Dancing on the white page : Black women entertainers writing autobiography / Kwakiutl L. Dreher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dreher, Kwakiutl L., 1957-

Series:

SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/video

The SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/video

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American women entertainers--Biography.

African American women entertainers.

Autobiography--African American authors.

Autobiography.

Autobiography--Women authors.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 225 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2008]

Summary:

Dancing on the White Page examines the popular autobiographies of six well-known Black women entertainers-Diahann Carroll, Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mary Wilson-and makes a case for adding Black celebrity autobiography to the African American literary canon. As she explores these women's fascinating stories, Kwakiutl L. Dreher reveals how each one improvises the choreography of her life to survive and thrive in the film, television, and music industries, as well as the politically charged environment of the Black community, most specifically represented by the NAACP. Reading each autobiography as a site of self-revelation, Dreher discovers stories of Black self-determination along with the fight for liberation from oppression and racial and gender discrimination. She explores each woman's full meaning in American culture at large and in American entertainment culture in particular.

Contents:

Introduction: Are We Listening to the Footsteps of the Dance on the White Page? 1

Chapter 1 Lena Horne: The Symbol Must Stand for Something 29

Chapter 2 Dorothy Dandridge: The Dance of the Black Female Child Entertainer 61

Chapter 3 Eartha Kitt: The Dance of the Autobiographical Defense 91

Chapter 4 Diahann Carroll: The Recuperation of Black Widow-Single Mother/Womanhood 119

Chapter 5 Mary Wilson: Taking Care of the Business of Girlfriends through Autobiography 147

Chapter 6 Whoopi Goldberg: The Black Woman Celebrity Tell-All Iconoclast 175

Conclusion: The Dance Finale: What Have We Here? 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-218) and index.

ISBN:

9780791472835

0791472833

9780791472842

0791472841

OCLC:

79860883