Research Catalog
African religious influences on three Black women novelists : the aesthetics of Vodun : Zora Neale Hurston, Simone Schwarz-Bart, and Paule Marshall
- Title
- African religious influences on three Black women novelists : the aesthetics of Vodun : Zora Neale Hurston, Simone Schwarz-Bart, and Paule Marshall / Maria T. Smith ; with a foreword by John Lowe.
- Author
- Smith, Maria T.
- Publication
- Lewiston, N.Y. : E. Mellen Press, ©2007.
Items in the Library & Off-site
Filter by
1 Item
| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Use in library | PN3423 .S63 2007 | Off-site |
Details
- Description
- v, 145 pages; 24 cm
- Summary
- This study, focusing on select novels by women writers of the African Diaspora, illustrates that a surprising degree of commonality exists among works with obvious geographical, cultural, and linguistics differences--an affirmation of the philosophical essence of the Vodun religion as an antidote to Western spiritual and cultural moribundity. A close reading Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Simone Schwarz-Bart's Pluie et Vent sur Telumée Miracle, and Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow, demonstrates the way in which these works allude to the Vodun pantheon and ancestor veneration in order to valorize a worldview that recognizes the interconnectedness of all living things, visible and invisible. This is accomplished by locating each novel within its socio-political context and developing African diasporic literary tradition wherein African-derived beliefs have become sources of cultural resistance. After this reconstruction, the author is able to explicate the representation and function of Vodun as it is employed by each of the authors under consideration.
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-135) and index.
- Contents
- Introduction -- Zora Neale Hurston's cosmic consciousness -- Simone Schwarz-Bart's theatre of the marvelous -- Paule Marshall's rituals of reconnection -- Conclusion.
- ISBN
- 0773455280
- 9780773455283
- LCCN
- 2006046986
- 99816637644
- OCLC
- ocm85825671
- 85825671
- SCSB-1418261
- Owning Institutions
- Princeton University Library