Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

<p>This study investigates what continuities and divergences exist among selected Black autobiographies. The selected autobiographies of slaves, creative writers, and political activists are discussed both as texts produced by individuals who are in turn products of specific societies at specific periods and as interconnected books. The project pays particular attention to the various societies that produce the autobiographies directly to identify influences of environmental and cultural differences on the texts. To foreground the network these autobiographies form, on the other hand, the study adopts a cross-cultural approach to examine the continuities and divergences in them. The texts analysed are selected from Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean. Chapter one discusses some previous studies in Black autobiographies, the comparative model for studying Black autobiographies, the choice of the term autobiography, what constitutes Black autobiographies, and the self-in-service-of-community pattern of Black autobiographies. Chapter two theorizes Blackness as one of the continuities in the texts studied and foregrounds its transformative capabilities. Since various Black societies have experienced one form of colonialism or another and are in one post-colonial stage or another, chapter three discusses the relevance of post-colonial theory to a transnational study of Black autobiographies. Chapter four discusses oral African autobiographies as parts of institutionalised autobiographical traditions in African societies and the ways in which features of orality influence the written forms of the genre. Chapter five situates slave autobiographies as counter-narratives to the colonial encounter in William Shakespeare's <i>The Tempest</i>. Along with chapter five, chapters six and seven examine the continuities in Black autobiographies in terms of Blackness, resistance, the importance of naming, community, and rewriting history in the face of racist accounts of the past, and divergences in relation to concepts of Africa, religion, gender, and language. The concluding chapter summarises the continuities and divergences earlier discussed and suggests possible future directions in the study of Black autobiographies.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1998. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-254).

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / RESEARCH: Black literature has been incorporated into the curriculum of many colleges and universities. This trend is parallelled in the secondary schools; more Black literature is being taught on thi s level than ever before. According to Dorothy Sterling, "at most, only 1% of the total output of books for young adults are devoted to the Negro out of 1200 issued from 1960- 1966." 1. If there are so few of this type of book available, it is highly doubtful that Black literature written for adult readers is being used in its place . Books about Blacks and written by Blacks exist; and yet, we have in the past neglected to use them in our curriculum. Judy Anne Headlee suggests that a revision of the English curriculum is necessary , that the presentation of biographies or autobiographies of Black men and women will inspire a respect that will counteract prejudice." 2. It is Nancy Larrick's opinion that the lack of Black literature and the avoidance of racial themes and controversial topics in the classroom is robbing the student of an experience that will only benefit him in the adult world. 3. Communication and understanding can be the products of a Black literature unit. [TRUNCATED] / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

This dissertation examines the various ways in which pop-cultural illustrations of the “bad nigger” figure beginning in the late 1960s helped to shape the kinds of defiant and oppositional practices that define the lives of black male youths today. I offer a brief history of the cultural and literary trope of the so-called “bad nigger.” I not only chart the cultural and political expressions of the “bad nigger” trope from the antebellum South to the industrial North, I also offer a critique of these accounts of defiant black male behavior that have dominated much of the intellectual discourse. Writing on the Streets: Urban Literature’s Black Male Hero does not pretend that the struggles of poor black inner-city life are somehow romantic or dramatic. What this dissertation does do, however, is offer popular black male cultural productions as a new critical site for engaging the cultural politics of economic power and racial oppression. Much of the scholarship on black male youth culture fails to engage popular texts that respond to black peoples’ negotiation of global issues. The works that do engage popular expressions and cultural productions often underestimate the importance violence, defiance, and opposition plays in the construction of a black male identity, not just for poor urban black male youths, but for men of color in general. Thus, this dissertation intends to magnify the need for more critical inquiry into popular cultural productions such as “street literature” and rap music, both of which contain poetic as well as practical elements of community uplift and self-empowerment and engage issues of cultural nihilism and self-destruction. This project’s focus on non-canonical texts follows bell hooks’ methodology and whose intellectual philosophy argues for “learning in relation to living regular life, of using everything we already know to know more. Merging critical thinking in everyday life with knowledge learned in books and through study has been the union of theory and practice that has informed my intellectual cultural work” (hooks 2). My hope, therefore, is that the readings I offer here will open the possibility for scholars and students of literature to consider more earnestly the importance of popular cultural productions in black communities. Furthermore, I write this dissertation in an effort to convince cultural and literary critics to concern themselves with the unique history and plight of poor urban black males confronting oppression and struggling in this criminal society.

