VOL. 61, BOOK 1, PART C, 2023, pp. 187 – 197 Full text (En)
Author: Bozhidara Boneva-Kamenova
Affiliation: Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv
Abstract
Jessie Fauset’s most famous novel, Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral, has engaged critics and readers for over a century now. The book’s conventionality and focus on propriety have led to a number of negative critical treatments and its almost complete obscurity in the American literary canon. The current examination is an attempt to re-visit the novel and trace the manifestation of desire. This may open alternative avenues of understanding the effect of storytelling on the way black women formulate their desires and pursuits. Additionally, it may counter critical opinions which find the novel unremarkable and too traditional.
Key words: desire, race, gender, marriage plot, Jessie Fauset, storytelling
