'Like Surah, Like Song': The Poetics of Faith, Femininity and Orality across the East African Diaspora

“像古兰经，像歌曲”：东非侨民的信仰、女性气质和口头诗学

• 批准号: 2893554
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Nottingham Trent University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2893554
• 关键词: Like; Surah; Song; Poetics; Faith

My thesis concentrates on contemporary African orality, exploring the interconnection of faith, femininityand voice in diasporic East African poetry. As a region unique for its blend of African, Arab and Islamicinfluences, East Africa's orature is steeped in spiritual lyricism, comprising elements of song, storytellingand Quranic verse. East African poets living in Black British and African American community revive thisliterary merging in the modern age, employing a combination of western, Islamic and East African oralheritages to amplify Black female voice (Henderson 2014). Drawing on Hall's (1990) assertion that musicand spirituality are unifying genres across the African diaspora, the project will establish comparisonsbetween Sudanese and Somali poetry in form, rhythm and content. Exploring themes of sanctuary,religion, female rebellion and motherhood, I will conduct a close analysis of poetry by severalcontemporary authors: Safia Elhillo, Emtithal Mahmoud, Momtaza Mehri, Amina Jama, Ladan Osman andWarsan Shire. My primary research questions are:How does orature encourage women to reclaim spaces of oppression, granting a voice to speak againstpatriarchy and the systemic inequality of their surroundings?How does the mother motif compare across Black feminist and diasporic African literature?How is poetic testimony used to dismantle religious oppression?To what extent is the label of 'black orature' reductive; how can an awareness of both Black diasporicand East African poetic traditions form a more nuanced reading of poets' works?The thesis will be conducted through an intersectional and decolonial feminist gaze, adopting amethodology that reflects the authors' amalgamation of form, theory and identity. Engaging with whatAnzaldúa (2012) refers to as a 'synergy of two cultures', I will explore how the poets hybridize Black7 / 23spoken word and East African poetic verse to form a uniquely diasporic orality. Additionally, I will discussthe amalgamation of Islamic doctrine and indigenous superstition depicted within the poems i.e. evil eye,jinn, and black magic (Khalifa et al. 2011), creating a culture of superstition towards women (Federici2018) that the authors wilfully reclaim.Moving beyond male scholarship (Bhabha 1994, Fanon 2008), I will highlight poetic depictions of abuseand sexuality, contesting cultural folktales based on feminine defamation (Courlander 1975,Andrzejewski 1964). Colonial gender systems will be interrogated as racialised, trans-exclusionaryconstructs (hooks 1981, Lugones 2007), prompting a reinvigorated discussion of womanhood. Hybridityand third spaces (reclaimed as female sanctuaries) will be explored through social reproduction theory(Bhattacharya 2017); interweaving contemporary global scholarship on decolonial feminism (Vergès2021, Lugones 2010), filial angst (Williams 2016, Jenkins 2002) and gendered Islamophobia (Olufemi2020), the project establishes a multifaceted discussion of East African Muslim womanhood.With African literary studies largely dominated by West and North African literature, my projectcontributes to research on East African orature via an innovative and intersectional approach, connectingSudanese and Somali poetry through their shared spiritual lyricism, narratives of displacement anddiasporic experiences. The project's proposed BAME podcast, student poetry exhibition at BoningtonGallery and placement with New Art Exchange's All Black Connect Showcase offers representation forintersectional voices.

我的论文集中于当代非洲口头性，探索信仰，女性和声音在散居东非诗歌的相互联系。作为一个融合了非洲、阿拉伯和伊斯兰教影响的独特地区，东非的神谕充满了精神上的抒情性，包括歌曲、讲故事和古兰经经文。生活在英国黑人和非洲裔美国人社区的东非诗人在现代复兴了这种文学融合，采用西方，伊斯兰和东非口头遗产的组合来放大黑人女性的声音（亨德森2014）。霍尔（Hall，1990）断言，音乐和灵性是非洲散居地的统一流派，该项目将在形式、节奏和内容上比较苏丹和索马里诗歌。探索庇护，宗教，女性反叛和母性的主题，我将对几位当代作家的诗歌进行仔细分析：Safia Elhillo，Emtithal Mahmoud，Momtaza Mehri，Amina Jama，Ladan Osman和Warsan Shire。我的主要研究问题是：神学如何鼓励女性收回压迫的空间，给予一个声音来反对父权制和周围环境的系统性不平等？母亲主题在黑人女权主义者和散居的非洲文学中有何比较？诗的见证如何被用来消除宗教压迫？在何种程度上是“黑色orature”的标签还原;如何才能既黑人流散和东非诗歌传统的认识形成一个更微妙的阅读诗人的作品？本论文将透过一个交叉的、非殖民的女性主义视角，采用反映作者形式、理论和身份融合的方法论。与Anzaldúa（2012）所指的“两种文化的协同作用”相结合，我将探索诗人如何混合黑人口语和东非诗歌，形成一种独特的散居口头性。此外，我将讨论伊斯兰教义与诗歌中描绘的土著迷信的融合，即邪恶的眼睛，精灵和黑魔法（Khalifa等人，2011年），创造了一种对女性的迷信文化。（Federici 2018），作者故意收回。超越男性奖学金（Bhabha 1994，Fanon 2008），我将强调对虐待和性行为的诗意解释，质疑基于女性诽谤的文化民间故事（Courlander 1975，Andrzeolski 1964）。殖民地的性别系统将被视为种族化的、跨种族的结构（hooks 1981，Lugones 2007），这促使了对女性身份的重新讨论。混合与第三空间（被改造成女性庇护所）将通过社会再生产理论进行探讨（Bhattacharya 2017）;交织当代全球学术对非殖民地女权主义（Vergès 2021，Lugones 2010），子女焦虑（威廉姆斯2016年，詹金斯2002年）和性别伊斯兰恐惧症（Olufemi 2020），该项目建立了东非穆斯林妇女的多方面讨论。非洲文学研究主要由西非和北非文学主导，我的项目通过创新和交叉的方法，通过他们共同的精神抒情，流离失所和散居经历的叙述，连接苏丹和索马里诗歌，有助于东非orature的研究。该项目提出的BAME播客，学生诗歌展览在博宁顿画廊和安置与新艺术交流的所有黑色连接展示提供了代表性的交叉声音。