Conversions and visions in the writings of African-American women

About this book

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.