This work discusses a range of novels, short stories and essays by black American women writers from the Harlem Renaissance to the present time. It begins with a survey of 19th-century black women's slave narratives, early sentimental novels and autobiographies and then focuses on six writers: Zora Neale Hurston, Paule Marshall, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Maya Angelou. The text shows how these writers have developed the preoccupations, themes and narrative strategies of their literary ancestors.
Introduction; Chapter 1 Pioneering voices; Chapter 2 Harlem and theFirst Black Renaissance; Chapter 3 Zora Neale Hurston (b. 1891?/1901? - d. 1961) The search for a black female self; Chapter 4 Paule Marshall (b. 1929) and Audre Lorde (b. 1934) A celebration of infinite variety; Chapter 5 Maya Angelou (b. 1928) Autobiography: The creation of a positive black female self; Chapter 6 Toni Morrison (b. 1931) The power of the ancestors; Chapter 7 Alice Walker (b. 1944) The spiritual inheritance; Conclusion;
