| Although there is an abundance of research on the American jeremiad, and its language in politics and culture, few of these studies apply a gendered lens to its use in American discourse. In particular, the existing literature on African American women and the American jeremiad is incredibly scant. Made in His Image explores the origins and markers of black women's jeremiadic discourse. This dissertation considers the ways in which African American women used the jeremiad to combat racism and sexism during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As I argue, nineteenth century black women began to use their traumatic experiences as black mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and laborers, to valorize their womanhood and bolster their right to agitate against discrimination of all kinds in the United States. This discourse, in turn, forged a unique jeremiadic tradition, one that allowed black women to undermine negative characterizations of them in the public sphere, while also interrogating the nation's socio-political norms. |
