Risking Difference: Identification, Race, and Community in Contemporary Fiction and Feminism

Acknowledgments

CONTENTS IX Acknowledgments More than most books, Risking Difference is a product of collaborative thinking and discussion. Marshall Alcorn, Pam Bromberg, Lynne Layton, Todd McGowan, and Frances Restuccia read and reread the whole book at various stages; they contributed not only their time and infinite patience, but also new ideas that stimulated my thinking and enriched the argument. Adelaida Lopez, Roberta Rubenstein, and Ewa Ziarek gave me valuable suggestions for revising chapter 4. Sonnet Retman made many helpful suggestions for managing the tricky argument of that chapter. Jeff Berman, Joan Moschovakis, and Martha Ronk did sensitive, careful and precise readings of the Introduction. Raul Villa contributed a key idea to chapter 6; and Rita Cano Alcalá gave me new insights into Sandra Cisnero’s work. Chapter 7 benefited from the readings of Elizabeth Abel, Wini Breines, Gabrielle Foreman, Jane Jaquette, Kalpana Seshadri-Crooks, and Victor Wolfenstein, who contributed shrewd and nuanced insights on the politics of race and identification; and Miranda Outman-Kramer’s inspired restructuring suggestions helped me to reshape chapter 7. Hilary Neroni and Barbara Schapiro, readers for the press, read the manuscript with unusual care, tact, and insight. Judith Block, James Peltz, and Anne Valentine have been kind and encouraging editors. Because of the support of this vibrant intellectual community of readers, writing became less a lonely pursuit than a stimulating dialogue and exchange of ideas. My student research assistant, Regina Clemente, was remarkable for her unfailing competence, hard work, and good cheer. I thank Cynthia Marugg for the painstaking and seemingly infinite copying. Most of all, I wish to thank my husband Bob Braden, who nurtured my writing both literally, as cook, and inspirationally, as writing coach, for his unflagging support and love. ix Parts of chapter 1 appeared in Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 17.1 (Spring, 1998). A small portion of chapter 3 was published in PMLA 108.3 (May 1993); a small portion of chapter 4 appeared in Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society 1.2, 1996; and a small portion of chapter 5 appeared in Women’s Studies 25.6 (1996). A version of chapter 6, slightly altered, appeared in Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 14.2 (Fall 1995). Parts of chapters 4 and 7 appeared in “Toward Cross-Race Dialogue” (Signs 29.3, Spring 2004). x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...