Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow

One of the more striking examples of the Africana womanist is found in the works of Paule Marshall, a prominent African Caribbean writer. Her most successful novel, Praisesong for the Widow, set primarily in the Caribbean, demonstrates the strength and authenticity of the Africana womanist. Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow, first published in 1984, makes a qualitative leap from the focus on “the antagonisms between Black women and Black men”, which is a recurring theme in Africana women’s fiction, to an emphasis on the significance of cultural retention through the maturation of its protagonist. In the course of the novel, readers witness the unpremeditated evolution of the character of “Avey, short for Avatara” in search for her true self, which she finds after she has been widowed. She develops from the unconscious Avey to the conscious Avatara, assuming a new role as nurturer for the Africana family and moving toward an authentic existence.