T. Curtis 
New Media in Black Women’s Autobiography 
Intrepid Embodiment and Narrative Innovation

Examining novelists, bloggers, and other creators of new media, this study focuses on autobiography by American black women since 1980, including Audre Lorde, Jill Nelson, and Janet Jackson. As Curtis argues, these women used embodiment as a strategy of drawing the audience into visceral identification with them and thus forestalling stereotypes.

Table of Content

Introduction 1. Whose Tools?: Audre Lorde’s Narrative Mastery in The Cancer Journals and Zami: A New Spelling of My Name 2. Naming All These Women: Jill Nelson’s Portrayals in Volunteer Slavery and Straight, No Chaser 3. Born Into This Body: Black Women’s Use of Buddhism in Autobiographical Narratives 4. Moving on From Control: Janet Jackson’s Lot Improves as She Loses the Uniform 5. Down a Dangerous Cyber Street: Black Women’s Online Writing 6. At Arms’ Length: The Selfie, Public Personae, and Instagram Use in Young Black Women and Adolescents Conclusion

About the author

Tracy Curtis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.