Oshun, Lemonade, and Intertextuality

Exploring how Afro-Atlantic religion has been used toportray Black womanhood by writers and artists from Beyonc to Ntozake Shange In this book, SheneeseThompson analyzes works of film and literature to explore how Afro-Atlanticreligion intersects with themes of resilience in Black femininity andwomanhood. Focusing on Beyoncs visual album Lemonade, Thompsonexamines iconography of the Yoruba goddess Oshun, represented by rivers, thecolor yellow, and other symbols. Thompson argues that Beyoncs tribute toOshun creates a narrative of self-repossession amid external definitions,generational trauma, and emotional violence and draws connections to other worksthat feature similar religious references.Oshun, Lemonade, and Intertextuality also exploresBeyoncs album Black Is King, the television series Shes Gotta HaveIt, Julie Dashs movie Daughters of the Dust, Ntozake Shanges novelSassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, and Jamaica Kincaids storiesin At the Bottom of the River. These works highlight the significance ofAfrican traditional religions for the healing and transformation of their characters.Thompson discusses the ways in which Yoruba and Lucum imagery and practicessuch as ork, or praise poetry, have long been incorporated into Blackcultural texts such as these to tell stories of racial and gender-basedinjustices. In looking at Lemonade together with influential older textscreated by Black women, Thompson establishes the use of Afro-Atlanticreligionto think through Black womanhood, to explore self-defined sexualityasa central tenet of Black womens literature, one that these artists and writershave brought to the global stage.Publication ofthis work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the AmericanRescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.