Trauma And The Construction Of Black Female Subjectivity In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou is one of the most celebrated contemporary women writers in America. Her poems, screenplays and autobiographies are very popular, especially her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which has won international critical acclaim. It has attracted much critical and scholarly attention for its vivid and in-depth description of her experience as a black woman. As a black woman, Angelou never succumbs to the white hegemonic discourse. Her confidence and self-reliance reflected in this book has had a great impact on African American women, who are still fighting for their equality and rights.The dissertation attempts to discuss Angelou's construction of her black female subjectivity, as it is revealed in this book, with the help of the theory of trauma and black feminism. The thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is a brief introduction to the author and some critics' comments on this book. The second chapter is an overview of the theory used in the dissertation. The third chapter is devoted to the discussion of Angelou's loss of subjectivity. From the perspective of trauma, I conclude that it is the collective trauma of slavery and racism that throws Angelou into an identity crisis. The forth chapter concentrates on Angelou's ways of working through the trauma of slavery and racism and her construction of black female subjectivity. And the fifth chapter concludes with a summary and a comment on the author's real attention of writing this book.