Date of Award

Spring 5-3-2024

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication

Advisor

Liliana Herakova

Second Committee Member

Haley Schneider

Third Committee Member

Judith Josiah-Martin

Abstract

This research theorizes, from within a Black Diasporic experience, the epistemic power communal gazes have on women who share, or consider sharing, their narratives of experiencing sexual violence. Black women’s experience with sexual violence in the African Diaspora is complicated by historical legacies and norms within their communities (Hartman, 1997; McDonald, 2019). The present study builds on and extends gaze theory, feminist standpoint(s), and aesthetic theory, particularly as related to the body as a rhetorical space. Informed by these theoretical perspectives and critically honoring Black women’s stories of (considering) sharing their experiences of sexual violence, this thesis addresses three research questions: 1) How does literature authored by Black women of the African diaspora construct experiences of the communal gaze, following knowledge of sexual assault perpetrated against Black women? 2) How does sharing/narrating experiences of sexual violence with community members change meanings of the body for Black women? 3) How do performances of the communal gaze relate to colonial and white-oppressive legacies of invading Black spaces?

To answer these questions, both critical rhetorical and ethnographic research methods were used. Conducting a rhetorical analysis on four novels resulted in contouring the communal gaze in the wake of experiencing sexual violence. The communal gaze emerged as a straining dialogic site of re/configuring relationships with/in the family, the embodied self, and the natural world. Additionally, the communal gaze can be either dominant or oppositional. The dominant gaze seeks to affirm oppressive norms, such as controlling women’s bodies and their agency. On the other hand, the oppositional communal gaze is a decolonial way of speaking back and transforming oppressions, via, for instance, creating alternative communities and coalitions.

Findings from semi-formal interviews showed that the communal gaze and/or its anticipation is a silencing mechanism within Black women's immediate and extended familial structures, when it came to sharing their stories of experiencing sexual violence. However, the women I interviewed felt responsible for and capable of changing these norms. They did this specifically through building new, supportive coalitions, physically and mentally transforming themselves, and hoping for communities to dismantle the gaze.

The communal gaze brings a relational lens to experiences of living through sexual violence and its narrative aftermath, and how those become meaningful to the person, how it shapes them, and helps them navigate the world through transformation, coalition, hope, and resistance. It adds insight to gaze, feminist standpoint(s), and aesthetic theories by naming the dynamic relationship between sexual assault survivors, their sense of selves, and their communities as a space of negotiation and transformation. Additionally, the lens can be utilized by practitioners to support survivors by inquiring in their engagement with communal gazes.

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