• Civil Rights Movement in US

• Racism + Sexism: double oppression memorial: black women, victims of racism

• Literary recognition of black authors

Narration:

• first person perspective: intimate and authentic voice that resonates with readers

• Reflective and analytical tone: Walker combines personal anecdotes with analytical insights, exploring themes of creativity, heritage and oppression

Symbolism:

• Garden/Flowers = creative outlet that can grow

• Mothers and ancestors = ethnic community

• Creating homeplace as a form of resistance against white supremacy, practiced by black women

• Create a place where all black people are subject although outside of it they are treated like objects by white people

• Creating homeplace in order to prevent oneselves psyche and family relations being completely shaped by white supremacist domination

Historical/cultural context:

• racism in the USA/also South Africa

• Black seen as objects by White —> were only seen as labour without dignity

• Black women worked in White households, but also had their own family to care for

Narrative Perspective:

• perspective of the author bell hooks

• telling about the time in which her grandmother lived and how the black women back then showed resistance

Symbolism/Imagery:

• black women as „primary guides and teachers“ (448)

• Homeplace described as a place filled with „warmth“, the place where the „nurturing of our souls“ takes place, and as a place of dignity for black people

• Migration: West Indian families move to the US and create Diaspora

  communities e.g. in New York

• Racism and economical challenges

• First and second generation immigrants

Symbolism:

• Kitchen = place of learning and development, reconnecting to emotions, community, cultural heritage

Narration:

• first-person perspective: personal and intimate account of her experiences

• Reflective and anecdotal tone: narrative tone is reflective, blending personal anecdotes with broader insights

• removal: strategically taken from their native lands: trail of tears

• Re-education (euphemism)
  -> reform school: Christian schools attempt to extinguish culture
  -> Lost Generation
  -> text contributes to the survival of native voices/ and perspectives otherwise lost experience only from historians

Narration:

• first-person perspective: direct and intimate account

• Autobiographical account: authenticity lends credibility and emotional weight

Symbolism:

• cutting hair: violent uprooting

• losing the ability to speak in native tongue --> assimilation

  • "Within a year I was able to express myself somewhat in broken English" (814)

• Chinese family living in the USA, in a conflict between trying to adapt to the American culture and retaining Chinese culture

Historical/cultural context:

• American Dream

• Society heavily influenced by racism

Symbolism/imagery:

• country club is a symbol for belonging to the USA

• Mr. Chang's suit as a symbol for trying to fit into the american society --> thrust into pool as opposing this idea

Narrative perspective

• first person narrator, extradiegetic homodiegetic narrator with fixed internal focalization

• Callie's narration (2nd Gen) underlines the conflict between adapting to a new culture but still retaining the original culture of the parents

• two girls with different (tough ambiguous) races growing up in an orphanage together

• Meet for several times in their life and each meeting is different

• extraordinary friendship with conflict potential

Narrative perspective:

• Story strategically withholds information from the reader, which makes it impossible to know which girl is black and which girl is white —> despite this racial identity matters in the story

Historical/cultural context:

• Civil Rights Movement)

Symbolism/imagery:

• Salt and Pepper —> different races but still belong together

• Rock-and-Roll culture

• Civil rights movements

• Traditional family systems are questioned, women's role? -> times of freedom, change

Narration:
• third-person limited omniscient narrator, focusing primarily on Connie`s perspective

• allows readers to closely follow Connie`s thoughts and feelings, giving insight into her internal struggles and perceptions

Symbolism:

• threshold: does she enjoy the attention?

• Arnold Friend: an old friend/fiend

• Music: losing control and agency

• Patriarchy and Power Dynamics

• Gender (In)Equality

• Intersectionality