On Ntozake Shange’s Writing Of Recipes In Sassafrass,Cypress&Indigo

Ntozake Shange,as a distinguished African American female playwright,poet,novelist,and dancer,is famous for her innovative “choreopoem”.What is more,Shange is talented in writing novels and Sassafrass,Cypress & Indigo is her first novel but the most outstanding one.The novel has aroused great attention from many scholars and critics since its publication because of her bold experimentation,both in form and content.Formally,this novel combines different narrative forms like poems,dramas,letters,folklores,dream stories,journal entries,magical spells,and the recipes.Thematically,Shange expresses her deep concern toward African American cultural traditions and African American women’s predicaments.The recipes run through the whole novel which become an important part to promote the development of the plot,providing space for further research.According to the theory of cultural memory,the cultural bearer is the medium of cultural memory which can pass down the cultural traditions of a nation and helpful to construct the cultural identity.As Patricia E.Clark demonstrates,the recipes are historical and literary narratives that form as archives to study the suffering experiences of the African American women in the diaspora.Therefore,this thesis claims that the recipes have evolved from their original meanings as instructions to make dishes.They are endowed with more profound meanings,which enable them to become the cultural bearer of African American traditions.Against this research background,through close reading,the author makes a detailed in-depth analysis of the ingredients of the recipes and the occasions they appear in the novel.The thesis intends to answer the following three research questions: what roles do the recipes play in the novel? What is the significance of the recipes to African American women in the novel? What roles do the recipes play in constructing the sisterly mother-daughter relationship? The author draws a conclusion that the recipes,as the cultural bearer,have become the symbol of collective memory,communal identity,and spiritual mentor for African American women.Furthermore,the recipes play an indispensable role in shaping Shange’s new female characters who adhere to the traditional culture,take initiatives to make choices,pursue a healthy heterosexual relationship,and maintain financial and spiritual independence.The recipes are of great importance to construct the sisterly mother-daughter relationship.In the end,the author argues that the recipes are indirect expressions of the suffering and predicament of African American women in the diaspora.They are intertwined with African American women tightly,and through transmission,the woman-bonding sisterhood has also been strengthened.Shange not only pays her attention to the three sister’s life choices and self-actualization but also shows her deep concern toward African American women who are in racial and gender oppressions.The recipes have become an indirect but effective way to uncover the hidden history of African American women about their painful experiences and inner thoughts in the diaspora.