From Black Feminism to Womanism: Alice Walker's selected short fiction

The United States of America imagined as a place for happiness through freedom has been home to millions of people of various races, origins and cultures. Behind the apparent face of the American history exists the struggle years of Afro- American people, especially of the black women. This study aims to present the struggles of black women from the 16th century until today, besides the development of Black Feminism and one of the most significant Black Feminists, Alice Walker' s (1944-) 'Womanist' theory. Beginning with slavery, Afro-American history has witnessed a variety of black women's struggles to gain rights and more freedom in the racist and sexist America. During this process, Black Feminism has become a kind of foundation which black women have added to their racial and sexual identities. Walker created Womanism by having contributed to Black Feminism with some new standpoints since 1983. She considers gender and race as interlocked structures and emphasizes that black women's problems result from them. The study describes Walker, firstly as a Black Feminist and then a living figure and supporter of Womanism, which forms a new, thriving consciousness and standpoint for all women of color. Alice Walker improves Black Feminism formed by Barbara Smith in 1973 both by getting support from Black Liberation and Women Liberation Movements of the 1960s and as a reaction to them, she highlights that all women should adopt 'Womanist' identity as a concept embracing all women of color. Besides being a Womanist, Walker also stands out as one of the leading voices among modern Afro-American female authors having great influence on Afro-American community. This study provides a concise framework of Black Feminism and Walker's theory of Womanism concerning peace of black women's life which is under white and black patriarchal dominancy. Walker's short story collections entitled In Love and Trouble (1973) and You Can't Keep A Good Woman Down (1981) were selected as they reflect her changing attitudes about black woman phenomenon. Women characters in the first collection who are passive, incapable of understanding their problems exactly and lack consciousness of struggle are replaced by educated and conscious women in the second collection, the publication of which refers to the period when she developed her Womanist theory. This indicates that she changed her thoughts in time. Womanism and Walker's opinions in this term form the keystone of the selected short stories. The reflections of these thoughts on the selected short stories will be studied. Key Words: African American women, struggles of black women, Alice Walker, Black Feminism, Womanism.