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Thiefing Sugar: Eroticism Between Women in Caribbean Literature PDF

281 Pages·2010·23.765 MB·English
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Preview Thiefing Sugar: Eroticism Between Women in Caribbean Literature

'fhieft113 Su3ar * Omise'ekeNatashaTinsley uw EROTICISM BETWEEN \VO!v1EN IN ~RIBBI:AN llfERATU RE / Eroticism between Women in Caribbean Literature Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley Duke University Press Durham and London 2010 I\ © 2010 Duke University Press All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper@) Typeset in Tnnitc by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging 111 Publ,canon Data appear on the last printed page of this book. For my very beloved great-grandmother, Artis Phillips Stapler, who left Good Water, Alabama, so that she would never have to be a farmer's wife but took her landscape knowledge to Birmingham, where she went into the forests to find healing roots when her family needed them And with honor and respect for Dr. Barbara Christian VeVe Dr. A. Clark, without whom it would not have been possible Contents Acknowledgments tx Introduction: The Spring of Her Look 1 "Ro se 1s my mama, stanfaste ts my papa": 1. Hybnd Landscapes and Sexualities m Sunnamese Women's Oral Poetry 29 Darkenmg the Lily: 2 The Eroncs of Self-Making m El10t Bliss's Luminous Isle 68 3 Blue Countries, Dark Beauty: Opaque Desires in the Poetry oflda Faubert 102 4. At the River of Washerwomen: Work, Water, and Sexual Fluidity in Mayotte Capena's I Am a Marnnican Woman 136 5. Transformmg Sugar, Transitioning Revolution: Male Womanhood and Lesbian Eroticism in Michelle Cliff's No Telephone to Heaven 169 6. Breaking Hard against Things: Crossing between Sexual and Revolutionary Politics in Dionne Brand's No Lan3ua3e Is Neutral 201 Notes 233 Bibliography 257 Index 269 Acknowled3ments As I have v1s1tcd and rcv1s1tcd the ovcrflowrng, crone geographies of these texts over the past seven years wak111.g and drcanung, in body and in imagination, tracmg them m lovrng amazement my gramudc to the women whose com plex brilliant work l have had the honor to live with has deepened continually. My Grst acknowledgments therefore, go to them, for thci r generosity in giving words and silences to their clcmcs Gloria Wckker, whose work on the mati I stumbled on a bookstore m Amsterdam and which 1mmed1accly changed Ill my mtcllcctual life. has been unnaggmgly open and generous in answering my quemons over these years. Het support of my work, her transcription of lobl5ln31 beaunfully, even singmg chem for me and, most IInporcant, the work she has done to change the fields of Canbbcan and queer studies, have been mvaluable to me Jean Faubert has greeted my work on his grandmother Ida with such lummous kindness and enthusiasm that I certainly cannot thank him enough here. His ongomg willingness to share photos, informatton, and encouragement has been an incredible, golden gift. Michelle Cliff and Dionne Brand remam generous about answering my inquiries, a much appreciated act for such busy wncers I thank you all abundantly. And as I have worked co become a [better] writer about these writers, I have been graced with incredible mentors who helped make my impossible aspira nons pomble. First and foremost, Karl Brirco, my dissertation director at the Umvermy of California. Berkeley, has been a more wonderful advisor than I ever could have imagined. From near and from far, he has read my chapters, prospecti, worries, hopes, and joys for the last eleven years and has always come back co me with calm, measure, and encouragement. Thank you, Karl; this book exists because you nurtured it. Also at Berkeley, Chana Kronfeld's msighcful, beautiful readings of