A House with People in It is a collection of stories working through concepts of identity, family, relationships, and how those things renew and replace themselves in perpetuity. I think of identity less of a rigid, singular thing and more of a swirling, fluid multitude. If the body is a house, then identity is the people who live inside it. How they live next to each other—who butts up against who, who sleeps in what bed—is what’s interesting to me. These works collected in this thesis are largely the stories that I think hew closest to the things that I am concerned with, in the identities that I occupy.

Submitted by Thiago Bronzeado de Andrade (thiago@ch.uepb.edu.br) on 2018-06-11T13:17:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Edvana dos Santos Vieira.pdf: 20953380 bytes, checksum: 3fca2487ac390f6097a86f8a12122cab (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Araújo (milaborges@ch.uepb.edu.br) on 2018-06-11T13:31:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Edvana dos Santos Vieira.pdf: 20953380 bytes, checksum: 3fca2487ac390f6097a86f8a12122cab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-11T13:31:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Edvana dos Santos Vieira.pdf: 20953380 bytes, checksum: 3fca2487ac390f6097a86f8a12122cab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-26 / CAPES / This paper aims to reflect on the contribution of the use of virtual spaces for the teaching and learning of black literature in elementary school in order to know how these spaces can motivate students to read literary texts and at the same time to reflect on the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Brazilian people. It consists of an interpretative analysis of the kind action research, developed in a largely qualitative approach. For over a decade, official documents determine the teaching of African history and culture and african-Brazilian in basic education, but the applicability of this teaching is still not a reality in everyday school life, especially with regard to the teaching of literature. At the same time we experience this problem in basic education, another phenomenon calls into question: the use of new technologies in school teaching and learning. Digital technologies have proliferated in a fast way in our daily lives, which requires new teacher perceptions of learning and teaching, to include in their teaching practice the use of these technologies in order to promote student learning. It is from these contexts, we think in carrying out this study of black literature and the use of virtual spaces. The survey was conducted in a class of 9th grade of elementary school of EEEFM Teacher Raul Cordula, the city of Campina Grande-PB. It is based on a didactic sequence, involving work with reading black literature on websites and blogs of african-Brazilian authors and the production of a website and a blog to disseminate this literature. Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to study subjects and speeches made in the discussions in the classroom and in virtual spaces throughout the development of the sequence. Implementation of the work in the classroom and beyond the school walls allowed a plurality of activities in which students, away from behave as information from passive recipients, actively acted in the search, exchange of information, collaborating with the teacher to an end: study black literature which certainly contributed to the creation of a positive imagery of the black. The theoretical references were sought, especially in Duarte works (2008), Cuti (2010), Fonseca (2006), Birth (2004), Souza (2005), Munanga (1999), Bezerra (2014), Oliveira (2014) Kenski (2007 and 2008), Moran (2009), Marcuschi (2010), Levy (1999), JJ (2010 and 2013), as well as consultations with blogs of writers / the african-Brazilian / as, and specific sites on the literatures african-Brazilian and African, with scientific articles and literary texts, as Literafro and Quilombhoje. / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo refletir sobre a contribuição do uso dos espaços virtuais para o ensino-aprendizagem da literatura negra no Ensino Fundamental, a fim de saber de que maneira esses espaços podem motivar os alunos à leitura de textos literários e, ao mesmo tempo refletir sobre a diversidade étnica e cultural do povo brasileiro. Consiste numa análise interpretativa, do tipo pesquisa ação, desenvolvida sob uma abordagem basicamente qualitativa. Há mais de uma década, documentos oficiais determinam o ensino de história e cultura africana e afro-brasileira na educação básica, porém a aplicabilidade desse ensino ainda não é uma realidade no cotidiano escolar, especialmente no que diz respeito ao ensino de literatura. Ao mesmo tempo que vivenciamos esse problema na educação básica, um outro fenômeno se põe em questão: o uso das novas tecnologias no ensino-aprendizagem escolar. As tecnologias digitais têm se proliferado de forma veloz no nosso cotidiano, o que exige do professor novas percepções do aprender e do ensinar, de forma a incluir em sua prática docente o uso dessas tecnologias, a fim de promover a aprendizagem discente. É a partir desses contextos, que pensamos em realizar esse estudo envolvendo a literatura negra e o uso dos espaços virtuais. A pesquisa foi realizada em uma turma do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental da E. E. E. F. M. Professor Raul Córdula, da cidade de Campina Grande-PB. Tem como base uma sequência didática, envolvendo o trabalho com a leitura de literatura negra em sites e blogs de autores afro-brasileiros e a produção de um site e um blog para divulgação dessa literatura. Os dados foram obtidos a partir de um questionário aplicado aos sujeitos pesquisados e dos discursos produzidos nas discussões em sala e nos espaços virtuais ao longo do desenvolvimento da sequência. A consecução do trabalho em sala de aula e além dos muros da escola permitiu uma pluralidade de atividades em que os alunos, longe de se portarem como receptores passivos de informações, atuaram ativamente na busca, troca de informações, colaborando junto com o professor para um fim: estudar literatura negra que certamente contribuiu para a criação de um imaginário positivo sobre o negro. Os referenciais teóricos foram buscados, especialmente nos trabalhos de Duarte (2008), Cuti (2010), Fonseca (2006), Nascimento (2004), Souza (2005), Munanga (1999), Bezerra (2014), Oliveira (2014), Kenski (2007 e 2008), Moran (2009), Marcuschi (2010), Lévy (1999), Seabra (2010 e 2013), além de consultas aos blogs de escritores/as afro-brasileiros/as, e sites específicos sobre as literaturas afro-brasileira e africanas, com artigos científicos e textos literários, como, Literafro e Quilombhoje.

