Female Subjectivity in African American Women's Narratives of Enslavement

Female Subjectivity in African American Women s Narratives of Enslavement is a new and innovative study of black women s transformation, which focuses on black women writers who support the notion of separate location for a changed female consciousness. This book offers the concept of the "Transient Woman" as a new paradigm and feminist vision for analyzing female subjectivity and consciousness.

"Myles Female Subjectivity in African American Women s Narratives of Enslavement is an ambitious, in-depth, detailed, and dynamic analysis of how and when black female literary figures move from pained and/or marginal existences to places of power and self transformation . . .Myles both informs and expands our understanding of black female movement as a self defining, and liberating act that is simultaneously transgressive and transformative." - Sapphire, author of Push and Black Wings & Blind Angels

"Out of a deep familiarity with the works of such multicultural theorists as bell hooks, Homi Bhabha, and Gloria Anzaldúa, Myles has crafted her own sophisticated conceptualization of a five stage process that evokes the intriguing idea of a Transient Woman struggling to recognize the intricacies of enslavement and move beyond the crippling effects of patriarchical hegemony . . .Myles has engaged in first rate theorizing about the complexities of transformative movement toward an enlightened conscious subjectivity." - Stanlie M. James, Director, African and African American Studies, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

"Drawing on criticism and theories from Black and Latina feminists and postcolonial studies, Female Subjectivity in African American Women's Narratives of Enslavement offers a refreshing exploration of African American women s literature. . . Detailing the stages of transient movement in the transformation to racial andgender consciousness, Myles explicates her concept for readers with cogent textual evidence from a range of Black women s fiction." - DoVeanna S. Fulton, Director, African American Studies and Chair, Women s Studies, University of Arizona

Lynette D. Myles teaches in the Department of English and African and African American Studies at Arizona State University.