my work and her purple-penned comments have continued co be an inspiration, and I thank her for introducing me co the possibilities of poetics. Johan Snapper, Estelle Tanca, and Francine Masiello Ii· I' ,(' (• (c l\ (' • l~\ }'1 ,1' ,, r'·'· l'1 . (o<· 1V' c<1J I it10~J .,111 , 11, k11Pll'lr1~p11c111, \o 0~,I C O' ~-p.i c',f l' 1,n,1• (i. rro ,c, 0vJ I" 11 I ll(icrcd their continued support of my project and of my unconventional choice 1l r1 f,l~c si· ~11' of Dutch over Spanish as my official third language in comparative literature. ~(o'' l JC,·r ec 1 r ,r11v The brilliant Ve.Ve Clark, who directed my undergraduate thesis, saved my ,lr , af jl I I 1v' rll5 l b' i 1' undergraduate intellectual life and continued to direct me through her own ffl' Jct \ e$P ,siJ pro 1..t 11.1 rilelcnoegsns iizne g hreard uina teev escryho wolo:r edv eI rwytrhitien.g A In adm B aasr baa rsac hCohlarris, tIi aanm, fboerc athuese loigfh hte trh-atI 0,o ' f\1b1C;1~1' c o (t nJh'iv.' w1Jh'l'Jle( )t,1 ,11 111,C I· she was and is, I thank her, unendingly. ci/YJ el of ,,t,,..,11 Support for the research in this book has come from the Department of prcc '" f11o Comparative Literature and Dutch Studies at the University of California, ri1Y cha P lJ1esS, P ' r,i1u caref\J so f gr' Berkeley; from the Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Caribbean Litera ~ose . cea' L. wor"1, · ~• ture at the University of Chicago, which made more difference to this project w w1r11 than l can express here; and from the Department of English and the College oLlsl( co ri1Y rk v,r (lO!l wO of Liberal Arcs at the Univcrmy of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Special thanks to ,r,e[l editor t 0 viol dible ess " Joshua Scodcl. Mich:icl H:inchcr, and Paula Rabinowitz, my department chairs ere . proc ;i1 ade chtS ty1ossest, , at the University of Chicago and the Un vcrs1t y of Minnesota, for their help in I 01 dp ale I 11 secunng these funds for my work. press an copiottSt 1c1 Many colleagues have generously read versions of this manuscript and/or its deserve [lly. sa bollt pr uesnon parts. pushing me co expand and contract, to move coward the lyrical and the 01anYq !And n1y g experimental At che Un1vers1ty of Chicago, Jacqueline Goldsby, Joshua Scodel, he way I along ries, Lisa t . . and Robert von Hallberg showed their engaged support by reading early ver Modern1nes se . insp1rati0n srons of my work and suggesting turns coward the unexpected; thank you for ha.s beena n . caking the time. At the University of Minnesota, Ellen Messer-Davidow and dfucureo f scholarshq an . , Maria Damon generously showed their support for this junior colleague by Myf amily's patience reading and commencing on the manuscript as I prepared co send it off to pub with mycomputcr-bou n lishers; their thoughtfulness in doing so has helped make chis publication pos sible. And the members of my writing group, Siobhan Craig, Shaden Tageldin, hear me calk about I ts r( and Christophe Wall-Romana, acted as sensitive and insightful readers dur process.T hank you to m) ing the fifteen months of my final revisions; the brightness of their eyes and read drafts of what th to thoughts, and their accencion co detail and inspiration, have been wonderful alwaysa sks, and my ste-p to me. From far across the country and far beyond the call of duty, Rosamund Nicole,Adam, and Rabb. King, on the ocher side of the Great Lakes, and Matt Richardson, at the other end of the Mississippi, generously read chapter drafts in spare time chat they mg Little Mermaid to 1111 did not have but made. As scholars who are opening groundbreaking work in grandfather John h I , t at bl~c_k queer s_cudie~, their careful readings have been inspiring, and their great grandrnother H lh CttJ - ,,,. spmAc sepd~nne.as sl dm~ btta okmf ~ge athrte atpimpree chiaast iobene gno iens voaulut atbol eth. oTshea cnokl lyeoaug u' ehsu a mn bdl yfr. iends tht.as v we·g rhou' '"II' Ut') Tu\.u.1; cJe' - our the lt who believed m the importance of this queer sea of Black Atlantic islands I went godrnoch rn by l1l . er,~ l-0 di\'e ~to • fur 1 ·~'!".l ' •iq ~-··11•.' 