At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home
This article offers a transcultural reading of the issues of cultural trauma and mobility in Daniel Black’s novel They Tell Me of a Home (2005). The protagonist, T.L., returns to his agrarian home community, Swamp Creek, in Arkansas, after a ten-year absence in which he received a PhD in black studi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/11607 |
| _version_ | 1797310438252216320 |
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| author | Pekka Kilpeläinen |
| author_facet | Pekka Kilpeläinen |
| author_sort | Pekka Kilpeläinen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article offers a transcultural reading of the issues of cultural trauma and mobility in Daniel Black’s novel They Tell Me of a Home (2005). The protagonist, T.L., returns to his agrarian home community, Swamp Creek, in Arkansas, after a ten-year absence in which he received a PhD in black studies in New York. His homecoming foregrounds the cultural clash between the patriarchal black community and the elitist academic world that T.L. represents. This is articulated in the novel at the aesthetic level as the tension between the oral storytelling tradition of the black community and the literary expression favored by T.L. The opposite sides of the cultural clash and their respective modes of cultural production are understood as ways of dealing with the cultural memory of slavery and its aftermaths. The Meetin’ Tree, the site of storytelling in Swamp Creek, becomes a transcultural space where these issues are negotiated. T.L. eventually adopts a newfound appreciation for his cultural roots and also initiates a change in the negative attitudes of the community towards education and reading. He thereby becomes a transcultural mediator between these conflicting cultures, aiming to stress and combine their strengths and to negotiate their weaknesses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-23a9305c0bf04e20ad9bc62e5b938247 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:58Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-23a9305c0bf04e20ad9bc62e5b9382472024-02-14T13:19:46ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933611210.4000/ejas.11607At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a HomePekka KilpeläinenThis article offers a transcultural reading of the issues of cultural trauma and mobility in Daniel Black’s novel They Tell Me of a Home (2005). The protagonist, T.L., returns to his agrarian home community, Swamp Creek, in Arkansas, after a ten-year absence in which he received a PhD in black studies in New York. His homecoming foregrounds the cultural clash between the patriarchal black community and the elitist academic world that T.L. represents. This is articulated in the novel at the aesthetic level as the tension between the oral storytelling tradition of the black community and the literary expression favored by T.L. The opposite sides of the cultural clash and their respective modes of cultural production are understood as ways of dealing with the cultural memory of slavery and its aftermaths. The Meetin’ Tree, the site of storytelling in Swamp Creek, becomes a transcultural space where these issues are negotiated. T.L. eventually adopts a newfound appreciation for his cultural roots and also initiates a change in the negative attitudes of the community towards education and reading. He thereby becomes a transcultural mediator between these conflicting cultures, aiming to stress and combine their strengths and to negotiate their weaknesses.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/11607mobilityAfrican American fictiontransculturationcultural memoryspatiality |
| spellingShingle | Pekka Kilpeläinen At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home European Journal of American Studies mobility African American fiction transculturation cultural memory spatiality |
| title | At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home |
| title_full | At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home |
| title_fullStr | At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home |
| title_full_unstemmed | At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home |
| title_short | At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home |
| title_sort | at the meetin tree reading storytelling and transculturation in daniel black s they tell me of a home |
| topic | mobility African American fiction transculturation cultural memory spatiality |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/11607 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pekkakilpelainen atthemeetintreereadingstorytellingandtransculturationindanielblackstheytellmeofahome |