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Paule Marshall

パウル・マーシャル

Paule Marshall

Aliases: Valenza Pauline Burke
Pen Names: Paule (adopted form)（Changed from Pauline to Paule around age 12–13 and used it thereafter）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1929-04-09 （Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.）
Died
2019-08-12 （Richmond, Virginia, U.S.） age 90
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Brooklyn (birth and early life) → Richmond, Virginia (later life)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Educator
Active Years
1950-2019
Affiliations
Virginia Commonwealth University (taught), University of California, Berkeley (taught), Iowa Writers' Workshop (taught), Yale University (taught), New York University (Helen Gould Sheppard Chair of Literature and Culture)
Influenced By
Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar
Influenced
Younger generations of African American writers

Education

Bushwick High School
Period: 1940年代-1940年代
Country: United States
Brooklyn College
English Literature
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1950-1953
Year of Graduation: 1953
Country: United States
Earned Bachelor of Arts degree
Hunter College (City University of New York)
English Literature
Degree: Master of Arts
Period: 1953-1955
Year of Graduation: 1955
Country: United States
Earned Master of Arts degree

Awards

MacArthur Fellowship
1992
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1961
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
American Book Award (Before Columbus Foundation)
1984
Work: Praisesong for the Widow
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Dos Passos Prize for Literature
Organization: Longwood University (Dos Passos Prize)
Result: 受賞（年不明）
Literary Lion (New York Public Library)
1994
Organization: New York Public Library
Result: 指定
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Celebrity Path
2001
Organization: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Result: 殿堂入り
Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Lifetime Achievement
2010
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Honorary L.H.D.
1993
Organization: Bates College
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Brown Girl, Brownstones

1959 Novel (bildungsroman)

Set in a small Black immigrant community, it follows Selina Boyce as she grows up amid tensions between her mother's desire to assimilate and her father's longing for Barbados; themes include migration, identity, and coming of age.

Migration and diasporaIdentity formationFamily conflict

The Chosen Place, the Timeless People

1969 Novel

Explores colonialism, cultural inheritance, and community dynamics across a Caribbean island and American settings.

PostcolonialismCulture and heritageCommunity

Praisesong for the Widow

1983 Novel

Follows a middle-aged woman confronting personal loss and finding renewal through Caribbean ritual and reconnection with ancestral roots.

Ritual and spiritualityRenewal and healingConnection to ancestors
Translations
  • Reissued 2021 (McSweeney's)

Triangular Road: A Memoir

2009 Memoir

A memoir reflecting on family history and experiences connecting the Caribbean and America, addressing immigration, culture, and language.

Memoir and autobiographyDiasporic memoryLanguage and identity

Bibliography

  • Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959)
  • Soul Clap Hands and Sing (short fiction, 1961)
  • The Chosen Place, the Timeless People (1969)
  • Reena and Other Stories (1983)
  • Praisesong for the Widow (1983)
  • Merle: A Novella, and Other Stories (1985)
  • Daughters (1991)
  • The Fisher King: A Novel (2001)
  • Triangular Road: A Memoir (2009)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Richly detailed traditional novelistic prosePostcolonial perspective and regional depiction
Recurring Motifs
Travel and migrationAncestors and ritualPsychic fracture and striving for wholeness

Health

  • Dementia
    晩年（発症年不詳）
    Reported to have affected her later life and activities

Legacy

Paule Marshall made significant contributions to African American and postcolonial literature; her works emphasizing immigrant experience and cultural heritage are highly regarded. As an educator she influenced many younger writers.

Quotes

  • "I realise that it is fashionable now to dismiss the traditional novel as something of an anachronism, but to me it is still a vital form. Not only does it allow for the kind of full-blown, richly detailed writing that I love… but it permits me to operate on many levels and to explore both the inner state of my characters as well as the worlds beyond them."
    Source: Excerpt from an essay (1983) and other writings (1983)

Trivia

  • Born Valenza Pauline Burke and changed her name to Paule around age 12.
  • Her father emigrated from Barbados and left the family during her childhood.
  • Became widely known for her 1959 debut novel Brown Girl, Brownstones.
  • Lived in Richmond, Virginia in later life and suffered from dementia in later years.
  • Awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1992.