Thursday, April 15, 2010
New Reconfigurations and New Constructs
In contemporary southern literature, one of the prevalent and recurring elements is the writer’s reconfiguration of race, ethnicity, marriage, and class so that the new constructs mirror new perceptions and conceptions of the southern experience. Using two of these categories, discuss how two of the following texts—the excerpts from Gates’ Colored People, the excerpts from Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner, Fields’ “Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade,” or the excerpts from Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow—add a new or fresh dimension to our understanding of the southern imaginary. Restrict your response to 300 words and post it no later than Thursday, April 22, by 9 a.m.
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The conflicts of race in the “Old South” are not new, and The Confessions of Nate Turner show how race and religion can be merged in a macabre and devilish way for purposes of revolution and ethnic cleansing. We can read some of the comments, which elucidate the African American's more radical attempts to emancipate and revolt. We read, “To draw the blood of white men is holy in God's eye?” (841). It is unknown if Styron is using hyperbole to create a more dramatic, messianic and black annihilator figure. However, wee see these graphic and atrocious images of racial violence when we read: “If'n you cain't make de red juice run you cain't run de army!” (843). Perhaps these confessions are a reminder of what can happen during oppression when radical feelings about race and religion explode and spiral out of control into chaos.
ReplyDeleteIn “Colored People” we see the struggle of class and a good extent regarding economics, relations and the hierarchy of residential living. We see the plight of economic exploitation related to the town as we our told, “For as long as anybody can remember, Piedmont's character has always been completely bound up with the Westvaco paper mill: its prosperous past and its doubtful future (1055). We see how class could affect the individual experiencing Piedmont from less fortunate eyes when we read, “The rich white people lived on upper East Hampshire Street (1055). Gates explains the different immigrations affecting the diversity of Piedmont. We read of a young man's dream of owning the Victorian castle, which was a dream for many of class consciousness.
dm
In both Praisesong for the Widow and "The Confessions of Nat Turner", there are once again problems with racism and also the thoughts on marriage. In Nat Turner's piece he was in a very difficult position with wanting to change what he was living and how the right way to change it would be. The way he went about the change was wrong, however he was so stuck in the same position that he really wanted to change everything he could. The way his race was treated was terrible and he wanted to stand up for once and show that he had the guts to do it. However, to go on a killing spree was not really the way to go about things, but he did change things. Though he did not really get to see the new south, there were many changes. His race had opportunity and hope. In Praisesong for the Widow, it was seen that the widow was seen as just that. Though the south was changing, there was still that large precedence over a southern woman being married. When one was not she was seen as older and treated differently. However, Avey was able to come out and actually enjoy herself when she visited Tatum. This put things into perspective and showed readers that who you were was based solely on your own decisions. Being married, was not necessary but a choice. In both of these works, the new south was emerging and things were different than they had ever been.
ReplyDeletePaige Coleman
I think that the Confessions of Nat Turner gives us a new and fresh dimension of our understanding of southern imaginary in that it gives us an example of a group of black slaves not only wanting to kill the white plantation owners but going out and doing it. Nat himself might had trouble going along with it at the bringing and it ate him inside but, when he was challenged to do so he was finally able to kill a white female finally and make the red blood spill.
ReplyDeleteGates Colored People gives us a 1950’s view of racism and the world. Blacks were no longer slaves, able to work the lower level jobs at the mill but, they were still oppressed and segregated from the white world. Blacks were only able to take the lowest job at the mill, being a loader, or have to be a servant to a white, like a maid or a driver. White’s had every opportunity like always and worked the educated upper classes jobs, living in the upper class white’s only neighborhoods. Blacks were only able to live in their parts of town and both races hated having another cross over their bonds. I did find it ironic that after all the years the things he remembers most about the black culture of the town is dancing, sex, violence, and hair, all of which are something people still but way too much interest in.
