| History, language and image/identity will be discussed in this work to convey how these concepts, once they are more broadly defined, may be utilized by the reader to gain a broader meaning from female-authored texts of the diaspora. The texts selected for this study, The History of Mary Prince A West Indian Slave: Related by Herself, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall, cover the historical period from slavery to contemporary times. In this study, I explore the way each text offers revealing perspectives on history, language, and image/identity while at the same time providing a greater insight into diasporic literature by women. These angles for example, reveal to us that oppressed people are given historical narratives by the oppressor, but they revise such narratives and broaden them through their own historical memory. Similarly, language in these works is 'heard' by all, but because of the complicated relationship between dominant narrative history and the experiences of the oppressed, it is rendered polyphonic and multilayered by the writers who reproduce it artistically. Finally, each text asserts that the female image and the evolution of a woman's identity are crucial in connecting the character to a community, a deserved place within society, and a sense of self that is loving and affirming. By exploring these three major points, I see my study as strengthening the thematic connections between women writers of the diaspora over time, over place, and over narrative style. In this way, I hope to shed light on the intersections between gender, race, and history that are proving to be so central to our understanding of the Black experience. |
