An Analysis of Black Feminist Criticism

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Abstract：This article，with the analysis of the feminist criticism theory，mainly centers on the problems of black women’s self-consciousness and self-identity， and explores the black women’s double-consciousness of being caught in a double-oppression dilemma.

Key Words： black feminism； double oppression； self-consciousness

As a branch of western feminist criticism， black feminist criticism arises with the emergence of Black Women’s Movement in the 1970s in the United States. Black feminist critics analyze the works of black woman writers from a feminist or political perspective， which is seen as a way of reading inscriptions of race， class and gender in modes of cultural expression.

Feminist criticism is a kind of literary criticism that deals with female characters， women’s issues and the female roles in stories， novels or plays. Feminist literary criticism is the literary criticism formed by feminist theories. The history of feminist criticism has been varied and broad， from classic works of nineteenth-century women authors such as George Eliot to theoretical work in women’s and gender studies by “third-wave” feminism authors. In the broad sense， feminist literary criticism before the nineteen seventeenth—the first and second waves of feminism—was concerned with the representation of women’s condition within literature and the politics of women’s authorship， which includes the description of fictional female characters. At that time， feminist criticism was further concerned with the exclusion of women from the literary field. Lisa Tuttle has defined feminist theory as something like “new questions of old texts”. Lisa Tuttle defines the goals of feminist criticism as： “To develop and uncover a female tradition of writing， to interpret symbolism of women’s writing so that it will not be lost or ignored by the male point of view， to rediscover old texts， to analyze women writers and their writings from a female perspective， to resist sexism in literature， and to increase awareness of the sexual politics of language and style.”

As a type of literary criticism， Feminist criticism study and advocate the rights of women. Judith Fetterley once said， “Feminist criticism is a political act whose aim is not simply to interpret the world but to change it by changing the consciousness of those who read and their relation to what they read”. Using feminist criticism to analyze literary works may involve studying the repression of women in these works， and may arouse questions like how men and women differ， what is different about female heroines， and why are these female characters important in literature. Feminist criticism may also study stereotypes， ideology， racial issues， marginality， and more questions raised by women. Feminist criticism may also involve reevaluating women writers and their literary works. Feminist criticism may employ the theory of the social， political， and economic equality of the sexes， and examines the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the oppression of women socially， politically， economically and psychologically， so that all women will finally realize that they are not the non-significant “Other” and each woman is a valuable person with the same rights and privileges as a man.

Black feminist criticism arises with the Black Women’s Movement in the 1970s in America. As one of the representatives of the Third World feminist criticism， black feminist criticism in America has become indispensable in modern Western feminism. Black feminist criticism， in the conflicting debate against white feminists， makes feminist critics reexamine such issues as race and class. Time and time again， black feminist criticism has brought great changes in modern feminist criticism. Black feminist criticism has brought about different research realms， and it has made great contributions to the theoretical process of African-American and feminist studies. It has also brought about the concept of multiple and simultaneous oppressions of race， class and sex. These great changes have not only made it possible for black feminist criticism to voice its own voice as an independent one， but also promoted the development of modern feminist criticism and African-American feminist criticism， and ultimately imposed great influence on the constructing of the other literary criticism.

Black feminist criticism developed under the influence of postmodernism and multiculturalism， and it is a product of the Civil Rights Movement and modern Feminist Movement of the nineteen sixteenth and the nineteen seventeenth. Black feminist is also used to refer to some selected African-Americans women who possess certain feminist consciousness. Black feminists possess the black women’s experiences with both racial and gender oppressions that result in needs and problems which are quite different from white women and black men. Black women must struggle hard for equality both as women and as African-Americans. And these experiences gained from their real living as African-American women may stimulate their black feminist sensibility. Most literary critics believe that only African-American women can be Black feminists， because they possess a biological background for race and gender consciousness. Although Black feminists could also be used to describe any individual who advocates black feminist ideas， the distinction of biology from ideology required for this term is hardly seen in the works of black woman writers.

