Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

This close reading of the text highlights how Miss Jane, in her double role as protagonist and narrator, shows considerable ambivalence towards friend and foe alike, with the result that the apparently transparent ideological meaning of entire episodes is blurred by what some critics have merely put...

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Autor principal:	Monica Michlin
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN FR
Publicado:	Association Française d'Etudes Américaines 2006
Materias:	political consciousness textuality intimacy race relations voice Gaines Ernest J. History America E-F America E11-143
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d5e6d56029a34338aaf2abbbd7b218ab
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d5e6d56029a34338aaf2abbbd7b218ab2021-12-02T10:14:59ZAmbivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman1765-276610.4000/transatlantica.1092https://doaj.org/article/d5e6d56029a34338aaf2abbbd7b218ab2006-05-01T00:00:00Zhttp://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/1092https://doaj.org/toc/1765-2766This close reading of the text highlights how Miss Jane, in her double role as protagonist and narrator, shows considerable ambivalence towards friend and foe alike, with the result that the apparently transparent ideological meaning of entire episodes is blurred by what some critics have merely put down to “conservatism.” I examine Miss Jane’s almost constant suppression of emotion, and frequent displays of ambivalence towards other black people; her ambiguous relationship to oppressive, but familiar whites like Albert Cluveau or Robert Samson; and her conflicted relation to black heroes and heroics. Is the leading character a variation on the “mammy” who has internalized racist figures of speech, and uses contradictory images that undermine black heroics and validate white oppression? Or is Gaines’s point to undo the “retrick” of heroics and of alienation alike, and, against of backdrop of constant, ordinary destruction of black lives, to cast the adult Miss Jane as a Brer Rabbit-like figure, for whom survival and resistance are both dialectically connected and opposed? Is there a contradiction between her “progress” towards resistance shown in the last section, and her metadiscursive comments in the present, and does her literally walking out of her own story give a conclusive meaning to her narrative, or does it point to the author’s not having been able to resolve the ambivalence and ambiguities within the text?Monica MichlinAssociation Française d'Etudes Américainesarticlepolitical consciousnesstextualityintimacyrace relationsvoiceGaines Ernest J.History AmericaE-FAmericaE11-143ENFRTransatlantica : Revue d'Études Américaines, Vol 1 (2006)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN FR
topic	political consciousness textuality intimacy race relations voice Gaines Ernest J. History America E-F America E11-143
spellingShingle	political consciousness textuality intimacy race relations voice Gaines Ernest J. History America E-F America E11-143 Monica Michlin Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
description	This close reading of the text highlights how Miss Jane, in her double role as protagonist and narrator, shows considerable ambivalence towards friend and foe alike, with the result that the apparently transparent ideological meaning of entire episodes is blurred by what some critics have merely put down to “conservatism.” I examine Miss Jane’s almost constant suppression of emotion, and frequent displays of ambivalence towards other black people; her ambiguous relationship to oppressive, but familiar whites like Albert Cluveau or Robert Samson; and her conflicted relation to black heroes and heroics. Is the leading character a variation on the “mammy” who has internalized racist figures of speech, and uses contradictory images that undermine black heroics and validate white oppression? Or is Gaines’s point to undo the “retrick” of heroics and of alienation alike, and, against of backdrop of constant, ordinary destruction of black lives, to cast the adult Miss Jane as a Brer Rabbit-like figure, for whom survival and resistance are both dialectically connected and opposed? Is there a contradiction between her “progress” towards resistance shown in the last section, and her metadiscursive comments in the present, and does her literally walking out of her own story give a conclusive meaning to her narrative, or does it point to the author’s not having been able to resolve the ambivalence and ambiguities within the text?
format	article
author	Monica Michlin
author_facet	Monica Michlin
author_sort	Monica Michlin
title	Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
title_short	Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
title_full	Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
title_fullStr	Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
title_full_unstemmed	Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
title_sort	ambivalence and ambiguity in the autobiography of miss jane pittman
publisher	Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
publishDate	2006
url	https://doaj.org/article/d5e6d56029a34338aaf2abbbd7b218ab
work_keys_str_mv	AT monicamichlin ambivalenceandambiguityintheautobiographyofmissjanepittman
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Ambivalence and Ambiguity in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

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