Written by Herself: Literary Production by African American Women, 1746–1892

by Frances Smith Foster

"...substantial contribution to African-American Studies and women’s studies." —Mississippi Quarterly "A bravura performance by an accomplished scholar... it strikes a perfect balance between insightful literary analysis and historical investigation." —Eighteenth-Century Studies "... an impressive study of a wide range of writers.... Foster’s work is both scholarly and accessible. Her prose is economical and direct, making this book enjoyable as well as instructive." —Belles Lettres "... an impressively wide-ranging discussion of texts and contexts... " —Signs "Foster has written a fine book that provides the reader with a context for understanding the importance of the written word for women who chose to ‘set the record straight’." —Journal of American History "... fascinating, meticulously researched... Likely to prove seminal in the field... highly recommended... " —Library Journal "ÂWritten by Herself comprises a volume of remarkable female characters whose desires for social change often made them catalysts for spiritual awakening in their own times." —MultiCultural Review "... an outstanding piece of scholarship... Foster’s book offers deeply intelligent, provocative, totally accessible analysis of a tradition and of writers still not sufficiently read and taught." —American Literature "Well written and thoroughly researched. Highly recommended... " —Choice The first comprehensive cultural history of literature by African American women prior to the 20th century. From the oral histories of Alice, a slave born in 1686, to the literary tradition that included Jarena Lee and Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert, this literature was argument, designed to correct or to instruct an audience often ignorant about or even hostile to black women.

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Frances Smith Foster is an American researcher and emeritus Professor of African-American studies and women's history. She has previously served as the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Women's Studies at Emory University.

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Major Fields: 10/133
Covers the major historical, literary, and political context of pre-20th century black women writers including those on my list: Wheatley, Wilson, Jacobs, Harper, and Wells. Discusses the characteristics of colonial, antebellum, reconstruction, and nadir literature and how black women responded to the changing social and political climate. Also contains a sustained interrogation of the Cult of True Womanhood and how it appears and is challenged in these texts (particular attention to the "tragic mulatta" trope).
Covers the intellectual lineage of the field of African American literature, women's literature specifically, including by Hazel Carby, Jean Fagan Yellin, Robert Stepto, and others. Responding to Christian's _Black Women Novelists_ of 1980 and Washington's _Invented Lives_ of 1987.