Tamara Michelle Beauboeuf -- Africana Library, Cornell University

Author: Tamara Michelle Beauboeuf

Title: Memories of Pre-Adolescence and First-Person Narratives: Tools of Identity Formation for Africana Women

Degree Date: May 1992

Committee Chairperson: William E. Cross, Jr.

Call Number: Thesis DT 3 .5 1992 B371

Description: ix, 179 leaves; 29 cm.

Abstract: This project examines the pre-adolescent coherence presented by the Africana women narrators of three novels. Following an analysis of psychological and sociological works which explore the importance of pre-adolescent coherence in the female life-cycle, this study then traces the manifestations and continuity of this critically conscious, capable, and self-secure identity throughout the pre-adolescent and adolescent years of the narrators. Asserted are two points: One, that the psychological heath of the adult narrators in sexist, racist, and classist environments is vitally dependent on their recourses to their pre-adolescent identities which they preserve despite the fragmentation they encounter in adolescence; Two, that the coherence of the narratives reflects the understanding which the narrators have of themselves and their environments. The study concludes with a discussion of the interplay of memory, reflection, and narratives in the life-long process of identity formation for these women of the African Diaspora.


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Print This Page Thesis Abstract Author: Tamara Michelle Beauboeuf Title: Memories of Pre-Adolescence and First-Person Narratives: Tools of Identity Formation for Africana Women Degree Date: May 1992 Committee Chairperson: William E. Cross, Jr. Call Number: Thesis DT 3 .5 1992 B371 Description: ix, 179 leaves; 29 cm. Abstract: This project examines the pre-adolescent coherence presented by the Africana women narrators of three novels. Following an analysis of psychological and sociological works which explore the importance of pre-adolescent coherence in the female life-cycle, this study then traces the manifestations and continuity of this critically conscious, capable, and self-secure identity throughout the pre-adolescent and adolescent years of the narrators. Asserted are two points: One, that the psychological heath of the adult narrators in sexist, racist, and classist environments is vitally dependent on their recourses to their pre-adolescent identities which they preserve despite the fragmentation they encounter in adolescence; Two, that the coherence of the narratives reflects the understanding which the narrators have of themselves and their environments. The study concludes with a discussion of the interplay of memory, reflection, and narratives in the life-long process of identity formation for these women of the African Diaspora.

Thesis Abstract