1ln Ack1wwledc9111cnrs xr looking for, reflected that 1111porta11ce back, ,111d encouraged me to go where the rexes led Thoma~ Glave, for generosrty with Jdv1ce, support, ,rnd the beaucyof his prose. E Patnck Johnson, for c11cou I ag, ng me to take chances; Cathy Cohen, for reaching our .rnd suppomng me, ,111d Rode, rck Ferguson, for encourage ment ,crategy, and the great gift of-1ude1111c he:i.lth to :i.11 of you, my sincere, expansive gracm1de And .111 endb\ w,rnn thank you to my series editor jack Halberqam H" herce rntel lectu.1I su ppo, t, Im gentle yet firm push for me to make elm prn1ect better tlun I 1111Jg111ed :i.nd the concrnual, crystal sharp clantv of Im ms,ght hJve been unexpected wonderful grfrs, Jnd he rema111s my model of what rt means to mentor J JUl1ror scholar w1tl1 all generosrcy. Much Jpprec1aC1on also goes to the ,111onyrnous readers of this manuscript, whose carefulness prec1s1on and beJuttful prose left me yes, quite sen ously with tears of gratitude fo, taking so much C1me w,ch and paying such accennon co my work Ken Wissoker at Duke Unrvermy Press has been an 111 credible editor to work with and his support, generomy, and good humor have made this process a wonderful expmence Mandy Early at Duke Untvermy Press and Dale Mossestad at the Un1vermy of Minnesota Libranes more than deserve my copwus thanks for their panence and attentiveness w1th my many, many questions about prepanng chis manusmpt. thank you for help every seep along che way! And my gramude co the editors of the groundbreaking Perverse Modemmes senes, Lisa Lowe and Judith Halberstam. Their work rn chis senes has been an msp1ranon to me and an enormous contribution co the present and future of scholarship, and [ am so very, very honored to be included rn tt. Mv family's panence with and support for my rncense, ongorng relmonship with my computer-bound manuscnpt. and their hope that they would one day hear me talk about its results on Oprah, have bolstered me through chis long process. Thank you co my mother, Helen, and my father, Jim, who have wanted co read drafts of what thrn daughter has done, co my stepfather Sheldon, who always asks, and my stepmother Rowena; co my SlSters and brothers, Christina, Nicole, Adam, and Rabbit; my niece Sophia, who let me rake breaks from play mg Lmle Mermaid to write, my nephew Elijah, and my niece Katie. And co my grandfather John, that he may see this with pride on the ocher side, ,rnd my grandmother Herta- yes, as I promised .is a Ii ttle g, rl, I have become .1 wnrer as [ have grown up Dulce and Ariel, my loves, know that I never could have done this without them by my side, warmly and uncond1t1onally Thank you to my godmother, Iman,, for seerng so much creacrvrty w:i.rnng the depths for me 111 to dive inco. And- wich am:i.zernent to my d:i.ughtcr B.1fa Arnihan, growing x11 Acknowlcd..cpncnr~ beautifully patiently r.1111bowly 111side me as I finished the la ed1 ts st of the Copy, And last but neve1 never least Kale Banngue FaJJrdo has seen the wnr1ng of chi~ hom the longnc, brightest days o(. surniner to Ilhle thro llgh bluest night~ o( w11Her .1nd h.1s w1. cl1 .1 generous Leo heart be) t c Ion,g cst, ~ , ievcd throughout them .111 T0 you, KJlc rnlcw1,u for being my shiprn:icc l tn nc 1 betng mvcompan1on 111 schol:u~h1p and so much more, and For bei,n a Whay s · fto r s:ido1 I knov., who ~till recognizes mermaids. Y gt con/

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.