LITR 5731:
Seminar in American Minority Literature
University of Houston-Clear Lake, fall 2001
Student Research Proposal
Andrea Dunn
Dr. White,
I am writing with an idea for my Seminar in American Minority Literature
research project. As I mentioned in class, I am a Cross-Cultural Studies
graduate student and would like my research to reflect my interests in that
realm of academia. At the center of cultural discourse is the concept of
identity. For this reason I have been most interested in the ways in which
the authors of the African American works we have read or are currently
reading have expressed the ways familial ties and names/name-calling are used
to create or destroy identity. I am not certain whether the rest of the
minority literature we will read uses similar themes but I am hopeful that it
does. I would like to know if you think research on the topic of names and
family (and it follows family names) as identity in literature and art would
be an appropriate topic for the project. I envision a journal-type project
that would serve as a reference to others searching for resources on the
expression of cultural identity.
Any feedback you can offer is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Andrea Dunn
***********************
Dear Andrea,
Names are a good place for
literature and cross-cultural studies to meet, so by all means stay at it.
You'll find a lot of material in Song
of Solomon, both family names and nicknames, and the name of Push's
protagonist "Precious" is commented on several times.
The slave narratives pose some
problems regarding family names, since the family line is so repeatedly broken,
but certainly naming issues come up often in Equiano, Jacobs, and
Douglass--sometimes new names are forced on them, sometimes (as in Jacobs) they
take another name for protection, sometimes (as in Douglass) they
"self-invent" with a new name. I assume that Equiano's name is his
original African name, which he seems to recover--most don't have the chance,
though Alex Haley's Roots describes his original ancestor, Kunta Kinte,
as resisting the slavemaster's names and hanging on to the original name.
The trend of renaming
(voluntarily) continues in some African American Islamic groups--Malcolm X goes
through several changes and rationales for changes, throwing off his family name
as the same as the slavemaster's.
Well, one goes on, but you see how
often the issue rises from African American literature. Plus I'm always
intrigued by the African American culture's fondness for nicknames. Maybe this
is a "traditional culture" trend, as it shows up elsewhere, but
nicknaming seems to be dwindling away in modern or postmodern cultures.
A book I ordered for the library
but still haven't gotten around to is The Language of Names by Justin
Kaplan and Anne Bernays. Your journal could do some pages reviewing it, if
desirable. I can mention a couple theories of naming in conference if you care
to ask.
Since the topic is so fertile, it
does seem appropriate for a journal. Thanks for the submission and check in
again as you like.
Craig White
Dr. White,
During my original proposal I expressed an interest in names as identity
especially with regard to African American literature. After considering the
topic further and beginning my preliminary research, I'd like to focus my topic
a bit more.
I am offering you the following "outline" for review. I see each of
the following sections as containing two or more pieces which might include a
book review, a website review, a biography, a bibliography or an essay based on
my research on the topic. I plan on inserting examples of African American
character names within the pieces where applicable to tie the research back to
the original source of my intrigue, names in African American literature.
I. Introduction: what it is that interested me in the use of names of African
American literature (specific to the texts we have read in class and other
African American literature I have either read or am fairly familiar with), what
questions I began to ask myself about my assumptions regarding African American
names and naming traditions, and my proposal for answering these questions. In
short, what I didn't know and how I propose to find out.
II. A study of names and naming: A review of The Language of Names by
Justin Kaplan and Anne Bernays and other information regarding the
philosophical, psychological and sociological study of names and naming
including a discussion of onomastics as found in journals, other texts and
websites.
III. A study of African American names (probably a review of J.L. Dillard's Black
Names as this has been a most helpful text and the chapter "The
Africans: They Chose Their Own Name" in Family Names by J.N. Hook.)
This discussion will include discussions on: slave names, secret names,
nicknames, epithets or name-calling, shop names, vehicles names, nameshifting,
Jazz and Blues names, Islamic name changes, naming ceremonies and unique names.
I will also integrate information from journal articles in this or a separate
discussion within the section.
IV. A study of naming in literature (with an emphasis on African American
literature) that will include a brief discussion of names and naming in
literature in general, a book review of Deep Talk: Reading African-American
Literary Names by Debra Walker King, and a discussion of specific examples
from African American literature that also connect my original interest with the
topic at hand.
V. Summary - what I learned and how it will contribute to my readings of African
American literature from here forward. Also, other questions that the research
brought forth that are potential topics for additional research.
If it is ok with you, rather than writing a separate piece, I'd like to weave
aspects of the "historical report of a major event or serious of events in
cultural history" requirement in with the third section on African American
names as much of the naming, unnaming and renaming that will be discussed rely
upon a historical contextualization (e.g., slavery, civil rights movement). I
feel a separate piece on the subject would be redundant.
Please let me know if you find anything missing or lacking from this outline or
if you have any suggestions that might help me along with my research. I
appreciate your time.
Sincerely,
Andrea Dunn
Dear Andrea,
Your research and
your outline look very good so far. I especially look forward to what you report
from Black Names and Family Names. (A few years ago I read a NYTimes article
mentioning a dilemma in black names, that "too black" a name can be a
handicap in the cultural world; yet there is a contrary impulse to resist such
assimilation.) Also I agree with your plan to integrate any historical
discussion into that section. (Am I following you right? Anyway it sounded as
though your decision was well considered.)
The Debra Walker
book is a real find. Do we have a copy here at UHCL? If not, I'll order it.
My only
suggestion is one you're probably already considering, which is to keep in mind
(as convenient or interesting) the distinctions between general principles of
naming such as Kaplan and Bernays and African American principles of naming in
the other texts, for the sake of compiling what you learn about names that is
either universal to human language or peculiar to African American practice.
I wish I was
doing this research myself. That's a good feeling to get from a journal
proposal.