A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MAYA ANGELOU’S SELECTED POEMS THROUGH SARA MILLS’ LENS

Abstract

The purpose of present research is to investigate the ways Maya Angelou incorporates in her poems to celebrate and cherish womanism while challenging the metanarratives ideologies and stereotypes related to black women. The present research is based on qualitative method. It incorporates Sara Mill’s Feminist Stylistics and the perspectives of black feminism in the analysis of Maya Angelou’s selected poems. The findings reveal that Maya Angelou has very exquisitely and purposefully employed subversive strategies in her poems to counter both patriarchy and western feminism. The findings further suggest that these are well-crafted poems which transgress the stereotypes associated with black women not only by patriarchy but also by the white feminists. Self-acceptance and self-praise and inner mystery allows the black woman to celebrate and cherish their bodily parts rather than being apologetic and lamenting at fragmentation. This study can be further extended on feminist stylistic analysis of Maya Angelou’s memoirs.