In "The Confessions of Nat Turner" we are able to read a story about a slave that fought for the insurrection of slavery. He as well as some other slaves take up arms in a revolt against slavery. In what was suppose to be Turner's own words, he was called upon by God to do what he did and try to put a stop to slavery. This aspect of seeing an African American speaking of God calling to him and seeing him fight for the insurrection of slavery was something that had yet to be seen. His uprising help to lead to new hope and chances for freedom of his race. In "Praisesong For the Widow" we find out that it took four years for Avey to finally break down and mourn the loss of her husband. She ends up getting sick and passes out. She remains upset and stays that way until one night when she is dancing and celebrating the roots from which she came. In the end she decides to move out to Tatem and leave America. She is determined to teach her grandchildren about the ancestry from where their family came. We see for the first time an African American woman who is proud of who she is and her ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteBrian Ricks
Southern literature thus far has been about race, gender standing and marriage. These stories have talked about how people feel on the inside, even if they cannot show it on the outside. The story of “The Confession of Nat Turner” has been widely criticized based on race. A white writer was the person who wrote this story and it is widely criticized because he wrote about an African American slave. This is a good argument. As a white American, he does not know what an African American went through at that time. He also portrayed the main character as a sexual predator. He claims that this man sexually assaulted a white woman. This story could not have been written by a white man without some sort of outrage. If an African American wrote the story they might be more accepting because it is someone who can relate to the character in the story. I assume the writer is trying to understand what African Americans went through at the time by writing the story. That’s the new reference I am trying to bring into this blog. Cross race relations is tough because one race brought this upon another. I believe white writers might be able to relate to African Americans at the time better by writing about them. They will live through the pencil and see what it was like for them at the time.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of race has obviously changed in "Now Your Singing, Dancing Spade." The main character is a huge star and has his face on the cover of a magazine. This offers a much different point of view for an Africa American than many of the other readings do. What is interesting about the character is that he has a hatred for a fellow African American who is his servant. He comes out in the very beginning and says that he does not like her at all. She is the only other black person in the house besides him and he despises her. This is an example of class divisions within African American communities. The only difference between the two is that he is of a higher class, but he still hates her. You would think that since she is the only one of his color in the house, that he might be kinder toward her. It is completely the opposite which strays from typical southern literature where African Americans stick together. It also is a demonstration of racial self-hatred. He talks about hating his own self and how it was a portrayal of his being black. He analyzes his portrait in the magazine and says it points out all of his black flaws. This story demonstrates how issues of race have changed and developed along with southern literature.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Confessions of Nat Turner," the issue of race is key. Turner was the leader of a slave revolt. The only problem is that Turner has a problem with killing the white race. He had been taught to read and write by his white masters, and he struggles with hating the white race enough to bring them to death. At times Turner even has issues with his fellow slaves. It is clear that Turner has feelings for both races, but in the end he kills a white woman and goes on with his slaves. It was different to see a slave making a difficult decision between the slaves who he can identify with, or the white people who were his masters.
In Gates' Colored People, Gates is portraying the view of an African American on his home and how it had changed over time. He shows how a black man's opinion of his racist home town had changed and how the concepts of friendship and friendliness now define his hometown. In Styron's Confessions of Nat Turner, Styron gives an account of Nat Turner and his confession to the people about his barbaric revolt against the white people. But Turner's confession is skewed by a white man's perspective. Styron tries to show a different, altered version of what actually occurred with Nat Turner.
ReplyDeleteThe writer’s reconfiguration of both race and class add a new perspective to understanding the southern imaginary that readers have not seen before. In Gate’s Colored People, the readers get a look at a small town in West Virginia during the 1950s. The town is made up of Italians, Irish, and colored people. There is no longer slavery, but the colored people are still segregated from the town living only in three certain areas. Almost all of them have job working in the paper mill in one of the lower jobs. There is no way to move up in the company for the colored people. They work at that level their entire lives and cannot get out of the lower class they were grouped into. The story shows even though slavery had ended many years ago, the colored people were still deprived of full rights the white population enjoyed, such as owning property. In Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner, the readers see the struggle Nat Turner faces as he is leading the slave revolt. Turner, finds it difficult to actually kill the white people and other slaves such as Will find no difficulty in this. It’s said it was holy to draw the blood of a white man, so the slaves seem to be using this to justify killing. Will questions Nat’s authority saying he cannot lead this army of men if he cannot kill the white men. Turner worries his followers will abandon him because they think he is incapable of doing the job. Finally, Turner is able to “make the red juice run,” when he kills a white woman. This shows slavery had caused the African Americans to develop a deep hatred for the white people and wanted them dead for the suffering slavery had caused them.
