Sentimental confessions
Subtitle: spiritual narratives of nineteenth-century African American women
By: Joycelyn Moody.
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Athens
Language: eng
Number of pages: 208
Subjects: African American women -- Religious life; African American women -- Biography -- History and criticism; Christian biography -- United States -- History and criticism; Sentimentalism in literature; Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century; African American women -- Intellectual life -- 19th century; Evangelicalism -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Nationalism -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Autobiography -- African American authors; African American women in literature; Autobiography -- Women authors
Description: "Sentimental Confessions is a ground-breaking study of evangelicalism, sentimentalism, and nationalism in early African American holy women's autobiography. At its core are analyses of the life writings of six women - Maria Stewart, Jarena Lee, Zilpha Elaw, Nancy Prince, Mattie J. Jackson, and Julia Foote - all of which appeared in the mid-nineteenth century.".

"Joycelyn Moody shows how these authors appropriated white-sanctioned literary conventions to assert their voices and to protest the racism, patriarchy, and other forces that created and sustained their poverty and enslavement. In doing so, Moody also reveals the wealth of insights that could be gained from these kinds of writings if we were to acknowledge the spiritual convictions of their authors.

The deeply held, passionately expressed beliefs of these women, says Moody, should not be brushed aside by scholars who may be tempted to view them as naive or as indicative only of the racial, class, and gender oppressions these women suffered. In addition, Moody promotes new ways of looking at dictated narratives without relegating them to a status below self-authored texts.".

"Helping to recover a neglected chapter of American literary history, Sentimental Confessions is filled with insights into the state of the nation in the nineteenth century."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-200) and index.