Change·Development-a Thematic Study Of Terry Mcmillan’s Works

African American women’s literature is an important part of African Americanliterature. Its history can be traced back to more than200years ago. During its history,a number of outstanding black women writers appeared. They have enriched AfricanAmerican women’s literature and laid the tradition for it with their keen insight, deepthought and excellent writing skills. Terry McMillan is an African American womanwriter who showed up in American literary circles in1990s. Her works inherit fromthe predecessors, and develop a lot in accordance with the characteristics of the timesand her own experiences.With Mama, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back as theobjects of study, the thesis analyses the themes implied in the works, reveals theauthor’s development of the thematic tradition of African American women’sliterature and digs into the reasons that bring about the thematic changes.The thesis consists of five parts: an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion.The introduction part briefly introduces Terry McMillan’s life experiences andher works, especially Mama, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.A literature review is given as well.The first chapter briefly presents the development of African American women’sliterature and discusses its common themes, including sisterhood, motherhood, racialand sexual oppression, and pursuit of self-identity.The second chapter analyses the themes of Mama, Waiting to Exhale and HowStella Got Her Groove Back, including sisterhood, motherhood, love and marriage,and career.The third chapter probes into Terry McMillan’s development of the thematictradition of African American women’s literature. This chapter also discusses thereasons why Terry McMillan’s themes have changed. Political movements,educational opportunities and personal experiences are regarded as the reasons.The last part is the conclusion. By analyzing the themes of Terry McMillan’sworks, the author concludes that on the basis of inheriting the traditional themes,McMillan gives new interpretations of common themes and changes thematic focus with the development of the times and her own life experiences.With the development of the times, the living environment and problems of blackwomen have changed substantially. The African American women writers of the newera should grasp the pulse of the era and create works with the features of the era onthe basis of understanding African American history and absorbing the essence oftheir predecessors.