Fashioning lives
Subtitle: black queers and the politics of literacy
By: Eric Darnell Pritchard
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
ISBN-13: 9780809335541
Subjects: Social conditions; Interviews; African American sexual minorities; Literacy
Other titles: Black queers and the politics of literacy
Description: "Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy analyzes the life stories of sixty Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people along with archival documents, literature, and film. Author Eric Darnell Pritchard provides a theoretical framework for studying the literacy work of Black LGBTQ people, who do not fit into the traditional categories imposed on their language practices and identities. Examining the myriad ways literacy is used to inflict harm, Pritchard discusses how these harmful events prompt Black LGBTQ people to ensure their own survival by repurposing literacy through literacy performances fueled by accountability to self and communal love towards social and political change, a process the author calls "restorative literacies." Pritchard highlights restorative literacies in literacy institutions (e.g., libraries, schools), historical records repositories, religious and spiritual spaces, parties, community events, activist organizations, and digital spheres. This trailblazing study draws connections between race and queerness in literacy, composition, and rhetoric and provides the basis for a sustainable dialogue on their intersections in the discipline" -- From the publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-294) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : black queer meanings of literacy; title: "Treacherous enterprises" : hiding/out through literacy concealment; title: "Because of their fearlessness, I felt empowered" : ancestors, fictive kin, and elders; title: "Spiritual wanderers and resident aliens" : the unholy life of literacy normativity and the creation of black queer spiritualities; title: Feeling myself : refashioning undesirability in black queer digital spheres; title: Conclusion.