The White Negress: Literature, Minstrelsy, and the Black-Jewish Imaginary

240 Pages·2011·1.654 MB·English

by  Lori Harrison-Kahan

The White Negress

The White Negress
Literature, Minstrelsy, and the
Black-Jewish Imaginary
lori harrison-kahan
Rutgers University Press
new brunswick, new jersey, and london
Copyright © 2011 by Lori Harrison-Kahan. All rights reserved
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Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Harrison-Kahan, Lori.
The white negress : literature, minstrelsy, and the black-Jewish imaginary / Lori
Harrison-Kahan.
p. cm. — (American Literatures Initiative)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8135-4782-4 (alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8135-4783-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. American literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Passing
(Identity) in literature. 3. Women and literature—United States—History—20th
century. 4. Ethnicity in literature. 5. African American women authors.
6. Jewish women authors—United States. 7. Americanization. 8. Immigrants in
literature. I. Title.
PS228.P35H37 2010
810.9'3529—dc22
2010008515
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the
British Library.
A book in the American Literatures Initiative (ALI), a collaborative
publishing project of NYU Press, Fordham University Press, Rutgers
University Press, Temple University Press, and the University of Virginia
Press. The Initiative is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
For more information, please visit www.americanliteratures.org.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 From White Negress to Yiddishe Mama: Sophie Tucker
and the Female Blackface Tradition 16
2 The Same Show Boat? Edna Ferber’s Interracial Ideal 58
3 Limitations of White: Fannie Hurst and the Consumption
of Blackness 96
4 Moses and Minstrelsy: Zora Neale Hurston and the
Black-Jewish Imaginary 143
Conclusion 177
Notes 185
Index 221

Acknowledgments
Over the course of writing this book, I have made my academic home at
various institutions. I would like to thank colleagues and students in the
History and Literature Program at Harvard University, the Department
of American Studies at Brandeis University, the English Department at
Connecticut College, the English Department at Boston College, and at
the University of Pennsylvania for the intellectual exchange that helped
to shape the content contained herein. In the early stages of my academic
career, my professors at Princeton and Columbia—in particular, Michael
Wood, Ann Douglas, David Eng, and Ann Pellegrini—provided inspira-
tion and models of scholarship that have continued to fuel my writing
and thinking.
Other individuals deserve special mention for the impact they have
had on my research along the way: Darren Gobert, Lydia Fisher, Cara
Delay, Jessica Lang, Laura Saltz, Jennifer Sartori, Katie Kendall, Ra-
chel Prentice, Chloe Silverman, and, for her longtime friendship and
nonacademic perspective, Emily Burg. At Connecticut College, Lauren
Moran and Monica Raymunt assisted with research. David Greven
gave me a push when I most needed it. Ann Pellegrini and Laura Lev-
itt helped me move further toward publication. In the final stages of
this project, I was fortunate to benefit from the insights of Josh Lam-
bert, who has been a wonderful collaborator. I would especially like
to thank the members of my writing group, Kimberly Chabot Davis
and Shilpa Davé, who read every word of the book (some several times
viii / acknowledgments
over) and whose feedback and collegiality have been invaluable to my
scholarship.
I owe thanks to Leslie Mitchner, Katie Keeran, and Marilyn Camp-
bell at Rutgers University Press; to Rachel Friedman, who acquired the
manuscript; and to Tim Roberts at the American Literatures Initiative.
Once anonymous readers, Joyce Antler and Martha Cutter provided sage
and challenging comments that led to drastic improvements; I am glad
to have the opportunity to thank them by name.
I want to express my appreciation of the American Literatures Initia-
tive and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their commitment to
bringing the work of young scholars into print. A Dorot Foundation
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Jewish Studies from the Harry
Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, and a NEMLA Summer
Fellowship helped me to conduct archival research.
Finally, I am grateful for the love of my family, who readily admit that
they have no idea what I do for work, but who support me uncondition-
ally just the same. Barbara and Robert Harrison nurtured my thirst for
knowledge from an early age. Jodi and Neil Harrison have always been
there to share in the successes. Eileen Kahan provided babysitting, and
nourishment, that allowed me to bring this book to completion. My hus-
band, David, and sons, Cuyler and Amory, are daily reminders of the
need to balance work and play. This book is for them.
The White Negress