This paper attempts to explore how the domestic functions as a venue where the coloured woman can establish and re-establish herself through a continuous negotiation with the public as well as the private. Unlike in the case of “un-coloured” literature, Black women’s literature portrays the domestic as a liberated space, where women possess agency and the otherwise suppressed female subject attains and articulates a voice of her own. Black women’s writings offer a dynamically distinct paradigm within which this liaison could be analyzed. This has been the established perception of the relationship between women and the domestic by mainstream Eurocentric academic discourses.

The lack of monetary benefits made the domestic a particularly unappealing space, which in turn led to the disparagement of women who worked within its confines and their contribution to daily life that unfolded within its domains. It goes beyond the daily reflections on women’s experiences and addresses the poignant odyssey of ‘women of colour’, marking a shift to ‘politics of survival’.ĭomesticity has long been relegated to the margins by the mainstream academia, the more so because of its close association with the quotidian existence of the women of the household. This book debunks the perceptions and genuinely contributes to the discourse on African-American women’s lives. By examining historical and contemporary issues, the book invites the readers to re-counter the dominance of the established White Order and stimulates the question of the agency of Black women.

It illuminates Black female aesthetics and the liberation of self, thus, celebrating their blackness. This work is unique, as it studies African-American women’s poetry and different creative expressions and artistic genres in their struggle for identity. The study delves into the intricacies of African-American women’s issues, such as objectification, rape, motherhood, and racism. This book aims to construct the Black female subjectivity of African-American women through the works of chosen poets: Marilyn Nelson, Rita Dove, Elizabeth Alexander, and Patricia Smith.

Gwendolyn brooks about racism