Stepping out of line : African American women, performance and agency

This thesis discusses how African American women act as agents changing cultural\ud rituals, beliefs, stereotypes, expectations, and customs through performance.\ud Performance theories regarding efficacy, entertainment, gender, and race, inform my\ud analysis of the agency of African American women and the relationships of power\ud between blacks and whites as displayed in different types of performances. Drawing\ud connections between two stage performers, Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham, two writers and their works, Nella Larsen???s Passing and Harriet E. Wilson???s Our Nig, and the contemporary artist Kara Walker, I demonstrate how these women and their African\ud American characters gain power and exert autonomy and agency within a ???white??? world.\ud African American women, though traditionally stereotyped by whites as being\ud ???primitive,??? have keenly assessed their environments and manipulate their audiences into giving them power and autonomy; thus, acting as agents altering cultural normative