"Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction

Focusing on the portrayal of motherhood in black women’s speculative fiction, this essay discusses Jewelle Gomez’s short story “Louisiana 1850“ (1991) and explores how Gomez establishes an egalitarian interracial maternal relationship between a white woman and a slave child. I will demonstrat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marie-Luise Löffler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Regensburg: Current objectives in postgraduate American studies c/o Universität Regensburg/Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik 2012-03-01
Series:Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies
Online Access:https://copas.uni-regensburg.de/index.php/copas/article/view/103
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846166812634382336
author Marie-Luise Löffler
author_facet Marie-Luise Löffler
author_sort Marie-Luise Löffler
collection DOAJ
description Focusing on the portrayal of motherhood in black women’s speculative fiction, this essay discusses Jewelle Gomez’s short story “Louisiana 1850“ (1991) and explores how Gomez establishes an egalitarian interracial maternal relationship between a white woman and a slave child. I will demonstrate how the trope of a maternal vampire in particular not only functions in the story to make a mothering relationship plausible, but ultimately challenges and dismantles normative maternal categories, both white and black.
format Article
id doaj-art-36e3f3ab22db4fee80bfc92b687fd862
institution Kabale University
issn 1861-6127
language English
publishDate 2012-03-01
publisher Regensburg: Current objectives in postgraduate American studies c/o Universität Regensburg/Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
record_format Article
series Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies
spelling doaj-art-36e3f3ab22db4fee80bfc92b687fd8622024-11-15T07:54:48ZengRegensburg: Current objectives in postgraduate American studies c/o Universität Regensburg/Institut für Anglistik und AmerikanistikCurrent Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies1861-61272012-03-01910.5283/copas.103"Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s FictionMarie-Luise LöfflerFocusing on the portrayal of motherhood in black women’s speculative fiction, this essay discusses Jewelle Gomez’s short story “Louisiana 1850“ (1991) and explores how Gomez establishes an egalitarian interracial maternal relationship between a white woman and a slave child. I will demonstrate how the trope of a maternal vampire in particular not only functions in the story to make a mothering relationship plausible, but ultimately challenges and dismantles normative maternal categories, both white and black.https://copas.uni-regensburg.de/index.php/copas/article/view/103
spellingShingle Marie-Luise Löffler
"Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction
Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies
title "Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction
title_full "Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction
title_fullStr "Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction
title_full_unstemmed "Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction
title_short "Children aren’t everything": Maternal Ambivalences in Nella Larsen’s Fiction
title_sort children aren t everything maternal ambivalences in nella larsen s fiction
url https://copas.uni-regensburg.de/index.php/copas/article/view/103
work_keys_str_mv AT marieluiseloffler childrenarenteverythingmaternalambivalencesinnellalarsensfiction