Communications in Humanities Research
- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences
Communications in Humanities Research
Vol. 12, 20 November 2023
Open
Access | Article
Breaking the Bound of Cocoon -- A Comparative Study on Black Female Identity in Sula and Yearning
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In the influential work, Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Bell Hooks scrutinizes prevailing Black feminist discourses, emphasizing the hegemony of white feminists, intersecting forms of oppression, and the consequential loss of subjectivity. Nevertheless, hooks’ innovative analysis encounters limitations when addressing the complexities within a literary context. This study conducts a comparative analysis of Black female identity construction, exploring the applicability of hooks’ theoretical framework to Sula, a novel by African American author Toni Morrison. This paper seeks to clarify alleged contradictions and evaluate hooks’ theory in three key aspects: the common predicament of Black female identity, the process of identity formation, and the relationship between identity and social class divisions. The analysis uncovers the necessity of acknowledging the shortcomings of hooks’ arguments when applied to Black feminist literature, such as its inattention to the profound inner struggle originating from cultural constraints in authentic experiences of Black females. Due to distinct writing contexts and backgrounds, Bell Hooks and Toni Morrison diverge in their perspectives on Black female identity, necessitating a closer examination to steer Black feminism towards a more radical path in the future.
Keywords
black female identity, Sula, yearning
References
1. S. Thapa, (2021) An Intersection of Racism and Sexism in Toni Morrison’s Sula. International Research Journal of MMC (IRJMMC), 2.1: 99-105.
2. B. Guy-Sheftall, (1995) Words of fire: An anthology of African-American feminist thought. The New Press.
3. B. Hooks, (1992) Yearning: Race, gender, and cultural politics. Hypatia, 7 (2):177-187.
4. D. E. McDowell, (1980) New Directions for Black Feminist Criticism. Black American Literature Forum, 14(4): 153–159.
5. T. Morrison, (2014) Sula. Random House.
6. H. T. Biana, (2020) Extending Bell Hook's feminist theory. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 21(1): 13-29.
7. C. West, (2006) BLACK POSTMODERNIST PRACTICES. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, 425.
8. K. Sy, (2008) Women’s Relationships: Female Friendship in Toni Morrison’s Sula and Love, Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter and Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come. Dissertation, Georgia State University.
9. B. P. Pokharel, (2020) Condemnation of Patriarchal Preeminence in Sula. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7:122-128.
10. S. Basu, (2013). Bone Black: The Black Life Narrative As Feminist Protest. Dialogue. A Journal Devoted to Literary Appreciation, 9(02).
Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open Access Instruction).
- Volume Title
- Proceedings of the International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities (ICGPSH 2023)
- ISBN (Print)
- 978-1-83558-113-1
- ISBN (Online)
- 978-1-83558-114-8
- Published Date
- 20 November 2023
- Series
- Communications in Humanities Research
- ISSN (Print)
- 2753-7064
- ISSN (Online)
- 2753-7072
- DOI
- 10.54254/2753-7064/12/20230018
- Copyright
- 20 November 2023
- Open Access
- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited