Race, Gender and Performance in Grace Nichols's The Fat Black Woman's Poems

Escudero Alías, Maite (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: In a world of diverse cultures and societal beliefs, marginalized groups often share common experiences. Recurrent themes in the literature of black peoples include anti-imperialism, racism, sexism, exile, ‘cultural schizophrenia’, language, otherness and home to ancestors, just to name a few. Yet, there is no single black voice: black writing can come from everywhere in the world – America, Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and Britain. As a result, an individual may become torn between conflicting expressions by others within the same cultural group. What is at issue here is the recognition of extraordinary variation of subjective positions and cultural identities; in short, the recognition that ‘black’ is a culturally constructed category that is subject to change and redefinition but, at the same time, it is also symptomatic of complex tensions that may still carry the burden of black representations within Black communities. It is after all, a site of contestation over the demand of a wider space for a critique of black experience. This particularity and universality can also be found in woman-centered texts, and it is with this issue in mind that this article will explore the dynamics between race and gender in the poetry of Grace Nichols, a contemporary Caribbean-British writer.

Idioma: Inglés

Año: 2000

Publicado en: Journal of International Women's Studies 1, 2 (2000), 26-52
ISSN: 1539-8706

Originalmente disponible en: Texto completo de la revista

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Filología Inglesa (Dpto. Filolog.Inglesa y Alema.)