Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
English Language and Literatures
Sub-Department
College of Arts and Sciences
First Advisor
Gretchen Woertendyke
Abstract
This thesis analyzes abjection in the African-American female experience using Bayou, a graphic novel series by Jeremy Love and Patrick Morgan. I examine the relationship between the protagonist, Lee, and her late mother, Tar Baby, to reveal the latter as an abject component of the former’s identity. The project continues a trend of reading abjection into the African-American experience using gothic fiction and focuses on multiple scenes that serve as intersections of violence and femininity. It draws on sociological and psychological studies concerning black womanhood and beauty politics to extend investigation to the Mississippi community Lee and Tar Baby share. Finding that the dynamic between mother and daughter is mirrored in Tar Baby’s relationship with her community, this paper views abjection as a continuous challenge in black bodies on an individual and communal scale.
Rights
© 2016, Chalice Ritter
Recommended Citation
Ritter, C.(2016). Tarred and Floral: Femininity, Race, and the Abject in Bayou. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3858