Pauline Hopkins’ Utopias: Fostering African American Futures through Third Space Ecologies

Abstract

What is important to consider when defining and creating a utopic vision? Pauline Hopkins’ characters and worldbuilding in her 1902-1903 serial novel Of One Blood, or the Hidden Self reflects the dynamic negotiations that happen in third space ecologies while also challenging traditional notions of utopia. The third space is a location of identity formation, meaning-making, and differing power dynamics that are inherent in hierarchical spaces and lived theory of experience. Therefore, third spaces are revolutionary spaces where negotiations are made. Her final novel challenges the popular expectations of African American people in the early 20^th century. Hopkins’ utopian worldbuilding and activist endeavors lead readers to a clearer vision of how to move forward in a world that is dealing with racial tensions and environmental degradation. Her rejection of the cult of true womanhood and tropes like the tragic mulatta, as well as her interest in the sciences aid in her construction of bodily third space ecologies which are used to disrupt white Western ideology. By looking at literary depictions of third spaces, we can better understand how relationships with the land and the “other” are constructed and how fixed identities can hinder the human development of utopian futures.