THE HOMELESS HOUSEHOLD: A REFLECTION ON THE FAMILY IN TONI MORRISON’S SULA AND SONG OF SOLOMON

Résumé de l'article

Black American families are intertwined by the vestige of slavery that emasculated the black slave, subsequently giving the black woman the position of family leader. Concentrating on Toni Morrison’s Sula and Song of Solomon, this article proposes a re-evaluation of black feminism. The objective is to analyze such families in which the fathering woman’s role is one of the hegemonic. But it appears that despite her sense of sacrifice, she fails to play two roles, that of the mother and the one of the father who is absent. The emotional instability of most characters in the two fictions reads, therefore, as a result of the unstable family circle that presents the image of an open circle. That is how, the discussion suggests moving from the community of women to the construction of black American families where the mother and the father constitute the two pillars of their stability.

THE VOICE IN THE PERIPHERY: BLACK CULTURE IN TONI MORRISON’S TAR BABY

Résumé de l'article

Although the slavery system in America was founded on the negation of Blacks’ cultural values brought from Africa, Toni Morrison shows in Tar Baby that analyzing black culture differently leads to a conflict between white and black race. White people denied any culture in the process of the Blacks’ dehumanization. Whites destroyed black culture and imposed them theirs. Blacks meanwhile, revived cultural values of the black race to show Whites that they had an advanced culture that gave meaning to their existence and identity. They highlight the importance of their culture that contributes to their integration into the fabric of the society in The United States of America.

The NGURARIO or Marriage in Fiction and Real Life

Résumé de l'article

This paper analyses the NGURARIO or marriage ceremony in fiction and real life. We will study Ngugi’s I Will Marry When I Want, a subversive book and Manthia Diawara's documentary film Who Is Afraid of Ngugi? The first text is the English version of Ngaahika Ndeenda, a play in kikuyu, critical of the regime and performed by peasants and workers. The film is showing how Ngugi was crowned on his return in 2002 to Kenya despite the tragedy that results in his return. The two texts include the performance of the Ngurario, the final step in a marriage ceremony. The film echoes cultural pessimism raised by the play.

THE DRAMATIZATION OF THE FEMALE BODY: DISCOURSES OF RESISTANCE AND POWER IN OF EVE ENSLER’S THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES

Résumé de l'article

Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues (TVM) is an atypical play that centers on the most intimate part of the female anatomy: her vagina. This paper analyzes the double play of “jouissance” as the site of pleasure and resistance through the body and words. As a hearing and sharing of women’s experiences with one another, Ensler’s play delineates a new aesthetic grounded in the performance of individual and collective stories through the mediation of their voices/bodies. This paper analyzes the dramatization of the female body as site of resistance and power.