ReplyDeleteHeather Mitchell
Throughout this course that we have taken to analyze the literature of the south, we have seen many evolutions of character and voice in our readings. This week’s readings are no different. I find it very interesting to see the progression of voice from outside looking in, as a white or black author did to describe actions, to what I now see as internal voice. Both The Confessions of Nat Turner and Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade are read from the point of an internal voice. In Nat Turner, we see Nat struggling with things internally and externally in his struggle against his own anxiety and the upstart Will. His own thoughts serve as a narrator during his fights. His own contemplative mood and actions almost make him out to be a madman in the end, or at least a man driven to the brink of insanity. In Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade, we hear the internal thoughts of an unnamed black celebrity as he struggles with thoughts of self hatred stemming from hatred towards his own race. His bitterness overflows into his actions towards his black maid, until he overhears her defending their race to his little girl. Despite all his efforts to escape his own skin – white wife, white children, white life – he finally begins to take a little bit more ownership in his color. Altogether, these pieces of literature have continued the evolution of voice into a more introverted and inward gazing narrative.
ReplyDeleteAndy Woods
The issue and image of race is not new to Southern literature. In “Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade,” the author puts an African American male in a white man’s world. The man is a famous singer and dancer in the entertainment world. In the story he deals with his identity. He cannot identify with other African Americans, due to his racial self hatred and interracial prejudice. He does not like his African American features, such as his nose. Also, he doesn’t quite fit into the white world of the entertainment industry but he tries really hard to fit in. In the article the reader sees how the whites made him look bad on purpose. The story looks at how the main character can retain his cultural and racial connections. The story also discusses the roles of African American women. In the story, the artist does not hold African American women in high regard. He thinks they all look alike and doesn’t have any respect for them. In “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” the author tries to change the image of African Americans. The author tries to change their image by giving Nat Turner a voice through a dramatic monologue. The author tries to get the reader to understand what kind of issues slaves are dealing with in the South. Through the author’s use of dramatic monologue the reader sees that Nat Turner is an educated man and is not stupid like one would think. The reader sees that Nat knew how to use a map; he knew that the mirror would give away their location; he knew that their stealth was key to their success when attacking the plantations. The reader is given a new image of how African Americans hated whites just as much as whites hated African Americans.
ReplyDeleteKristen Whitaker
Southern literature has seemed to consist of the theme’s surrounding race, ethnicity, marriage, and class. I think the new perceptions mirror and add an extra twist which allows the new pieces to have a different type of dimension while still evoking emotion and expressing pain in a way for the reader to connect to the characters. In Gates’ Colored People, Gates’ address the concept of racism, the main character of the story is an African American man who is able to express the ways in which his home town has changed due to racism things have fallen apart. He says that his town, “The fifties in Piedmont was a sepia time, or at least that’s the color my memory has given it. Piedmont was prosperous and growing.”(1054) Later in the story the main character says, “At first glance, Piedmont is a typical dying mill town, with the crumbling infrastructure and the resignation of its people to its gentle decline.” (1055) The main character’s home town has changed. Another story that also address race is Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner, the main character Nat Turner confesses his barbaric revolt against White people. However the story is told from a white man’s perspective, so it is not completely accurate. “a gloomy fanatic was revolving in the recesses of his own dark, bewildered and overwrought mind schemes of indiscriminate massacre to the whites.” (836) The stories both allow the reader to depict the struggles of racism.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the issue of race in the new south is different than the issue of race in the old south it is certainly still a huge factor in everyday life. The main character in Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade. Is a very successful black entertainer. However he's not comfortable in his success because he does not feel acceptance with black people or white people. Black people have made fun of him and white people are jealous of his success. He his essentially alone. However he becomes convinced that by his maid that he his beautiful, this leads to his acceptance of his own body and image and once this happens he is immediately a much happier man.
ReplyDelete-Alex Fisher