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Writing Against the Image of the Monstrous Crack Mother

University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Anthropologist Lila Abu Lughod's idea of "writing against culture" is the point of departure for deconstructing the image of the monstrous mother dominating portrayals of African American women who use crack cocaine. Aiming to "unsettle" the cultural stereotypes, this article presents the narrative of an African American woman who has used crack, illustrating how elements of Twelve-Step recovery discourse and Afrocentric spirituality differentially frame her story. The case shows that recovery and spirituality are as much narrative resources as they are narrative imperatives. Rather than simply reproducing either of these resources in her story, she alternatively constructs herself as a recovering addict on one hand, and a spiritually strong woman on the other, exemplifying how narrative obviates stereotypic representations.

Key Words: African American women • crack mothers • culture • narrative • recovery • spirituality

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 37, No. 5, 511-527 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0891241607309891


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