One of the important theories that evolved from the black feminism is Alice Walker’s Womanism. Alice Walker is an American author， poet， self-claimed womanist， and activist. She worked as a social worker， teacher and lecturer， and took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Alice Walker won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel， The Color Purple， and she is also an acclaimed poet and essayist. Alice Walker is one of the first African American woman writers to explore the difficult effects of being a woman in a world that ignores the black-on-black oppression and woman-on-woman oppression. Alice Walker and other womanists point out that black women experienced a very different and more complicated kind of oppression from that of white women. They point out the black feminism is different from the earlier movements led by white middle-class women， because black women experience not only class oppression but also race oppression. Black feminist critics insist that black women are placed within structures of power in different ways than white women. The most important factor that distinguishes black feminism from the mainstream of feminism is its focus on the current oppressions that affect black women and other women of color， especially on the issues such as racism， sexism， and class oppression. The middle-class white women within the traditional feminist movements have been accused by black feminists of focusing on oppression mainly in terms of gender while not paying enough attention to issues of race and class. So， black feminism was forged against this situation. Black Feminists focus on issues that affect all women， such as battering， class status， and gender. They also focus on issues of particular concern to black women， such as lynching and racial identity.

Centering on black women and the issues concerning them， black feminist criticism has brought forward one of the most significant challenges to the mainstream academic approaches to literary studies. While explaining contemporary black feminist criticism， however， it is also important to remember that the existence of feminist studies is an essential precondition for growth. Therefore， it is necessary to know the general ideas about feminist criticism.

As a distinctive approach to literature， feminist criticism， which was not launched until late in the 1960s， has been centering on theoretical speculations on women and women-related objects. It exposes how the image of women is distorted in the patriarchal culture and centers on the criticism of male sexism in the male-dominated world. The aim of feminists is to enable each woman in this world to realize that she is a worthy person possessing the same rights and privileges as every man does. Feminists claim that women must define themselves and declare their own voices in the arenas of politics， economics， education and arts.

In general， feminist criticism can be divided into different schools， such as the American school， the French school， the British school， black feminist criticism and lesbian criticism. American feminist theorists incline to use women’s experiences as a critical determinant. Among them， the representative theorists include Ellen Moers， Elaine Showalter， Patricia Meyer Spacks， Kate Millet and so on. British feminist critics try to describe the political facets of feminism， and Mary Jacobus， Rosalind Coward， Cora Kaplan and Michele Barrett all concern about women’s writings within a political framework. French feminists， including Helene Cixous， Julis Kristeva and Luce Irigaray， explore women’s relationship with language and the psychoanalysis. Lesbian criticism mainly explores the aspects of female sexuality， friendship and mother-daughter relationship and Barbara Smith， Lillian Faderman and Audre Lorde are among them.

Black feminist criticism explores the distinct cultural values of black woman writers in order to prevent their beings from being subsumed in the “universal” literary studies dominated mainly by male and white writers. Before having a look at the recent development of black feminist criticism， the historical reality should be reviewed that black women have always suffered a lot in their lives. The history of black women is different from that of white women. Black women’s history is a history of suffering double oppressions of racial and sexual castes， and a history of their continuous life-and-death struggle for survival and liberation.

Until the 1970s， black women were always misrepresented or marginalized in most critical essays. Even as late as the year of 1979， anthologies did not mention any of the works of black women. Though both white women and black women have to confront sexist problems， few white women critics really cared about black women’s living conditions. In Toward a Black Feminist Criticism Barbara Smith describes what she calls the “white racist pseudoscholarship” of Robert Bone’s The Negro Novel in America. She points out black woman writers should write not only against sexism， but against racism， because the black women， unlike the white women， suffer the double oppressions. They are women as well as blacks.

Things began to change in the 1970s. The significant events were the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement. Both had great influence on black feminism and paved the way for its presence. The slogan of Black Power Movement was popularized by Willie Ricks and Stokely Carmichael in 1966 and was used to fight against racism in the United States. Black Power Movement indicates the determination of black people to redefine and liberate themselves.

With the development of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement， the women’s rights movement was pushed forward in the 1960s. Nevertheless， most of the leading feminists in the women’s rights movement were white women from middle class. The white feminists did not notice or pay enough attention to the conditions of black women as a different group as they suffered double oppressions. So， in 1973， noticing the necessity of constituting a separate black feminist group， a school of black feminists in New York built up the National Black Feminist Organization and held a conference. Hundreds of black feminists were drawn to that conference from all over the country.

Since then， a school of black woman writers have made sustained efforts to change the literary phenomena that black women are completely ignored or their experiences are distorted. The most influential theorists of black woman criticism include Barbara Smith， Alice Walker， Barbara Christian， and so on.

Barbara Smith is a forerunner in the field of American black feminist studies. In her landmark article Toward a Black Feminist Criticism， published in 1977， Barbara Smith named black feminist criticism and gave a direction to its goals. Barbara Smith is a prominent theorist who has created almost single-handedly the field of black feminist criticism with very important anthologies of writings， criticisms and black women’s studies.

