The Black Feminist Reader / Edition 1

by Joy James, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting

Overview

Organized into two parts, "Literary Theory" and "Social and Political Theory," this Reader explores issues of community, identity, justice, and the marginalization of African American and Caribbean women in literature, society, and political movements.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780631210078
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	06/08/2000
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.09(w) x 9.01(h) x 0.97(d)

About the Author

Joy James is Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University. She is author of Resisting State Violence: Radicalism, Gender & Race in US Culture (1996); Transcending the Talented Tenth: Black Leaders and American Intellectuals (1996), Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics (1999). James is also editor of the Angela Y. Davis Reader (Blackwell Publishers, 1998), States of Confinement: Policing, Detention and Prisons (2000), and co-editor of Spirit, Space & Survival: African American Women In (White) Academe (1993), which received the 1994 Gustavus Myers Human Rights award.

T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting is Associate Professor of French and Director of the African American Studies and Research Center at Purdue University. She is author of Frantz Fanon: Conflicts & Feminisms (1997) and Black Venus: Sexualized Savages, Primal Fears and Primitive Narratives in French (1999). She is co-editor of Fanon: A Critical Reader (Blackwell Publishers, 1996) and Spoils of War: Women of Color, Cultures, and Revolutions (1997), which received an honorable mention from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America in 1997.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements.

Editors' Introduction.

List of Contributors.

Part I: Literary Theory:.

1. The Race for Theory: Barbara Christian.

2. "Unspeakable Things Unspoken": The Afro-American Presence in American Literature: Toni Morrison.

3. Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book: Hortense Spillers.

4. A Black Man's Place in Black Feminist Criticism: Michael Awkward.

5. Beyond Miranda's Meanings: Un-silencing the 'Demonic Ground' of 'Caliban's Woman.': Sylvia Wynter.

Part II: Social/Political Theory:.

6. Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory: Bell Hooks.

7. Women and Capitalism: Dialectics of Oppression and Liberation: Angela Davis.

8. The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought: Patricia Hill Collins.

9. Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics: Kimberlé Crenshaw.

10. Radicalising Feminism: Joy James.

Appendix: Key Feminist Statements.

I. Combahee River Collective, A Black Feminist Statement (1972).

II. African American Women in Defense of Ourselves (1991).

Part III: Open Letter from Assata Shakur (1998):.

Selected Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This volume brings together ten essays in the development of black feminism. The selections reflect the literary, social and political critiques that mark this form of feminist and antiracist thought as unique and transformative." Black Issues Book Review

"This collection is certain to become another essential text in the field of women's studies. . . Recommended for public and academic libraries." Library Journal

From the Publisher

This collection is certain to become another essential text in the field of women's studies, replacing sociologist Patricia Hill Collins's Black Feminist Thought (Routledge, 1990) as the primary black women's studies text. The editors have gathered ten highly anthologized essays form the last 25 years by black feminist literary, social, and political theorists, as well as three landmark documents from the black feminist movement. Essayists include bell hooks, Angela Davis, and Toni Morrison, as well as writers less well known outside the academy. Unfortunately, there are no essays on the arts and popular culture, and no black feminist lesbian voices are represented. Although this anthology will be sought after and read both inside and outside academe, Beverly Guy-Sheftall's thick Words of Fire (New Pr., 1995) is still the most comprehensive collection of black feminist thought, with writings from the early 1800s to the 1980s. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Sherri Barnes, Univ. of California Lib., Santa Barbara

Library Journal