2 page proposal . African-American Literature

An example proposal.html

Patricia A. West

[email protected]

912-358-3356

http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/46242

May 21, 2012

Identities in Displacement: Difference and Dislocations in Multi-Ethnic Literatures and Cultures (MELUS)

“African flowers are not meant for parlors,” says the Arabic character Dar in the Edmund Greville’s film, Princess Tam-Tam.  This line expresses the conference theme of displacement and dislocation better than any other in the film. The year was 1935 and the famed dancer Josephine Baker lived as a displaced person, one who self-exiled to France in order to escape the racist ways of life in the United States. The film Princess Tam-Tam features Baker’s character Alwina as one who is displaced from her poor home life to that of her rich, white benefactor, Coton.

Previously written as a seminar paper, this presentation will go further by examining how difference and dislocation functioned in a post war world. By drawing on the Orientalism work of the late Edward Said, I will suggest that session participants consider Baker’s defiant and heroic acts as ways to represent herself and counteract media attempts to monopolize her talents. Critics can read the film as a text about subversion and subtle resistance disguised in various motifs throughout the mis-en-scene. By showing brief clips, I will provide conference-goers the opportunity to judge the significance of Baker’s role and the message she was trying to send as an actress in exile and a social activist. If Baker is the African flower, what were the ‘parlors’ surrounding her? How is African culture represented in the film? More importantly, how does Baker shape her individual identity and her identity as a transnational African-American? It will be interesting to re-view this film for its artistic beauty and its messages about displacement. Finally, I hope to add to the quiet conversation about Josephine Baker’s work which one might say is twice displaced. As scholars, we can situate and re-locate Baker and find significance in her legacy.