ABSTRACT
The subject of this chapter is the intersection of gender and race in the writing, reading and interpretation of literary texts. The chapter focuses on the study of a full-length novel by a contemporary African-American woman: Alice Walker. While 'madness' as such is not a central theme in The Color Purple, the novel deals with related themes, such as the emotional suffering inflicted upon women, both by individual men and by a range of legal and social impediments to women's freedom of expression. Like the novella 'The Yellow Wallpaper', The Color Purple (1983) centres on a strong woman with a need to write and a love of creative work; a woman who comes to know herself better as she learns to use language to her own advantage. But The Color Purple, as a contemporary text, situates its heroine in a world wherein it is possible - though extremely difficult - for the heroine to learn about sexuality and self-expression. As you read the novel, you'll find it helpful to think back to the key themes covered in previous chapters: the importance of work, the conflict between domesticity and creativity, 'silences' or obstacles to women's self-expression and the development of subversive strategies for breaking free of restrictive and damaging relationships and situations. As you read, ask yourself how far Alice Walker's story goes toward breaking with preceding patterns in the representation of women, and what new patterns or possibilities for women's creative expression are offered for the future. In this chapter, we'll also consider writing by and about women of colour more generally, asking the following questions about authors, readers and texts:
what relationships do race and class bear to gender in the study of literary texts;
what is the history of writing by women of colour;
what authors and ideas have been influential in the development of a 'black literary imagination'; and
what kinds of problems may we expect to encounter in reading and interpreting black women's writing?
