Women As Seen by Women: A Study of African American Women Writers

The study analyses the portrayal of women by African-American women writers from a universalist perspective. They study shows that the complex nature of an African-American woman’s experience is highlighted satisfactorily through a universalist approach. A comparative analysis is made of the portrayal of women by two contemporary African-American women writers, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. The parallels and contrasts in their individual visions of African-American experience emphasise the possibility of multiple responses by African-American women writers. Alice Walker's ;womanist' orientations are reflected in her rendering of black woman's experience. Toni Morrison, in contrast, see experience of an African-American woman as more than a conflict against males or whites. Her portrayal tries to grasp and recreate the ambivalence within a black woman's experience. The study emphasises that a close reading of their works can reveal significant parallels and contrasts in Walker's and Morrison's vision of African-American woman's experience.