Postcolonial Feminist Theory: An Overview - Igcollege.org

Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, NandedFeminine aims at creating literature that isspecific to women alone, in opposition to thepatriarchal logic. Ecriture also includesspeech as well as thought- characteristic ofboth. J. A. Cuddon defines Ecriture FeminineasWriting which is typicallycharacteristically feminine in style, language,tone and feeling, and completely differentfrom male language and discourse.(Cuddon, 1998:248)I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings is asaga of Afro- American social life. It dealswith the early 17 years of Maya Angelou. Itshowcases the trial and tribulations of MayaAngelou’s life growing up as an improvishedBlack woman in the southern United States. Itmirrors her childhood during the depressedtimes of 1930’s and the war-torn times of1940’s. It reflects the prejudice, poverty,aggregation and hardships. She as well asother Afro- American suffered at that time theCivil War ended the black slavery, but stillWhites used to have contempt for the blacks.They are not accepted in good schools,hospitals, churches and buses. Even theblacks were treated as sub-humans andbarbaric. Although they got freedom by law,but social taboos, prejudices of the whites stilltermed Negroes as marginal and non-entity.In this course being a woman is being in adouble jeopardy. Angelou remembers anincident when she goes to a dentist. Thedentist refused to treat her, claiming he would‘rather stick his (my) hand in a dog’s mouththan a nigger’. (Angelou, 1971:160)The title, I Know Why the Caged BirdSings is a symbolic one. The image of cagedbird stands for Angelou’s and Afro-Americanconfinement in the cage of racism andoppression. The metaphor of caged bird is alsoprominent because it contains much symbolicovertones. The Afro- Americans are tootender, fragile and physically weak like thebird and the cage of White’s racism ceasestheir free play. But Angelou says that one daythe caged bird will gain strength because ofhis self-will, self confidence and the hardwork and the cage would be wiped outautomatically. Angelou advocates for hardwork and show away the garb of laziness.Angelou presented the role of women ascreative and personally fulfilling rather than‘breeder and matriarch’ (Burgher, 1979:115)heroines of Angelou always celebrated the joyof selfhood and individualism and nevermourned defeat. The book has been criticizedfor depiction of lesbianism, pre-maritalcohabitation, pornography, violence, use ofvulgar language and irreverent religiousdepiction. But still it was the realist depictionof the age of hers and she radically explainedeach and every experience rejecting themorals and ethics.Maya Angelou’s poem ThePhenomenal Woman is just the abstract formof her first auto biographical novel I KnowWhy the Caged Bird Sings. Writings of MayaAngelou belongs to the female phase asdevised by Showalter. Showalter believesFemale phase to be most militant in approachand presenting Gyno texts. Gyno texts refer tothe writings in exclusively female pattern.Gyno texts aimed at reevaluating women’sexperience, rethinking the canons of texts,discourse and language and recognizing thesocio- cultural, economic and politicalconditions in the society. Psychoanalyticapproach of women’s writing marked thisphase. Angelou’s autobiography I Know Whythe Caged Bird Sings is replete with all thesequalities. Critics have approached it as afemale- coming out of age story, as a rapesurvivor’sstory but it is also a documentationof African American history and heritage. Itshades the ‘black ugly dream’ and journeystowards freedom and discovers a sense of self,black pride and conscience of a community.I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsfollows Maya’s transformation from an‘unbeautiful, awkward, rather morose, dreamyand too big Negro girl’ (Arensberg, 1999:111)321 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1