Reimagining the Real through the Black Lense: Altering the Conversation Surrounding Magical Realism and the Unexplainable in African American Contemporary Literature Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

Emerging in magical realism in African American literature, contemporary female writers have altered the conversation surrounding traditional expectations of the magical realism genre. As one of leading authors in African American magical realism and African American literature in its entirety, traditional discourse mostly surrounds Toni Morrison. In her work magical realism revolves around depicting the perpetuity of the effects of enslavement and ensuring the horrors associated are not lost to history. In my thesis, I have analyzed three literary works: The Chosen One by Echo Brown, The Blue Is Where God Lives by Sharon Sochil Washington, and Gone Like Yesterday by Janelle M. Williams. Extending the conversation that Morrison has begun, contemporary authors focus their work on the healing and moving forward of the African American community from the social impacts of enslavement. While separate in their own rights, the works are connected through the new genre tropes of ancestral communication, collective memory and identity, and the disruption of cycles that impact the African American community. These themes are made present through usages of magical realism but also the unexplainable which is a term that encompasses the space between reality and the scientific. 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….................Page 1

Chapter 1: Our Ancestors Speak Through Us..………….………………………………..........Page 13

Chapter 2: The Bindings of Black America: Memory, Identity, and Remembrance….….Page 26

Chapter 3: Going Round and Round: Cycles and their Impacts……………..…….…….....Page 36

Conclusion…….…………………………………………………………..……………...............…Page 52

Works Cited…………………………………………………………….…………………................Page 55

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Literature, African
Keyword	Magical Realism
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Adriane Ivey, Emory University
Committee Members	Marina Magloire, Emory University Amanda Gordon, Emory University

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