Orientador: Silvana Mabel Serrani / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudo da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T02:36:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira_Eniode_D.pdf: 5320212 bytes, checksum: c28501e3cba0facfc81c87cd4c0013e9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Nesta tese, analisamos a relação entre os discursos biográfico e antológico em quatro antologias de literatura negra, e, a partir da compreensão de tal relação, e da constatação de que os livros didáticos de inglês silenciam, deliberadamente ou não, as histórias e legados de "culturas negras", esboçamos lineamentos para uma formação continuada de professores de inglês no Brasil, atentando, particularmente, para o estabelecimento de relações interculturais/discursivas. Temos como corpus de análise biografias presentes em duas antologias publicadas no Brasil - A Razão da Chama: Antologia de Poetas Negros Brasileiros (CAMARGO, 1986) e Poesia Negra Brasileira: Antologia (BERND, 1992); e em duas publicadas nos Estados Unidos - The NortonAnthology of African American Literature (GATES JR. e MCKAEY, 1997), Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition (HILL, 1998). Atentos à multidisciplinaridade constitutiva da Linguística Aplicada, e inscrevendo nossa pesquisa na área de "Multiculturalismo, Plurilinguismo e Educação Bilíngue", sustentamo-nos, teoricamente, em diálogos com Estudos Culturais, Análise de Discurso, Semântica Histórica da Enunciação, e pesquisas voltadas especificamente para os gêneros antológico e biográfico. Por meio dessa complexa tessitura teórica, mobilizamos as noções de função-autor (FOUCAULT, 1969), intradiscurso e interdiscurso (PÊCHEUX, 1990), ressonâncias discursivas (SERRANI, 1997) e designação (GUIMARÃES, 2002), a fim de mostrar como a materialidade linguístico-textualdiscursiva das biografias - mesmo estas sendo, aparentemente, concebidas pelas antologias, como documentos factuais sem autoria - revela gestos de interpretação originados do trabalho daquilo que chamamos de função-autor-biográfico. As análises dos modos de enunciação descritivo e narrativo trabalhados na designação dos biografados permitiram elucidar os gestos interpretativos da função-autor-biográfico. Ademais, vimos que, esses modos não funcionam a partir do domínio da referenciação, ou seja, eles não simplesmente refletem algo já pronto e acabado, mas, ao contrário, constróem sentidos, e, por isso, quando a função-autor-biográfico designa os biografados, diz, e muito, sobre as filiações ideológicas assumidas pelo discurso antológico. Este último, por sua vez, coerentemente com o trabalho interpretativo da funçãoautor- biográfico, labora na construção de sentidos e de interpretações para os antologizados e suas obras e, por conseguinte, mostra-se como um artefato propício para a observação dasfiliações ideológico-discursivas nas antologias. Em sequência à compreensão da relação entre os discursos biográfico e antológico, desenvolvemos reflexões sobre possíveis formas de utilização das biografias presentes nas antologias como lineamentos para a formação continuada de professores de inglês. Para isso, submetemos os componentes interculturais/discursivos encontrados nas biografias a um olhar analítico baseado na Proposta Intercultural/Discursiva, elaborada por Serrani (2005). Defendemos a tese, portanto, de que as biografias presentes em antologias de literatura negra brasileira e estadunidense podem ser utilizadas como material propício tanto para a compreensão da relação entre os discursos biográfico e antológico, quanto para a sensibilização do professor de inglês para o estabelecimento de relações interculturais/discursivas a partir de legados de "culturas negras" / Abstract : In this study, we investigate how the relationship between the biographical and anthological discourses is manifested in anthologies of Black Brazilian and African-American literature and suggest directions for re-aligning the professional development (pedagogical training) of pre-and in-service Brazilian English teachers that embrace intercultural/discursive practices. We have as a corpus of analysis a set of biographies present in the following anthologies: A Razão da Chama: Antologia de Poetas Negros Brasileiros (CAMARGO, 1986); and Poesia Negra Brasileira: Antologia (BERND, 1992); published in Brazil, The Norton Anthology of African-American Literature (GATES JR. e MCKAEY, 1997), Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition (HILL, 1998), published in the United States. To support the investigation, we base our study on the theoretical underpinnings of Discourse Analysis, Historical Semantics of Enunciation, and on a myriad of studies about the anthological and biographical discourses. Employing the analytical categories of author-function (FOUCAULT, 1969), intra-discourse and inter-discourse (PÊCHEUX, 1990), discursive resonances (SERRANI, 1997), and designation (GUIMARÃES, 2002), we study howthe discursive-textual-linguistic materiality of the biographies reveal the interpretation gestures originated from the biographical-author-function. We highlight these interpretation gestures through analyses of the descriptive and narrative modes of enunciation used in the designation of the biographees. However, these modes do not function as a simple referenciation act (that is, they do not simply refer to something that exists independently) but, on the contrary, they build meanings. When the biographical-author-function designates the biographees, it comments not only the biographees, but also reveals the ideological affiliation embraced by the anthological discourse. This last one, coherent with the interpretive work of the biographical-author-function, builds and develops meanings and interpretations of the anthologized and their literary productions. Consequently, it shows to be a proper discourse device of exposition of the ideological and discursive affiliations assumed by the anthologies. While comprehending the relationship between the biographical and anthological discourses, we turn our attention to reflect the possible ways of using the anthologies to suggest re-alignments to the professional development (pedagogical training) of pre/in-service Brazilian English teachers. In so doing, wesubmit the intercultural/discursive components found in the biographies to an analysis based on the Intercultural/Discursive Proposal, designed by Serrani (2005). Thus, we defend the idea that the biographies present in the anthologies may be used to comprehend the anthological discourseand to encourage teachers reflection on how the black/African cultural legacies can be brought to the English teaching via the consideration of the intercultural/discursive relationships / Doutorado / Multiculturalismo, Plurilinguismo e Educação Bilingue / Doutor em Linguística Aplicada

