The Rhetoric of Quilts

"African-American literary works have been inspired by quilt-making...and several African-American women authors of children's literature have embraced this notion of reading the world by employing the quilt tradition in their stories. The implication that quilting reveals a continuum of A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	African American review 1998-01, p.67-76
Main Author:	Davis, Olga Idriss
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	African American children African American quilts African American women African American women authors African Americans, Race identity Children's literature Flournoy, Valerie Hopkinson, Deborah McKissack, Patricia Quilts Quilts, Themes, motives Ringgold, Faith Stroud, Bettye Wright, Courtni
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Summary:	"African-American literary works have been inspired by quilt-making...and several African-American women authors of children's literature have embraced this notion of reading the world by employing the quilt tradition in their stories. The implication that quilting reveals a continuum of African-American women's experience and creative expression is a recurrent theme in such works as Deborah Hopkinson's Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, Faith Ringgold's Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky, Courtni C. Wright's Journey to Freedom, Valerie Flournoy's The Patchwork Quilt, Patricia McKissack's Mirandy and Brother Wind, and Bettye Stroud's Down Home at Miss Dessa's. These authors present the quilt in ways which conceptualize identity and redefine history, setting in place a dialectical tension between traditional learning and critical literacy." (African American Review) Various ways that Ringgold, Wright, Flournoy, McKissack and Stroud "incorporate the quilt tradition in children's stories and reveal the rhetorical nature of Black women's ability to transcend adversity" are examined.
ISSN:	1062-4783 1945-6182