Literary constructions: Challenging the Black matriarch in the novels of Alice Walker and Terry McMillan

This thesis analyzes the stereotypical image of the Black matriarch and how it has been socially constructed by society. Alice Walker and Terry McMillan counter this controlling image in their literary work by re-appropriating the matriarchal figure and exploring the social and economic experience of the Black women. Using the tool of Black feminism and literary analysis will aide this research in understanding how the Black woman's experience help shape her roles in society which can be perceived as matriarchal.