Conversions and visions in the writings of African-American women
By: Kimberly Rae Connor.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Tennesee Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 317
Subjects: American literature -- African American authors -- History and criticism.; American literature -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; African American women -- Intellectual life.; Religion and literature -- United States.; Women and literature -- United States.; African American women in literature.; Conversion in literature.; Visions in literature.
Description: Conversions and Visions in the Writings of African-American Women is a cultural study of the ways in which religion and literature have collaborated to promote self-affirmation among African-American women. From nineteenth-century autobiography to twentieth-century fiction, Kimberly Rae Connor explores the ancestral influence of religion and literature on African-American women's creative development and writings, offering new insights into the authors, their works, and their effect on society.

Drawing upon literary theory, women's studies, and religious studies, Connor expands the categories by which African-American writings are traditionally read. Using the concept of "religious conversion" as a paradigm, Connor examines an African-American woman's achievement of selfhood as a unique experience characterized more by a turning toward and embracing of self than by a turning away from sin.

The subsequent achievement of selfhood is then based on the interplay of individual and community identities. Connor suggests that the distinctiveness of African-American women's experiences and writings can transcend their immediate communities and be brought to bear on women's experiences in general, making their individual stories more accessible and meaningful to the whole of humankind.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-309) and index.