Travelling with Yellow Mary: Gullah Culture, Migration, and the Sensory in Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust SUE SAMUELSON AWARD FOR FOODWAYS SCHOLARSHIP FIRST PLACE
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Abstract
Gullah people are the descendants of slaves from the Senegambia region of West Africa who have created and sustained a unique culture, particularly on the Sea Islands of the southeastern United States, utilizing memories and rituals from Africa in combination with resources from the Americas.
I examine how foodways are created and sustained within Gullah communities, paying particular attention to the role of the five senses, especially taste, in the transmission and preservation of the culture. First, I convey the power of film and/or popular culture to create fictional referents for culture and society. Second, I explore women's roles in elaborating and sustaining Gullah culture, particularly through the fictional character of Yellow Mary in Julie Dash’s film, Daughters of the Dust (1991).
I utilize ethnographic evidence to help explain the relationship between sensuality, food, and cultural identity, drawing upon feminist cultural criticism through Audre Lorde’s (1984) theorizing of the erotic.
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