Native speakers: Bella Cara Deloria, Zora Neale Hurston, Jovita González, and the poetics of culture

In the early twentieth century, three women of color helped shape a new world of ethnographic discovery. Ella Cara Deloria, a Sioux woman from South Dakota, Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman from Florida, and Jovita Gonzalez, a Mexican American woman from the Texas borderlands, achieved renown in the fields of folklore studies, anthropology, and ethno-linguistics during the 1920s and 1930s. While all three collaborated with leading male intellectuals in these disciplines to produce innovative ethnographic accounts of their own communities, they also turned away from ethnographic meaning making at key points in their careers and explored the realm of storytelling through vivid mixed-genre novels centred on the lives of women.In this book, Cotera offers an intellectual history situated in the 'borderlands' between conventional accounts of anthropology, women's history, and African American, Mexican American and Native American intellectual genealogies. At its core is also a meditation on what it means to draw three women - from disparate though nevertheless interconnected histories of marginalization - into conversation with one another. Can such a conversation reveal a shared history that has been erased due to institutional racism, sexism, and simple neglect? Is there a mode of comparative reading that can explore their points of connection even as it remains attentive to their differences? These are the questions at the core of this book, which offers not only a corrective history centred on the lives of women of colour intellectuals, but also a methodology for comparative analysis shaped by their visions of the world. Winner, Gloria Anzaldua Book Prize, National Women's Studies Association, 2009 In the early twentieth century, three women of color helped shape a new world of ethnographic discovery. Ella Cara Deloria, a Sioux woman from South Dakota, Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman from Florida, and Jovita Gonzlez, a Mexican American woman from the Texas borderlands, achieved renown in the fields of folklore studies, anthropology, and ethnolinguistics during the 1920s and 1930s. While all three collaborated with leading male intellectuals in these disciplines to produce innovative ethnographic accounts of their own communities, they also turned away from ethnographic meaning making at key points in their careers and explored the realm of storytelling through vivid mixed-genre novels centered on the lives of women. In this book, Cotera offers an intellectual history situated in the "borderlands" between conventional accounts of anthropology, women's history, and African American, Mexican American and Native American intellectual genealogies. At its core is also a meditation on what it means to draw three womenfrom disparate though nevertheless interconnected histories of marginalizationinto conversation with one another. Can such a conversation reveal a shared history that has been erased due to institutional racism, sexism, and simple neglect? Is there a mode of comparative reading that can explore their points of connection even as it remains attentive to their differences? These are the questions at the core of this book, which offers not only a corrective history centered on the lives of women of color intellectuals, but also a methodology for comparative analysis shaped by their visions of the world. Gloria Anzaldua Book Prize, National Women's Studies Association, 2009 In the early twentieth century, three women of color helped shape a new world of ethnographic discovery. Ella Cara Deloria, a Sioux woman from South Dakota, Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman from Florida, and Jovita González, a Mexican American woman from the Texas borderlands, achieved renown in the fields of folklore studies, anthropology, and ethnolinguistics during the 1920s and 1930s. While all three collaborated with leading male intellectuals in these disciplines to produce innovative ethnographic accounts of their own communities, they also turned away from ethnographic meaning making at key points in their careers and explored the realm of storytelling through vivid mixed-genre novels centered on the lives of women. In this book, Cotera offers an intellectual history situated in the "borderlands" between conventional accounts of anthropology, women's history, and African American, Mexican American and Native American intellectual genealogies. At its core is also a meditation on what it means to draw three women—from disparate though nevertheless interconnected histories of marginalization—into conversation with one another. Can such a conversation reveal a shared history that has been erased due to institutional racism, sexism, and simple neglect? Is there a mode of comparative reading that can explore their points of connection even as it remains attentive to their differences? These are the questions at the core of this book, which offers not only a corrective history centered on the lives of women of color intellectuals, but also a methodology for comparative analysis shaped by their visions of the world. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Writing in the Margins of the Twentieth Century 16 PART ONE. Ethnographic Meaning Making and the Politics of Difference 38 1. Standing on the Middle Ground: Ella Deloria’s Decolonizing Methodology 56 2. “Lyin’ Up a Nation”: Zora Neale Hurston and the Literary Uses of the Folk 86 3. A Romance of the Border: J. Frank Dobie, Jovita González, and the Study of the Folk in Texas 118 PART TWO. Re-Writing Culture: Storytelling and the Decolonial Imagination 148 4. “All My Relatives Are Noble”: Recovering the Feminine in Waterlily 160 5. “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world”: Storytelling and the Black Feminist Tradition 186 6. Feminism on the Border: Caballero and the Poetics of Collaboration 214 EPILOGUE: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”: Toward a Passionate Praxis 240 Notes 248 Introduction 248 Part One 249 Chapter One 251 Chapter Two 255 Chapter Three 260 Part Two 264 Chapter Four 265 Chapter Five 268 Chapter Six 270 Epilogue 273 Bibliography 274 Index 290 Introduction : Writing In The Margins Of The Twentieth Century -- Ethnographic Meaning Making And The Politics Of Difference -- Standing On The Middle Ground : Ella Deloria's Decolonizing Methodology -- Lyin' Up A Nation : Zora Neale Hurston And The Literary Uses Of The Folk -- A Romance Of The Border : J. Frank Dobie, Jovita González, And The Study Of The Folk In Texas -- Re-writing Culture : Storytelling And The Decolonial Imagination -- All My Relatives Are Noble : Recovering The Feminine In Waterlily -- De Nigger Woman Is De Mule Uh De World : Storytelling And The Black Feminist Tradition -- Feminism On The Border : Caballero And The Poetics Of Collaboration -- Epilogue: What's Love Got To Do With It? : Toward A Passionate Praxis. María Eugenia Cotera. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [259]-273) And Index. Introduction : writing in the margins of the twentieth century Ethnographic meaning making and the politics of difference Standing on the middle ground : Ella Deloria's decolonizing methodology "Lyin' up a nation" : Zora Neale Hurston and the literary uses of the "folk" A romance of the border : J. Frank Dobie, Jovita González, and the study of the folk in Texas Re-writing culture : storytelling and the decolonial imagination "All my relatives are noble" : is Waterlily a "red feminist" text? "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world" : storytelling and the black feminist experience Feminism on the border : Caballero and the poetics of collaboration Epilogue: "What's love got to do with it?" : toward a passionate praxis. "In this book, Cotera offers an intellectual history situated in the "borderlands" between conventional accounts of anthropology, women's history, and African American, Mexican American and Native American intellectual genealogies. At its core is also a meditation on what it means to draw three women - from disparate though nevertheless interconnected histories of marginalization - into conversation with one another."--Jacket