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

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.