The Unruly Voice

Description

The Unruly Voice explores the literary and journalistic career of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, a turn-of-the-century African American writer who was editor in chief of the Colored American Magazine, though it was not acknowledged on the masthead. Hopkins wrote short fiction, novels, nonfiction articles, and a play believed to be the first by an African American woman. Versatile and politically committed, she was fired when the magazine was bought by an ally of Booker T. Washington who disliked her editorial stands and unconciliatory politics. Even though more than a thousand pages of Hopkins's works have been brought back into print, The Unruly Voice is the first book devoted exclusively to her writings and the significance she holds for readers today. Contributors explore the social, political, and historical conditions that informed her literary works.

First Sentence

Hortense Spillers's words, taken from her 1987 article, "Mama's Baby, Papa's maybe: An American Grammar Book," point to the importance of self-representation for contemporary African American women writers and to the urgency of the need to articulate identity through a discourse which, if not one's own, might be temporarily appropriated as such.

Subjects

Other Editions

• The unruly voice: rediscovering Pauline Elizabeth HopkinsUniversity of Illinois Press1996-01-01
• The Unruly VoicePaperbackUniversity of Illinois Press1996-05-01
• The Unruly VoiceHardcoverUniversity of Illinois Press1996-06-01