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70
These first lines are more complex than they first appear. She begins with
what is arguably the worst racial epithet in the English language – and
she directs it at members of her own community. The weight of that word
therefore causes an immediate split between her (as a member of the
“black” community) and the person she is addressing (who is suspected to
not be a true black person). In fact, despite the title of the poem she never
mentions the word “Negro,” forcing her readers to understand that
“Negro” and “nigger” are synonyms. This is a bold move, as the term
“Negro” was acceptable and widely used, while “nigger” has always
contained hatred and violence and was widely shunned.37 It must also be
acknowledged that such language – which to many is profane – being
used in a poem (“high art”) is one of the hallmarks of the Black Arts
Movement. Conversational vernacular speech was one of the goals of
Black Arts Movement poetry and here Giovanni is upholding that tenet
completely.
She continues by using two derogatory terms for whites, “honkie”
and “the Man,” signaling that she has little respect for them just as she
doesn’t respect “niggers.”38 She repeatedly asks if “a nigger” can kill. The
reader at first understands that she is asking if “a nigger” can kill a white
person but her line breaks suggest another interpretation. She writes,
“Can you kill nigger/Huh? nigger can you/ kill” in which the person being
killed is suddenly “a nigger.” “Can you kill nigger” can be read as “can you
Object Description
| Title | "As shelters against the cold": women writers of the Black Arts and Chicano movements, 1965-1978 |
| Author | Ryder, Ulli Kira |
| Author email | uryder@usc.edu; uryder@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | American Studies & Ethnicity |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-27 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Restricted until 27 October 2010. |
| Date published | 2010-10-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | McKenna, Teresa |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Sanchez, George J. Johnson, Dana |
| Abstract | This dissertation examines the work of women writers in the Black Arts and Chicano movements during the years 1965-1978. I argue that understanding the intersectional nature of the women's experiences is crucial for understanding their literary output. Further, I argue that Chicanas and African American women of this era challenged homogenous notions of community and racial identity and that we can trace the development of the Third World feminism and multiculturalism that came to the fore in the 1980s to this earlier period. Thus, this study also impacts the way we conceptualize identity formation and the creation of the literary canon. Investigating the ways in which these women integrated nationalist and feminist rhetoric and activism in their work is crucial for a full understanding of this critical period in U.S. history. At stake is an understanding of how Chicana and African American women in the United States have formed identities and communities; struggled for liberation and equality; and become part of the U.S. literary canon. |
| Keyword | Black Power; Black Arts movement; Chicano movement; civil rights; racial identity formation; womanism; borderlands theory; feminism; Third World feminism; nationalism; intersectionality |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1965/1978 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1698 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Ryder, Ulli Kira |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Ryder-2415 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Ryder-2415.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 75 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 70 These first lines are more complex than they first appear. She begins with what is arguably the worst racial epithet in the English language – and she directs it at members of her own community. The weight of that word therefore causes an immediate split between her (as a member of the “black” community) and the person she is addressing (who is suspected to not be a true black person). In fact, despite the title of the poem she never mentions the word “Negro,” forcing her readers to understand that “Negro” and “nigger” are synonyms. This is a bold move, as the term “Negro” was acceptable and widely used, while “nigger” has always contained hatred and violence and was widely shunned.37 It must also be acknowledged that such language – which to many is profane – being used in a poem (“high art”) is one of the hallmarks of the Black Arts Movement. Conversational vernacular speech was one of the goals of Black Arts Movement poetry and here Giovanni is upholding that tenet completely. She continues by using two derogatory terms for whites, “honkie” and “the Man,” signaling that she has little respect for them just as she doesn’t respect “niggers.”38 She repeatedly asks if “a nigger” can kill. The reader at first understands that she is asking if “a nigger” can kill a white person but her line breaks suggest another interpretation. She writes, “Can you kill nigger/Huh? nigger can you/ kill” in which the person being killed is suddenly “a nigger.” “Can you kill nigger” can be read as “can you |
