Women and Race in Contemporary U.S. Writing: From Faulkner to Morrison (American Literature Readings in the 21st Century) [Hardcover]

Kelly Lynch Reames (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007 | Series: American Literature Readings in the 21st Century

Much feminist writing of recent decades has addressed the difficulties of relating across racial differences. In Women and Race in Contemporary U.S. Writing, Reames examines novels and autobiographies to discover how contemporary writers have imagined possibilities for relationships between African American and white women that overcome the stereotypical patterns of racism. Works by William Faulkner, Lillian Hellman, Audre Lorde, Kaye Gibbons, Elizabeth Cox, Sherley Anne Williams, and Toni Morrison provide examples of sometimes loving and often conflicted relationships between child and nurse, employer and domestic worker, political allies, and friends. Reames argues that these literary works show that meaningful interracial relationships are possible only when white women recognize their racial privilege.
 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a solid study of 'the complexities of interracial friendship' among black and white women in a variety of American literary texts. Reames presents a sobering argument about the lasting legacies of racial antagonism as well as the ways in which a range of American women writers work to critique and reimagine ideas and practices of racial difference."--Eric Gary Anderson, George Mason University

"In this important new work, Reames presents cogent analysis of relationships between African American and white women, both in and through American literature. By examining an impressive range of texts, Reames demonstrates how the tensions between black women and white women cannot begin to be solved until white women work to become more aware of their whiteness. By interrogating literary depictions of relationships between black and white women, she explores how thoughtful readers--especially white feminists--can learn to raise their consciousnesses as they read works by and about black women and thus seek to prevent a reinscription of racist hegemony. While engaging her predecessors, Reames's original perspectives provide a needed addition to scholarship on race and gender dynamics in American literature."-- Kristine Yohe, Associate Professor of English, Northern Kentucky University
 

About the Author

Kelly Lynch Reames is Assistant Professor of English at Western Kentucky University, where she teaches courses on American literature. She has published works on William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, and other U.S. writers. She is currently working on a project on Lillian Hellman.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403972389
• ISBN-13: 978-1403972385
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,919,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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