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Double-Dutched Readings
by Valerie Lee
Midwives, women healers and root workers have been central figures in the African American folk traditions.
Particularly in Black communities in the rural south, these women served vital social, cultural and political functions. It was believed that they possessed magical powers: they negotiated the barrier between life and death and were often regarded as the "knower" in a community. Today even as medical science has discredited or superseded their power, granny midwives have resurfaced as pivotal characters in the narratives of contemporary African American literature.
Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers examines the lives of real granny midwives and other healers—through oral narratives, ethnographic research and documentation—and considers them in tandem with their fictional counterparts in the work of Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Alice Walker and others.
"...offers fresh insight into the rich cultural and intellectual heritage of African-American women." —Journal of Women's History
This information about Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Valerie Lee is Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies at Ohio State University.
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