African-American women writers of Detroit.

Historically the works of African American writers in general and African American women writers in particular have not received the critical attention they deserve. Nevertheless, these writers have persisted in their efforts to write and have their works published, but only in recent years have African American women poets, fiction writers, dramatists and essayists begun to see their works published and studied to a degree comparable with their sophistication and value. African American women writers have called attention to the double yoke of discrimination they bear in being both black and female, but they are also cognizant of the unique perspective that condition generates for dealing with the African American experience in the literature they produce. Thus, the purpose of this project is to extend the attention given to African American women writers. By conducting an indepth interview of the writers, maximum opportunity was given to underst and ing their works and the forces that influenced and shaped their works. In other words, an analysis of the works themselves was supplemented by an indepth interview in which a variety of questions were asked of the authors regarding their works and related subjects. The questions and issues raised by them sought to achieve greater insight into the motivations, themes, and underst and ing of the literary perspective of African American female writers of Detroit and the reception of their works by literary critics. Four African American women writers (Schavi M. Ali, Melba J. Boyd, Naomi L. Madgett, and Paulette Childress White) were selected for the interviews based on their writing styles, longevity in the area, quality of their work and the need for recognition of their works by the literary community. This project shows how the works of writers selected for this study connect with the works of other African American women writers historically, and how their writings will advance an underst and ing of the African American experience through the writings of African American women.Ph.D.American literatureBlack studiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156577/1/9034359.pd