Beyond Intersectional Oppression

Throughout history, Black women have been considered as the objectified other to be manipulated and controlled. As objects, their existence has been defined, created, and represented by more powerful individuals. Black women's narratives, however, came as a response to the bigoted representations of Black womanhood and focus on the necessity of Black women's struggle to challenge and overthrow racial and patriarchal injustices in order to generate a self-assertive identity. Through analyzing selected novels written by African-American women writers, this book explores Black women's desire to contrive stout identities despite the intersectional obstructions. It explains the way these women writers highlight the female protagonists' persistent efforts to defy the domineering patriarchal and racial forces, and conceive various innovative means to pursue self-fulfilment. Because these writers focus on underscoring Black women's unique experience, their works become part of a revolutionary agenda that considers Black female women's identity as a rhizomatic rather than an arborescent entity.