"People make films about themselves": race, identity, and (re)writing history in Julie Dash's Illusions (1983) and Daughters Of The Dust (1991)

Butler, Lesley Victoria (2018) "People make films about themselves": race, identity, and (re)writing history in Julie Dash's Illusions (1983) and Daughters Of The Dust (1991). Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis explores how history is (re)written alongside representations of race, place, and the “self” in Julie Dash's films Illusions (1983) and Daughters of the Dust (1991). Although Dash was the first Black American female filmmaker to have a feature film released theatrically in the United States, her work is often left out of traditional narratives of film history, signaling the continuation of racism and sexism in the mainstream film industry. Through a close analysis of Dash’s films, and her role in the Black independent film movement, I argue that Dash’s narrative approach creatively blends history, myth, and auto/biography, and thus works to reimagine, redefine, and rewrite the history of Black Americans. In an attempt to reinscribe Dash as a significant figure in U.S. history, this thesis puts Dash’s work in conversation with writers and thinkers from such fields as film studies, literature, and Black geographies, allowing for an interdisciplinary analysis of race, place, and Black feminist subjectivity in Dash's pivotal films.

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