Title: Speaking in Tongues and Dancing Diaspora
Description: Deploying the trope of 'speaking in tongues' to theorise the multivocality of black women's writing, based on the reconstruction of a fundamentally spiritual practice as critical concept, Mae G. Henderson also enlists a second trope, 'dancing diaspora', to theorise the narrativity of black women's dance, based on the notions of 'performing testimony' and 'critical witnessing'. Together, these tropes are meant to signify a tradition of black women writing and performing, a tradition privileging the pre-eminence of voice and narration, along with the roles of listening and witnessing.
Subjects: American fiction, african american authors, history and criticism, American fiction, women authors, African american women, Entertainers, African americans, intellectual life, African americans in literature, Women in literature, American fiction, African American authors, History and criticism, Women authors, African American women entertainers, History, Intellectual life, African American women in literature