Bone Black : The Black Life Narrative As Feminist Protest

Abstract

Bone Black by bell hooks charts her own experiences of growing up as a black girl .Negotiating the difficult terrain of being a black girl in a racist society, hooks’ memoir inevitably brings Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye to mind .hooks faithfully records the memories of her girlhood and there is the same sincerity in her creative enterprise as a Morrison or a Walker ,for whom the most important function of writing is to bear witness .The Bluest Eye ,The Color Purple are landmark texts in the African American canon that document the trials and tribulations of the African American women trying to define themselves. hooks’ girlhood memories show the distinctive concerns of an African American woman writer. She also incorporates every aspect of Southern life and critiques the ways in which individual members of the family and community aid or deters a young girl from attaining a positive sense of self. In fact African American women’s literature frequently portrays the protagonist undertaking a quest or a journey for self-actualization. Thus Black life narratives starting from the time of the slave narratives have a narrative trajectory which features the desire for freedom –individual as well as racial. The racial history of the Blacks in America make it inevitable that any text in order to have a proper, historicized voice must address the problems of racism and sexism(in the case of Black women) to which the Blacks have been subjected to .Thus Black narratives(life narratives or fictional ones) are examples of protest literature. Such narratives observe and critique the manifold ways in which the White culture tries to oppress and dominate the Blacks. The paper tries to explore how hooks’ life narrative recalls other significant works within the African American autobiographical tradition and incorporates certain tropes and themes common not only to the African American woman’s experience but to the growth of any Black artist in America. Wikipedia notes that narrative identity postulates individuals form their own identity by integrating their life experiences into an evolving story of the self which provides the individual with a sense of purpose and unity in life (Wikipedia). We shall observe how Bone Black is a text of self-actualization and yet foregrounds hooks’ beliefs regarding race, gender, power and creativity in America.