Transforming Scriptures: African American Women Writers and the Bible

PART ONE. TROUBLING HERMENEUTICS

What฀did฀African฀American฀women฀see฀in฀the฀Bible?฀How฀did฀they฀come฀to฀ identify฀so฀strongly฀with฀an฀ancient,฀even฀foreign฀text? ฀ While฀researching฀this฀topic,฀I฀was฀surprised฀to฀find฀a฀fourteenthcentury ฀woodcut฀from฀the฀Speculum฀humanae฀salvationis฀(The฀mirror฀of฀ man’s฀salvation),฀which฀depicted฀in฀a฀single฀panel฀two฀of฀the฀biblical฀tropes฀ I฀identified฀as฀key฀to฀understanding฀the฀Bible฀in฀African฀American฀women’s฀ literature:฀the฀Balaam฀trope฀of฀the฀talking฀mule฀from฀Numbers฀22,฀and฀the฀ black฀but฀comely฀Shulamite฀from฀Song฀of฀Songs.1 ฀On฀the฀left฀side฀of฀this฀ woodcut฀is฀an฀illustration฀of฀Song฀of฀Songs฀4:12–15,฀replete฀with฀images฀of฀ a฀walled฀garden,฀flowing฀fountain,฀and฀lush฀flora฀and฀vegetation,฀symbols฀ said฀to฀prefigure฀the฀virginity฀of฀Mary.฀Facing฀right฀is฀an฀illustration฀from฀ Numbers฀22:24–34,฀the฀story฀of฀Balaam฀and฀his฀ass฀at฀the฀moment฀of฀ confrontation฀with฀the฀Angel฀of฀the฀Lord.฀The฀reference฀to฀Balaam฀points฀ to฀his฀prophecy฀of฀the฀birth฀of฀Jesus฀in฀a฀star,฀which฀is฀also฀thought฀to฀ represent฀the฀Virgin฀Mary. ฀ To฀readers฀unfamiliar฀with฀medieval฀allegory฀and฀typology฀ —฀ “the฀relating ฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament฀to฀the฀life฀of฀Jesus฀Christ”฀(Wilson฀and฀Wilson฀ 25)฀ —฀ these฀images฀seem฀oddly฀incoherent.฀Beyond฀the฀conspicuously฀ pa rT ฀ o n e troubling hermeneutics For฀now฀we฀see฀through฀a฀glass,฀darkly;฀but฀then฀face฀to฀face:฀฀ now฀I฀know฀in฀part;฀but฀then฀shall฀I฀know฀even฀as฀also฀I฀am฀known. 1฀Corinthians฀13:12 absent฀Virgin,฀the฀feminine฀is฀completely฀missing฀from฀the฀visual฀field฀(in฀the฀ illustration฀from฀the฀Song฀of฀Songs,฀there฀is฀not฀even฀a฀human฀figure).฀Important ฀for฀this฀study,฀the฀voice฀of฀the฀Shulamite฀in฀Song฀of฀Songs฀who฀declares฀ “I฀am฀black฀but฀comely”฀is฀also฀silenced,฀even฀as฀her฀blackness฀is฀erased.฀As฀ we฀shall฀see,฀this฀disembodied฀black฀feminine฀poetics,฀or฀displaced฀black฀ female฀body,฀of฀medieval฀allegory฀and฀typology฀reverberates฀through฀Western฀ thought฀and฀biblical฀exegesis฀well฀into฀the฀nineteenth฀century. ฀ For฀African฀American฀women,฀the฀historical฀context฀that฀has฀shaped฀their฀ biblical฀self-fashionings฀is฀rooted฀in฀American฀chattel฀slavery฀and฀its฀biblical฀ defense.฀Thus฀black฀women’s฀reading฀of฀the฀Bible฀was฀not฀simply฀a฀matter฀ of฀identification฀with฀certain฀scriptures฀or฀biblical฀characters;฀instead,฀they฀ had฀to฀first฀read฀through฀a฀cultural฀discourse฀that฀had฀already฀“othered”฀ them฀through฀American฀chattel฀slavery.฀The฀yoking฀together฀of฀a฀socially฀ constructed฀racial฀and฀gendered฀inferiority฀with฀a฀text฀thought฀to฀be฀divinely฀ sanctioned฀made฀Bible฀reading฀for฀African฀American฀women฀an฀ambivalent฀ and฀potentially฀treacherous฀enterprise.฀They฀did฀not฀gaze฀into฀a฀mirror฀that฀ reflected฀a฀clear,฀inviting฀image,฀but฀one฀already฀“darkened,”฀to฀borrow฀St.฀ Paul’s฀phrase,฀with฀the฀Bible฀defense฀of฀slavery.฀Out฀of฀the฀“curse”฀of฀the฀ social฀text฀of฀power฀in฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀however,฀African฀American฀ writers฀continually฀fashioned฀a฀“blessing”฀that฀turned฀the฀scriptures฀in฀a฀different ฀direction. De฀nigger฀woman฀is฀de฀mule฀uh฀de฀world฀so฀far฀as฀Ah฀can฀see. zora฀neale฀hurston,฀Their฀Eyes฀Were฀Watching฀God I฀have฀heard฀that฀as฀far฀back฀as฀Adam฀Clarke’s฀time,฀[an฀elder’s]฀ objections฀to฀female฀preaching฀were฀met฀by฀the฀answer฀ —฀ “If฀ an฀ass฀reprove฀Balaam,฀and฀a฀barn-door฀fowl฀reprove฀Peter,฀why฀ should฀not฀a฀woman฀reprove฀sin?”฀I฀do฀not฀introduce฀this฀for฀its฀ complimentary฀classification฀of฀women฀with฀donkeys฀and฀fowls,฀ but฀to฀give฀the฀reply฀of฀a฀poor฀woman,฀who฀had฀once฀been฀a฀ slave.฀To฀the฀first฀companion฀she฀said฀ —”May฀be฀a฀speaking฀ woman฀is฀like฀an฀ass฀ —฀ but฀I฀can฀tell฀you฀one฀thing,฀the฀ass฀seen฀ the฀angel฀when฀Balaam฀didn’t.” jarena฀lee,฀Religious฀Experience฀and฀Journal And฀when฀the฀ass฀saw฀the฀angel฀of฀the฀lord,฀she฀fell฀down฀under฀ Balaam:฀and฀Balaam’s฀anger฀was฀kindled,฀and฀he฀smote฀the฀ass฀ with฀a฀staff. ฀ And฀the฀lord฀opened฀the฀mouth฀of฀the฀ass,฀and฀she฀said฀unto฀ Balaam,฀What฀have฀I฀done฀unto฀thee,฀that฀thou฀hast฀smitten฀me฀ these฀three฀times?฀.฀.฀.฀. ฀ Then฀the฀lord฀opened฀the฀eyes฀of฀Balaam,฀and฀he฀saw฀the฀ angel฀of฀the฀lord฀standing฀in฀the฀way,฀and฀his฀sword฀drawn฀in฀his฀ hand:฀and฀he฀bowed฀down฀his฀head,฀and฀fell฀flat฀on฀his฀face. numbers฀22:27฀–฀28,฀31฀(Authorized฀Version) ...