Toward Wholeness in Paule Marshall's FictionInternationally known and long praised by contemporary African-American novelists, Paule Marshall is now being recognized as a major American writer. Her fiction - Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959), Soul Clap Hands and Sing (1961), The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969), Praisesong for the Widow (1983), Reena and Other Stories (1983), and Daughters (1991) - explores the ways in which dual cultural heritages can fracture the psyche of black world communities and black people of African ancestry. This first book-length treatment of Marshall's work is both an examination of her writing and its place in the tradition of African-American women's fiction and a study of black American and Caribbean literature and culture. Joyce Pettis explores the intersecting patterns of race, class, and gender oppressions that exacerbate the problems engendered by the fractured psyche in Marshall's major characters. Pettis identifies the fractured psyche as feelings of incompleteness, vulnerability, alienation, indirection, displacement, diffusion, and spiritual isolation. Among its consequences are disruption of family unity, negative perceptions of oneself in the world community, and an absence of Afrocentric values in a materialist culture. Attempting transcendence of these oppressions gives rise to sustained struggles for wholeness that distinguish Marshall's characters. |
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African African-American American ancestors Aunt Avey Avey's becomes behavior black women Bournehills Boyce British Brown Girl called Caribbean chapter characters child Chosen Place concept connection consequences continuity criticism Cuffee cultural dance Daughters discussion dominant economic effect essential Estelle example existence experience female forces fractured psyche gender Hands heritage human identifies identity illustrates important individual initially island journey labor literally literary literature lives male Marshall Marshall's fiction materialism means memory Merle Merle's mother myth narrative novel offers oppression origins past Paule physical political position Praisesong presence Primus's problems psychic psychological race reflects rejection relationship remains resistance response ritual role Selina setting significant Silla social space spiritual wholeness status story Street structure success suggests symbol talk texts tion tradition United Ursa Ursa's values vision West West Indian woman writers York young
Bibliographic information
| Title | Toward Wholeness in Paule Marshall's Fiction |
| Author | Joyce Owens Pettis |
| Publisher | University of Virginia Press, 1995 |
| ISBN | 0813916143, 9780813916149 |
| Length | 173 pages |
| Subjects | › Literary Criticism / Women Authors |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |