The Possibility of Transformation: (Un)stereotypical Images of African American Female Characters in Alice Walker’s Oeuvre from 1970 to 1990
The Possibility of Transformation: (Un)stereotypical Images of African American Female Characters in Alice Walker’s Oeuvre from 1970 to 1990

Summary/Abstract: From the inception of Alice Walker’s literary oeuvre, she has sought to dismantle stereotypes about African American women created by the dominant white community. Chela Sandoval argues that stereotypes are not merely individual prejudices but part of larger social processes that maintain inequality. At the same time, she highlights the creative and strategic forms of resistance developed by marginalized communities. The article suggests that Walker does not merely replace negative stereotypes of African American women by positive images. Rather, she exposes stereotypes as an ideological mechanism that sustains racial, gendered and class domination. The author charts African American women’s development of differential consciousness through which these representations are challenged, deconstructed and ultimately transformed.

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