionunderstudyin
thisproject,bringsoutfeaturesthatrevealthepresenceofcyclesoftraumaandrecovery.
Beyondsharingsimilaritieswithpsychoanalytictexts,theseNarrativesof
Recoveryshareacertaindevice:Allmakeuseofthesupernatural.Theseauthors/artists
usethefantastictocollapseSboundariesbetweenthepastandthepresent,endowingthe
past withanimmediacythatrendersitmoreaccessible,transformable,andultimately,
recoverable.Thisblurringoftemporalboundariesresultsinaconstant"replay"ofthe
viii
pastintothepresent,whichresemblestheflashbacksexperiencedbyvictimsoftrauma,a
mechanismtriggerednaturallybythebodyinordertopreventtherepressionoftraumatic
eventsandtoallowforaprocessofhealingtotakeplace.Throughapsychoanalytical
framework,thisprojectinteractswithliterary,dramatic,andcinematographictextsfor
thepurposeofilluminatingAfricanAmericans'andAmericans'relationship(s)tothe
legacyofslavery.Ultimately,itaspirestoenrichthemeaningofNarrativesofRecovery
byjuxtaposingtheirreadingagainstacompatible,perhapsevencatalytic,analyticaltool
thatmakessalienttheinjuriesscarringtheAmericanpastandpresent.
Thisdissertationconsidersthesupernaturalasanarrativedevicethatmakesvisible
thepresenceoftraumaintheworksofsuchartistsasTerriAdkins,OctaviaButler,Haile
Gerima,CharlesJohnson,KasiLemmons,Suzan-LoriParks,GloriaNaylor,andJewell
ParkerRhodes. Itconsiderstheparticularcultural,historical,andsocialsettingfrom
whichtheseNarrativesarise.Atthecoreoftheprojectstandsthepremisethatdistinctive
linksexistbetweenthethemesanddevicesfoundinrecentAfricanAmericancultural
productionsandspecificaspectsofpsychoanalyticaltheory,particularlysymptomsof
traumaandrecoveryprocesses.
ix
CHAPTER
1
RECOVERING(FROM)THEPAST
Introduction
RecentAfricanAmericanculturalproductionsandscholarshipofAfrican
Americanstudiespaymuchattentiontotheprojectof"rewritinghistory."Whilethe
impulsetorewritethepastdrawsfromvarioussources,manycriticsfocusontheartists'
revisionistconcernwithwriting/rightinghistory,andwithrecoveringapastlostinthe
watersoftheMiddlePassageandinthehorrorsofslaveryandracism.Iaminterestedin
the"why"behindthisrewritingofhistory. Iproposethatmorethanattemptingto
recoverthepast,manyofthesenarrativesalsoaimatarecoveryfromthepast.
Psychoanalyticalliteraturedealingwithtrauma,whenreadalongsidesuchtextsasGloria
NaylofsMamaDay,OctaviaButler'sKindred,HaileGerima's Sankofa,Charies
Johnson'sMiddlePassage and OxherdingTale,KasiLemmons'sEve'sBayou,Toni
Morrison'sBeloved,JewellParkerRhodes'sVoodooDreams,andSusanLoriParks's
TheDeathoftheLastBlackManintheWholeEntireWorld, bringsoutfeaturesthat
signalthepresenceofcyclesoftraumaandrecovery.
Beyondsharingsimilaritieswithpsychoanalytictexts,thesenarratives-Ireferto
themasNarrativesofRecovery-shareacertaindevice:allmakeuseofthesupernatural.
Thiselementconstitutesashiftingenrefortheblacknarrativetraditions.MostAfrican
Americanartistshaveconsistentlydemonstratedacommitmenttocreatingartthatevokes
factuality,startingwiththeslavenarrativesofthe18""and19*century.Sincethe1980s,
1