Womanist aesthetic theory: Building a Black feminist literary critical tradition, 1892-1994

This dissertation examines womanist aesthetic theory as it is defined, described, and manifested in the writings or Anna Julia Cooper, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Barbara Smith, Deborah McDowell, Barbara Christian, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Clenora Hudson-Weems, prominent African American writers and critics. Anna Julia Cooper's major concern is Black womanhood as the driving force through which Black women can circumvent patriarchal politics and bring about social and political change in the United States. Zora Neale Hurston challenges hegemonic racist ideology that Black people are inferior, immoral, and defeated. She contests gender restrictions placed on Black women, and she illuminates the value of Black language.; Alice Walker introduces the term womanist as an instrument of lexical and cultural difference between Black and white feminists who cannot seem to unify on issues of race, class, and gender. She contends that the key to Black women's survival is prevalent in the rich artistic heritage of their female ancestors. Barbara Smith examines a Black lesbian literary aesthetic. She believes that the complexities that surround Black women's existence in a white world make the experiences of Black lesbians seem unworthy of consideration. Deborah McDowell suggests that Black feminist critics look away from separatism and toward a new direction of identifying ways Black women writers use language, literary devices, and mythic structures. Barbara Christian focuses on stereotypical images of Black women and champions the preservation of Black women's legacies.; bell hooks attacks traditional feminist theory, especially as it is articulated in the United States as an exclusionary feminism practiced by "bourgeois feminists," and advocates new theories that are inclusive and that do not alienate, separate, or subjugate. Audre Lorde's emphasis is on the aesthetics of Black women, particularly lesbian Black women, as a different doctrine with a place for individual existence. Her theory is one of social action that all feminists must examine their differences in order to discover their commonalities. Clenora Hudson-Weems coins the term Africana Womanism, which is more conducive to the struggles of women of African descent. She believes that the identity of women of African descent should not be based on principles of oppression and repression.