The Sound of Silencing

: An Investigation in Writing Through Whiteness

Abstract

Using the author's US American family history of white settler colonialism and publications as a starting point, this submission is an examination of how a white American narrative of female pioneer fortitude and virtue (sometimes known as the Sunbonnet Myth) has been successfully iterated, from the nineteenth century to present day, to silence the voices and narratives of women of colour. The ongoing reinforcement of a specific ideal of American womanhood centring white values has served to marginalise and control voices, to appropriate the language and goals of women of colour even as they were excluded from the gains of white women. Pioneer historical societies and their publications formed a cornerstone of this narrative by creating a new history in real time, one that excluded, erased, and silenced people of colour. The focus of the work is not on the past, but the presence and impact of that past on the present.
On both a creative level and a broader cultural level, I interrogate the manifestation and perpetuation of this narrative in the novel Promontory and in the critical work. Through historical and contemporary stories, the novel explores specific settler narratives that were created contemporaneously, then reinforced and (consciously or unconsciously) reiterated over the decades by conservative and progressive women alike. I question the extent to which this narrative indoctrinates and imbues American white women like me, raised in its tradition with a sense of righteous (racist) entitlement, often without our own awareness.
By critically examining the outlines of this settler colonialist narrative and looking for the parts we have intentionally left out, white writers, readers, and researchers in particular can begin the inner dismantling of their own mechanisms of silencing.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Mimi Thebo (Supervisor) & Erin Forbes (Supervisor)