The myth of Aunt Jemima : representations of race and region

The Myth of Aunt Jemima is a bold and exciting look at the way three centuries of white women writers have tackled the subject of race in both Britain and America. Diane Roberts challenges the widely-held belief that white women writers have simply acquiesed in majority cultural inscriptions of race. The Myth of Aunt Jemima shows how 'the mythic spheres of race, of the separation of black and white into low and high, other and originary, tainted and pure, remain to trouble a society struggling still to free itself from debilitating racial representations.' Beautifully written with a powerful series of textual readings, The Myth of Aunt Jemima pushes at the boundaries of thought around the issues of race and gender. An important and innovative book. HALF-TITLE......Page 1 TITLE......Page 3 COPYRIGHT......Page 4 DEDICATION......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 7 INTRODUCTION......Page 10 1 UNCLE TOM’S CABIN......Page 28 VOLUPTUOUS GARDENS: THE ORIENTAL SOUTH......Page 32 LE ROMAN NOIR: THE GOTHIC SOUTH......Page 40 2 “INSTIGATED BY THE DEVIL”......Page 54 “THE MAN HARRIET”......Page 57 “NAUSEOUS DIET”: SOUTHERNERS ON STOWE’S GOTHIC......Page 62 COUNTER-FICTIONS......Page 67 3 MISS WRIGHT, MRS TROLLOPE AND MISS MARTINEAU......Page 72 FRANCES WRIGHT THE REVOLUTIONARY......Page 75 FRANCES TROLLOPE AND THE INFERNAL SOUTH......Page 78 HARRIET MARTINEAU’S FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF SLAVERY......Page 85 4 THE STRANGE CAREER OF FANNY KEMBLE......Page 94 THE MATERIAL SLAVE BODY......Page 96 THE ODOUR OF SLAVERY......Page 103 REVISITING THE GEORGIA PLANTATION......Page 110 5 OLLA PODRIDA AMERICA......Page 116 DESIRE IN THE NEW WORLD......Page 120 SLIPPING THE VEIL: REDEFINING CHASTITY......Page 123 AMERICA’S MANY-COLOURED GARDEN......Page 127 6 JEMIMA AND JEZEBEL IN THE NEW SOUTH......Page 138 THE SECRET SISTERHOOD OF BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN: EDNA FERBER, JULIA PETERKIN, ELLEN GLASGOW, WILLA GATHER......Page 143 “HOW BLACK WAS RHETT BUTLER?”HOW WHITE IS SCARLETT?......Page 152 LILLIAN SMITH AND THE LOUD GHOSTS OF THE PAST......Page 160 EPILOGUE......Page 170 NOTES......Page 174 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 192 INDEX......Page 202 BOOK COVER; HALF-TITLE; TITLE; COPYRIGHT; DEDICATION; CONTENTS; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION; 1 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; 2 "INSTIGATED BY THE DEVIL"; 3 MISS WRIGHT, MRS TROLLOPE AND MISS MARTINEAU; 4 THE STRANGE CAREER OF FANNY KEMBLE; 5 OLLA PODRIDA AMERICA; 6 JEMIMA AND JEZEBEL IN THE NEW SOUTH; EPILOGUE; NOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX; Beautifully written, with a powerful series of textual readings, this book looks at the way three centuries of women writers have tackled the subject of race in both Britian and America. The Myth of Aunt Jemima is a bold and incisive examination of the way three centuries of white women writers represented ``race'' in Both England and America.