The Comparative Analysis of Feminism Thought In Poems of Maya Angelou and Audre Lordre

Abstract

-This paper explores the construction of feminist thought as portrayed in selected poems of black female writers, Maya Angelou and Audre Lordre. Both writers reveal themes of powerless female protagonists (black African-American women) who undergo mental conflicts as a result of the hegemonic culture in their poetry such as "Phenomenal Woman," "Still I Rise," "On the Pulse of Morning," "Equality," "Woman Work," "Cage Bird," "Remembrance," "A Woman Speaks," "For Each of You," "Love Poem," "Power," "Inheritance," and "Sisters in Arms." By using the concept of feminist criticism, this study shows the forms of hegemonic culture through marginalization, stereotypes, subordination, and oppression. The silence and passivity of female protagonists are seen as active when viewed using this paradigm of female silence (a feminist criticism) because the silence and passivity are strategies used by female protagonists to resist the oppressive social roles, survive, and eulogize the self-accepted of female protagonists from the dominant culture. In conclusion, Maya Angelou and Audre Lordre's seem to exalt the suffering, sacrificing, submissive wife, since it is through these qualities that they will not only survive but finally triumph. These ways encourage the female protagonists (black African-American women) to construct the self-consciousness, black women culture, and identity. In short, these reflect concern over the author's minds and explicitly represent feminist thought.Keywords: feminist thought, powerless, hegemonic culture, black African-American women, and silence and passivity.

“I’m a Woman Phenomenally”: Black Women Empowerment in Selected Poems of Maya Angelou

“…Angelou gives voice to the demands of those who have been voiceless for so long. Black American women want to be freed of all sufferings and subjugation, as evidenced by Angelou's term "to rise" (Suhadi, 2016).…”