The Grasp That Reaches beyond the Grave: The Ancestral Call in Black Women's Texts

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction Revising The Legacy of Kinlessness Through Elders and Ancestors 1 Part I Preface: The Elder as Culture Bearer 27 Chapter 1 Othermothers as Elders and Culture Bearers in Daughters of the Dust and The Salt Eaters 31 Part II Preface: The Dead Are Not Dead: The Ancestral Presence 55 Chapter 2 Ancestral Prodding in Praisesong for the Widow 59 Chapter 3 Ancestral Disturbances in Stigmata 89 Chapter 4 Beloved: A Ghost Story with an Ogbanje Twist 119 Part III Preface: The Child and Ancestor Bond 151 Chapter 5 The Child Figure as a Means to Ancestral Knowledge in Daughters of the Dust and A Sunday in June 153 viii Contents Conclusion Looking Backward and Forward: The Ancestral Presence in Speculative Fiction 175 Notes 191 Bibliography 197 Index 211 ...