Publication:
Slavery and feminist rhetorics: Phillis Wheatley’s construction of communities through her poetry and letters

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Authors
Pinto, Daysha
Embargoed Until
Advisor
Lamore, Eric D.
College
College of Arts and Sciences - Art
Department
Department of English
Degree Level
M.A.
Publisher
Date
2017
Abstract
This thesis explores the intersections of gender, race, rhetoric, life writing, and early black Atlantic literature. I argue that Phillis Wheatley, a literate enslaved woman of African descent, sought to combat the effects of Orlando Patterson’s social death theory through poetry and letter writing. Specifically, my thesis focuses on how Wheatley constructed access to two types of imagined communities: communities of the mind and female communities of care. In chapter one, “Communities of the Mind: Accessing the Past, Visualizing the Future, and Creating Imagined Worlds,” I argue that Wheatley challenges the effects of social death by writing about two specific mental faculties in her poems “On Recollection” and “On Imagination.” In chapter two, “Female Communities Constructed Through Letter Writing,” I argue that Wheatley, through epistolary writing, created important, transatlantic relationships with other women in the Atlantic world. Drawing from Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities and Cynthia Huff’s critique of Anderson’s influential concept elaborated in Life Writing and Imagined Communities, I propose that Wheatley crafted access to female-centered imagined communities of mutual care and support through a shared Judeo-Christian culture.

Esta tesis explora las interconexiones de género, raza, retórica, escritura de la vida y literatura afrodiaspórica previa al siglo diecinueve. Propongo que Phillis Wheatley, una esclava alfabetizada de ascendencia africana, buscó combatir los efectos de la teoría de la muerte social postulada por Orlando Patterson a través de la escritura de poética y epistolar. Específicamente, esta tesis analiza la manera en la cual Wheatley construyó acceso a dos tipos de comunidades imaginadas: comunidades mentales y comunidades femeninas afectivas. En el primer capítulo, “Comunidades Mentales: Acceso al Pasado, Visualización del Futuro y Creación de Mundos Imaginados,” argumento que Wheatley desafía los efectos de la muerte social al escribir sobre dos facultades mentales en sus poemas “On Recollection” y “On Imagination.” En el segundo capítulo, “Comunidades Fémeninas Construidas A Través de Cartas,” postulo que Wheatley creó relaciones transatlánticas importantes con otras mujeres a través de la correspondencia. En diálogo con los textos Comunidades Imaginadas por Benedict Anderson y Escritura de Vida y Comunidades Imaginadas por Cynthia Huff, propongo que Wheatley construyó acceso a comunidades imaginadas de afecto y apoyo femenino a través de la fe y la cultura Judeo-Cristiana.
Keywords
Phillis Wheatley,
Slavery,
Feminist rhetorics
Cite
Pinto, D. (2017). Slavery and feminist rhetorics: Phillis Wheatley’s construction of communities through her poetry and letters [Thesis]. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11801/1150