Searching for the Black Woman's Identity in Alice Walker's Fiction

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Alegrea M Boone (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: "This thesis explores the role literature written by African American women has in identity development and the dispelling of society--driven stereotypes. This includes the examination of the way the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next through a maternal or matriarchal channel influences and encourages the adoption of positive images. Beginning with a discussion of the role media of all types has in the perpetuation of perceptions of Black women , the thesis progresses to a more detailed analysis of the 3 predominant stereotypes of the mammy , the jezebel , and the sapphire. This exploration includes the way Alice Walker's fiction dismisses the generalizations used to control Black women in American society. Walker's The Color Purple , The Third Life of Grange Copeland , and ""Everyday Use"" are explored as works illustrative of African American women's literature , and in these works the thesis identifies realistic depictions of Black women in contrast to the controlling stereotypes so often used in American society to define and limit Black women."

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Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2017

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