Dagbovie-Mullins, Sika A.

After examining the neo-slave genre it becomes evident that the definition of the
genre provided by AshrafRushdy is incomplete, because it does not include an important
component of the narrative, literacy. By adding to Rushdy's definition, the narrative's
dimensions change and the discussion of the genre is given a new perspective. Many
neo-slave narratives' discussions of literacy correspond to the time of publication, not the
time period or setting of the novels. Therefore, by interpreting the development of
literacy alongside the neo-slave narrative, one is able to consider the significance of this
connection. By examining three novels within the neo-slave genre, Ishmael Reed's
Flight to Canada (1976), Shirley Ann Williams's Dessa Rose (1986) and Toni
Morrison's Beloved (1987), I contend that Ashraf Rushdy' s definition of the narrative
appears too limited. The cultural perspective and use of literacy within the neo-slave
novel allows for further examination of this important component.

This project focuses on race and gender in the works of author Octavia Butler.
The primary texts analyzed are Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. In these
novels, Butler alludes to slavery in antebellum America by drawing strong parallels
between the roles race and gender played in the survival of the escaped slaves of
America’s past and the role they play in the survival of the main character of Butler’s
apocalyptic future. The themes of race and gender frequently intersect and maintain an
important role throughout the novels. I argue that, by reading Butler’s novels within this
significant historical context, Butler’s use of passing as a tool for subverting both racial
and gendered identity as a means to secure the safety and privilege necessary for survival
emerges. Further, the parallels between racial and gender passing serve to expose the
performative nature of these identifying characteristics.

Despite radical differences in their political commentary, Amiri Baraka and V.S.
Naipaul’s literary careers have obsessively centered on the divided Self of the colonized
artist. Esther Jackson argues that Baraka’s “search for form” becomes “symbolic of a
continuing effort to mediate between warring factions within the perceiving mind” (38).
Similarly, many critics have interpreted Naipaul’s grave manifestos as the outpourings of a writer disenchanted with his own past and national identity. For Selwyn Cudjoe,
Naipaul’s work is “reflective of a man who failed to discover any psychological balance
in his life” (172-173). This thesis analyzes how Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman and V.S.
Naipaul’s Guerrillas engage with various fairy tale conventions in order to narrate the
colonized victim’s divided Self. These narratives ultimately function as anti-fairy tales,
revealing the black protagonist’s accursed position in the symbolic order.

Racial identifications are continually influenced by and constructed through
one’s environment. Building on Jean Baudrillard’s “The Precession of Simulacra” and
Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, this thesis argues that houses and clothing are
the material objects that allow characters Birdie Lee from Danzy Senna’s Caucasia and
Helga Crane from Nella Larsen’s Quicksand to construct their mixed race identities.
Birdie Lee’s childhood home is the place where she develops a mixed race identity.
When she leaves that home, she is forced to take on simulacra in order to pass for white.
Without a stable childhood or adult home, Helga Crane’s wardrobe becomes the space
where she unconsciously develops a mixed race identity. Her clothing choices allow her
to simulate an entirely black identity that masks her mixed race heritage. Ultimately, the
fates of Birdie and Helga are determined by whether or not they can occupy a space that
is accepting of their mixed race identities.