Date of Award

Spring 6-13-2025

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in English

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, English and Literary Arts

First Advisor

Kristy L. Ulibarri

Second Advisor

Sheila Lorraine Carter-Tod

Third Advisor

Frédérique Chevillot

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Autonomy, Black female agency, Empowerment, Harlem Renaissance, Justice, Voice/silence, Religion

Abstract

This thesis explores themes of Black female agency in selected short stories by Angelina Weld Grimké and Zora Neale Hurston. Pushing back against the belief that the Harlem Renaissaince was a movement solely for male artists, Grimké and Hurston write short stories that center Black women and their experiences. Through the avenues of bodily autonomy, the using or silencing of voice, the opportunity and ability to make choices, issues of justice, retribution, and vengeance, the holding of authority, and being empowered or disempowered, I examine the female characters’ exercising of their agency to varying degrees. I also discuss how religious imagery and common archetypes of Black women are used throughout these stories and how they shed light on Black female agency. This thesis offers close readings of “Blackness,” “Goldie,” and “The Closing Door” by Grimké, and “The Gilded Six Bits,” “Black Death,” and “Monky Junk” by Hurston.

Copyright Date

6-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Jessica Ellen Hartenbower

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

84 pgs

File Size

461 KB

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