"Doers of the Word": African-American Women Speakers and Writers in the North (1830-1880)
"Peterson's book is pioneering. Unlike other literary critical discourses which can draw on long established traditions,Doers of the Wordmust define the very terms in which we think about African American women's texts. The brilliance and excitement of Peterson's book lie in its stunning originality and intellectual courage."--Elizabeth Ammons,Tufts University."In this meticulously researched and carefully crafted book, Carla Peterson reconstructs the antebellum and postbellum careers of eleven black activist women who publicly endeavored to conceptualize a home for African Americans in the political economy of the United States. By resisting the canonical privilege of the slave narrative and trans-historical notions of the black aesthetic,Doers of the Wordrecovers the ways in which these women exercised their contested agency in the civic arenas. Peterson reminds her readers in stunning detail just how heterogeneous the black community was in the nineteenth century and continues to be at the approach of the twenty-first."--Claudia Tate,George Washington University."Peterson's extensive and thorough analysis of these activist women's public adresses and writings is a fine work."--American Literature"This is literary scolarship and historical inquiry of a high order. A brilliant and inspiring achievement."--Sterling Stuckey,University of California, Riverside; author ofGoing Through the Stormand "ISlave Culture.Doers of the Wordis an interesting, enlightening, and readable book..."--Multicultural Review"...this valuable study adds significantly to our understanding of the contributions made by black women to racial uplift efforts in the North."--Nineteenth-Century Literature--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.