Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
FRAMING THE FOLK: ZORA NEALE HURSTON, JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE, AND THE POLITICS OF AESTHETIC ETHNOGRAPHY Anthony R. Hale Contrary to what many young critics may recall, African American literature has always been subject to comparisons. Not so long ago, its merits and defects were solely determined by how well it mimicked Anglo-American forms. The obligatory "authenticating documentation" affixed to the beginning of virtually every slave narrative, from that of Frederick Douglass to Harriet Wilson, reminds us of the grave doubts held by dominant society about black writing's authority, authenticity, and authorship. In this cultural context, a comparison is akin to hostile assimilation. Similarly, Irish literature has served as a palimpsest upon which the British imagination has often made its mark. Historically, Irish settings and literature appear in British writing as a reductive foil --a woman to England's man, a wild, rural landscape to London's urban cityscape. In many ways, these critical comparisons form a literary cognate to oppressive systems that would deny entire peoples' autonomy or freedom. By setting in comparison my African American and Irish writers, I do not intend here merely to replicate the vices of a "timehonored tradition." Rather, I think that this particular kind
The Comparatist – University of North Carolina Press
Published: Oct 3, 1996
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.