Trances, Dances and Vociferations: Agency and Resistance in Africana Women's Narratives (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Vol. 2222.)

184 Pages·2000·0.72 MB·English

by  Nada Elia

T D
RANCES, ANCES,
V
AND OCIFERATIONS

T D
RANCES, ANCES,
V
AND OCIFERATIONS
A R
GENCY AND ESISTANCE IN
A W
FRICANA OMEN’S
N
ARRATIVES
N E
ADA LIA
G P I
ARLAND UBLISHING, NC.
N Y & L
EW ORK ONDON
2001
Published in 2001 by
Garland Publishing, Inc.
29 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.

Published in Great Britain by
Garland Publishing
11 New Fetter Lane
London E4CP 4EE
Garland is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

Copyright © 2001 by Nada Elia
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
from the Library of Congress.
Elia, Nada
Trances, dances, and vociferations: agency and resistance in Africana
women’s
narratives/Nada Elia
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-203-90684-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-90762-0 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-8153-3842-2 (Print Edition)
ISBN 0-8153-3843-0 (pbk)
This book is for my son Iyad who, at age five, corrected me, explaining:
“Without stories from your mind makes your brain rot, not [from] books.”
For you, Iyad, I’ll keep on interrupting my writing.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
CHAPTER 1 Pre-Text: In the Beginning All Was Sound 1
CHAPTER 2 “The Fourth Language”: Subaltern Expression in Assia 11
Djebar’s Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade and A Sister
to Scheherazade
CHAPTER 3 “The Memories of Old Women”: Alternative History 43
in Michelle Cliff’s No Telephone to Heaven and
Free Enterprise
CHAPTER 4 “I’m Breaking My Vow of Silence”: Reclaiming 81
Speech in Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow
and Daughters
CHAPTER 5 “Under the Weight of Memory and Music”: Contact 113
Zones and Healing in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon
and Paradise
CHAPTER 6 Conclusion: “With Nomad Memory and Intermittent 149
Voice”: The Africana Women’s Aesthetic Tradition
Bibliography 157
Index 165
vii

Acknowledgments
Lisa Majaj, Therese Saliba, and Paula Sunderman read and commented on a
short version of “The Fourth Language.” John T.Kirby read and commented
on early drafts of “The Fourth Language” and “The Memories of Old
Women.” Much more importantly, the psychological support provided me by
John Kirby and Lisa Majaj has been phenomenal, throughout. I thank them
as friends and colleagues. Djelal Kadir was always there, electronically, to
offer practical advice and generous encouragement. Lewis R.Gordon promptly
intervened, at moments when I critically needed institutional support, for
which I remain immensely grateful. And, of course, Marty Owen, partner in a
long struggle…
I wish the list of “Thank Yous” were longer. The writing of this book has
otherwise been a solitary endeavor; I have not read sections of it at any
conference or received any critical reviewers’ comments on the manuscript as
a whole, and must alone assume responsibility for its faults, and hopefully its
merits.
ix