This thesis argues that Claudia Rankine's two American lyrics destabilize the subject-object dialectic underwriting American lyricism. First, I consider Don’t Let Me Be Lonely’s rejection of spectatorship, insofar as spectatorship objectifies the suffering of the Other. Second, I analyze Citizen’s subversion of the lyric “I”, particularly as it vocalizes the “you”-position traditionally relegated to poetic object. I suggest that both works, by returning power to the object, manifest an aesthetic disruption to the racially-based power dialectic underpinning American lyric tradition. Eventually, I propose that Rankine mobilizes the poem as a future-space for the realization of an ideal politics.

This study explores the notion of female cultural difference in the context of dominant patriarchal and other oppressive patriarchal structures. Essentially, its focus is on deconstructing stereotypical images of women, who are often perceived as homogenous. Throughout the study I argue that as much as their sensibilities are varied, African and African American women respond differently to the oppressive conditions they find themselves in. The following selected texts provided the opportunities for exploring and evaluating the genealogy of female cultural difference that is central to my research: Anthills of the Savannah (Chinua Achebe); Scarlet Song (Mariama Ba); The Joys of Motherhood and Kehinde (BuchiEmecheta); Their Eyes Were Watching God (Nora Zeale Hurston); Bitches Brew and Seven Steps to Heaven (Fred Khumalo). In the process of analyzing these texts, I demonstrated that the notion of cultural difference is often narrowly and erroneously construed. I discovered that the protagonists in these texts are not only conscious of their oppressed condition but often adopt strategic agency to contest male privileges that silence them. In pursuit of this critical perspective, I have proceeded to apply relevant theoretical frameworks constructed by Cornel West, Hudson-Weems, Bakhtin and a conflation of others whose philosophical tenets support the major theoretical frameworks. The aforementioned literary critics have enabled me to come up with a more comprehensive and richer analysis of the set texts. In my analysis I have advanced the argument that female visibility manifests itself variously and temporally through individual and sometimes sisterly attempts at empowerment, self- definition and esoteric discursive features. I noted that all this is evidence of the nascent creative potential in African women who refuse to be silenced. In my analysis of the Seven texts I have incorporated, modified and developed some of the insights from critical thinkers who engage in the ongoing debate about female cultural difference. This approach has enabled me to come up with new insights that ferret out veneers of African women’s rich cultural diversity, in light of the ever changing nature of women’s operational spaces. It is this transcendental vision that basically informs and resonates with my study. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)