Literature Review of Alice Walker.docVIP

题 目 Literature Review of Alice Walker 课 程 英美女性文学作品赏析 教 师 史丽娜 学 生 陈茂池 学 号 104050044 班 级 003 2013年7月5日 Literature Review of Alice Walker I. Introduction Alice Walker is one of the most important contemporary Afro-American writers. After a childhood accident blinded her in one eye, she went on to become valedictorian of her local school, then went to the College on scholarships, graduating in 1965. She volunteered in the voter registration drives of the 1960s in Georgia, and went to work after college in the Welfare Department in New York City. She married in 1967 and her first book of poems came out in 1968 and her first novel just after her daughters birth in 1970. Her early poems, novels and short stories dealt with themes familiar to readers of her later works: rape, violence, isolation, troubled relationships, multi-generational perspectives, sexism and racism. When The Color Purple came out in 1982, Walker became known to an even wider audience. She was widely criticized for negative portrayals of men in The Color Purple, though many critics admitted that the movie presented more simplistic negative pictures than the books more nuanced portrayals. Shes credited with introducing the word womanist for African American feminism. In 1989 and 1992, in two books, The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy, Walker took on the issue of female circumcision in Africa, which brought further controversy: was Walker a cultural imperialist to criticize a different culture? Her works are known for their portrayals of the African American womans life. She depicts vividly the sexism, racism and poverty that make that life often a struggle. But she also portrays as part of that life, the strengths of family, community, self-worth, and spirituality. I