Another important black woman critic， Barbara Christian， is a professor of African-American Studies in the University of California at Berkley. She was the first black feminist critic who wrote a book-length text， Black Women Novelists， about the history of black women’s literature. And this was followed by another book， Black Feminist Criticism and many other essays， including her The Race for Theory. Barbara points out ， “I have seized this occasion to break the silence among those of us， critics， as we are now called， who have been intimidated， devalued by what I call the race for theory”.

The black feminism， distinct from the history of white-centered feminism， is an alternative of the same basic believes about equality and freedom. Few black feminists would deny their links to feminism. From the above explanation， it can be seen that black feminist criticism has its distinct features， which are chiefly based on their peculiarly racial， historical and cultural backgrounds.

Basically， black feminist criticism mainly centers on the problems of women’s self-consciousness and self-identity， especially explores the black women’s double-consciousness of being caught in a double-oppression dilemma. Because of white racism and sexism from both white and black males， black women suffer from double oppressions： racism and sexism. This results in the fact that black women have double identities， being black and women at the same time. Therefore， it is very difficult for black women to keep their self-consciousness and self-identity under so unfavorable situations. To demonstrate their racial and gender identity， as Zhao Xiaoling states， the black feminists notice that “On the one hand， they have to struggle with white men against racism； on the other hand， they have to strive against black men about sexism”.

Broadly speaking， feminism is correlated with the marginalization of all women， namely， with their being oppressed to a secondary position. Most feminists claim that the culture is a patriarchal one， in other words， a culture operated favoring men’s interests only. Thus， “feminist literary critics try to explain how power imbalances due to gender in a given culture are reflected in or challenged by literary texts”. Adrienne Rich， a contemporary American poet， pictures feminism as “the place where in the most natural， organic way subjectivity and politics have to come together”. This critical point shows feminism can protest against the exclusion of women from the literary circle， to focus on their personal views， to show their powerful political orientation， and to redefine literary theories in their perspectives. In a word， feminism turns out to be one of the most significant social， political and economic revolutions of the modern times.

Although feminists examine the women’s experiences from all races， classes and cultures， feminist critics go further to explore the oppression women are suffering and cry out their protests against the injustice. For the black women， they are suffering even more than the white women， because they need to fight against sexism as well as racism.

Among all the embranchments of feminism， black feminism is of the most prominence. As a result of the clash between race and gender in the lives of black women， they respond peculiarly to the two controlling ideologies of nationalism and women’s liberation in the fashion of black feminism. With the interests in black culture growing in the 1960s， more and more black writers were included in anthologies. This was followed by the emerging of black feminist critics in the 1970s and 1980s. Criticism and theories have been hardly able to keep up with the explosion of the interests in black writers and black literature. Ever since it has developed so quickly that even the term “black feminist” itself becomes a challenge to define. The meaning of this term remains a hotly-debated issue even among black feminists. Black feminism is made of specialized knowledge created by African American women that states out a standpoint of and for black women. Black feminist perspectives focus on how various forms of race， class， and gender oppression work together to form our social structure.

Black women are consistently affected not only by the double oppressions of race and gender， but by other factors such as class， sexual orientation， and marital status. But being black and female generates a distinct subject position among black women， from which they can treat artistic productions and their living experience， and this can， in turn， lead to their self-consciousness and self-realization. The Black women： an Anthology， edited by Toni Cade， appeared in 1970 as an early demonstration of this self-conscious wave of black feminist thought as “a hardheaded attempt to get （women） basic with each other in the midst of the struggle for ‘liberation’”.

References

[1]Christian， Barbara. Black Feminist Criticism： Perspectives on Black Women Writers. New York： University of California， Berkeley， 2000.

[2]Fetterley， Judith. The Resisting Reader： A Feminist Approach to American Fiction. The University of Massachusetts Press， 1977.

[3]Guerin﹠Wilfred， et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York and Oxford： Oxford University Press， 2004.

[4]赵晓玲.从女权主义视角看美国黑人身份：评托尼·莫里森的新作《乐园》[D].中国优秀博硕士学位论文全文数据库，2001：2.

[5]Humm， Maggie. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Feminist Literary Criticism. New York： Harvester Wheatsheaf， 1994.

[6]Tuttle， Lisa. Encyclopedia of feminism. Harlow： Longman 1986.