Date Approved
2016
Degree Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department or School
English Language and Literature
Committee Member
Robin Lucy
Committee Member
Abby Coykendall
Abstract
Too often, writing by and about Black women has been sidelined in scholarly work about African American writing prior to the post-World War II era. This is especially true in the recently emergent school of work surrounding the Chicago Black Renaissance. This thesis focuses on a single literary magazine, Negro Story, in order to explore the complexity of Black female identity in the 1940s through the work of the female editors and contributors to the periodical. These contributors come from varied racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, but their work takes on a cohesive quality as the stories are constantly in conversation with one another. Negro Story represents a unique opportunity for women to assert themselves as both activists and artisans, and the stories collected here pave the way for an emergent Black female voice over the second half of the twentieth century.
Recommended Citation
Convery, Maureen, "What is the negro woman's story?: Negro Story Magazine and the dialogue of feminist voices" (2016). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 801.
https://commons.emich.edu/theses/801