'It will be social': Black women writers and the postwar era 1945--1960
by Caldwell, Katrina Myers, Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, 2009, 268 pages; 3364592

Abstract:

This study used a Black feminist critical framework to examine the conditions that influence the production of black women's fiction during the postwar era (1945–60).

The novels of Ann Petry, Dorothy West and Paule Marshall were studied as artifacts that were shaped by the cultural and political climate of this crucial period in American history. A survey was also conducted of their associations with members and organizations in the American Left to determine what impact their social activism had on their lives and art.

It was determined that these writers' political engagement played a significant role in the creation of transformative narratives about the power of black women to resist oppression in all of its forms. As a consequence of their contribution to a rich black feminist literary tradition, these postwar black women fiction writers serve as important foremothers to later generations of black women artists.

 
AdviserNancy Cirillo
SchoolUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
SourceDAI/A 70-07, p. , Sep 2009
Source TypeDissertation
SubjectsBlack studies; Caribbean literature; Women's studies; American literature; Gender studies
Publication Number3364592
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