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Caroline Hill Thesis 2019.pdf (451.81 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Art versus Propaganda?: Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence as Figures who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate

Hill, Caroline
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555276218786986

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Theatre.
The Harlem Renaissance and New Negro Movement is a well-documented period in which artistic output by the black community in Harlem, New York, and beyond, surged. On the heels of Reconstruction, a generation of black artists and intellectuals—often the first in their families born after the thirteenth amendment—spearheaded the movement. Using art as a means by which to comprehend and to reclaim aspects of their identity which had been stolen during the Middle Passage, these artists were also living in a time marked by the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and segregation. It stands to reason, then, that the work that has survived from this period is often rife with political and personal motivations. Male figureheads of the movement are often remembered for their divisive debate as to whether or not black art should be politically charged. The public debates between men like W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke often overshadow the actual artistic outputs, many of which are relegated to relative obscurity. Black female artists in particular are overshadowed by their male peers despite their significant interventions. Two pioneers of this period, Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880-1966) and Eulalie Spence (1894-1981), will be the subject of my thesis. Both artists, whose work is in close conversation, were innovators in their field. In this thesis I will argue that black women like Johnson and Spence were true innovators during the Harlem Renaissance/New Negro Movement despite the fact that men like Locke and Du Bois are often seen as its figureheads. Johnson and Spence are salient examples for two key reasons. First, their work represents a false dichotomy—art vs. propaganda—which I will endeavor to refute. Second, their work, despite its differences, engages with many of the same themes related to feminism and intersectionality. While there has been an influx of research into the lives and work of such women as Johnson and Spence in recent years, my aim is to further contribute to such important work and further contextualize it as an integral part of the Western canon through a more explicitly feminist lens. This thesis will be an addition to the ongoing research that is beginning to fill this gap in scholarship.
Jennifer Schlueter (Advisor)
Beth Kattelman (Committee Member)
78 p.
African American Studies; African Americans; Gender Studies; History; Theater; Theater History; Womens Studies
African American theatre; theatre; African American theater; theater; black feminism; feminism; intersectionality; Georgia Douglas Johnson; Eulalie Spence; Harlem Renaissance; gender studies; playwriting; lynching drama; folk drama

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hill, C. (2019). Art versus Propaganda?: Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence as Figures who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555276218786986

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hill, Caroline. Art versus Propaganda?: Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence as Figures who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate. 2019. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555276218786986.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hill, Caroline. "Art versus Propaganda?: Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence as Figures who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555276218786986

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1555276218786986
875
© 2019, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Art versus Propaganda?: Georgia Douglas Johnson and Eulalie Spence as Figures who Fostered Community in the Midst of Debate by Caroline Hill is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.