Heart of a woman, mind of a writer, and soul of a poet: a critical analysis of the writngs of Maya Angelou PDF
Preview Heart of a woman, mind of a writer, and soul of a poet: a critical analysis of the writngs of Maya Angelou
HZ . >'' - V HEART OF A WOMAN, MIND OF A WRITER, AND SOUL OF A POET A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Maya Angelou Lyman B. Hagen University Press of America, Inc. Lanham • New York • London Copyright © 1997 by University Press of America,® Inc. 4720 Boston Way Lanham, Maryland 20706 3 Henrietta Street London, WC2E 8LU England All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America British Cataloging in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hagen, Lyman B. Heart of a woman, mind of a writer, and soul of a poet: a critical analysis of the writngs of Maya Angelou / Lyman B. Hagen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Angelou, Maya-Criticism and interpretation. 2. Women and literature—United States—History—20th century. 3. Afro-American women in literature. 4. Afro-American in literature. I. Title. PS3551.N464Z68 1997 818'.5409-dc20 96-47119 CIP ISBN 0-7618-0620-2 (cloth: alk, ppr.) ISBN 0-7618-0621-0 (pbk: alk. ppr.) w The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48—1984 Contents Preface Acknowledgments Chronology Chapter 1 Angelou and Autobiography 1 Chapter 2 Wit and Wisdom/Mirth and Mischief 27 Chapter 3 The Autobiographies 53 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 54 Gather Together in My Name 73 Singin ’ and Swingin ’ and Gettin ’ Merry Like Christmas 87 The Heart of a Woman 96 All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes 107 Chapter 4 Poetry 118 Chapter 5 Films, Plays, Television, Essays 137 Chapter 6 Abstracts in Ethics 148 Chapter 7 Overview 158 Postscript 165 Bibliography 166 Index 175 4 Preface Maya Angelou opened her life to public scrutiny through her works. She writes as a woman, an African American, and the mother of an African-American male. She speaks to her race’s history as she experiences it and as it has been passed down to her. But while the color of her skin affects how she perceives and how she is perceived, it is not her central concern. She explores relationships and the reactions of human beings to one another and to the circumstances surrounding them. Angelou exudes a vitality and a positive outlook that is contagious. She has known depression, discouragement, and disappointment. But her message of survival rings clear—'And Still I Rise." Literary criticism of African-American writing has grown considerably in very recent times. The growth has been in both quantity and quality. A new generation of academics has discovered the rich trove of their ethnic literature and is examining it from both established and newly formulated scholarly norms. In the process they are discovering the contributions and talents of their brothers and sisters. Maya Angelou is one of the popular writers whose books have been subjected to increasing analysis and found to contain depth and layers overlooked in hasty, though entertaining, reading. What follows is an attempt to present some of these layered perceptions and their derivation as presented throughout the breadth of an entire body of work. There is hopefully a fresh look at the humor, ethics, and folklore contained in these works. The message and spirit conveyed by the writings of Maya Angelou and the public acceptance of her published corpus on both the academic and general levels establish her as an American author of significance. The purpose of this volume is to validate that thesis and to provide a single reference source for those wishing to look more closely at the eclectic offerings of Angelou. A note about style. Whenever possible, the term African American has been employed. Many direct quotes, however, use the terminology black or Negro. To avoid awkwardness, some textual references follow this usage, especially when referring to ethnic entity. Sometimes African American has been labeled too inclusive a term. American natives of Haiti, or Jamaica, or West Indian extraction have stated a preference for their origin to be noted in referring to them: i.e. Haitian American; or Jamaican American; etc.
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