ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-8133-383X

Graduation Semester and Year

2019

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Kenton Rambsy

Abstract

In recent years, only a select number of literary scholars have conducted studies on the contents of literary anthologies and the circulations of texts over various publications, especially African American collections. “The Core Four: An Examination of Contemporary Black Women’s Writing in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature” focuses on four women writers: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Rita Dove, and Harryette Mullen. The critical recognition these four women garnered during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, including the critical durability of their literary works, induced Norton editors to frame them as anchoring figures of the contemporary era through frequent and consistent anthologization. “The Norton African American Anthology Dataset” offers an opportunity to utilize data analytic methods to uncover evolving trends in The Norton by quantifying the number of times contemporary Black women writers and their literary works have circulated across its three existing editions. This project combines quantitative data findings with traditional, qualitative literary research to help understand how Norton anthology editors place Morrison, Walker, Dove, and Mullen within an African American historical literary continuum.

Keywords

Norton Anthology of African American Literature, African American literature, African American anthologies, African American women's writing, Digital Humanities

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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