AFROFEMCENTRISM: How History Shapes Stories A look into Ntozake Shange’s novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

Abstract

American Literature comprises a vast literary production by Black American women, who tell their fictional stories in a peculiar and culture-inspired way. This research paper deals particularly with the novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, by the highly regarded American author and playwright Ntozake Shange. Her work is discussed in light of Bakhtinian and feminist theoretical principles, and we defend that there are nuances within the Black feminine writing which form an aesthetic that is exceptionally Black and feminine, identified by Zain A. Muse as Afrofemcentrism. The discourse, faith and costumes of Africa combined with American culture, bring out stories inspired by the history of a people who did not abandon their features and qualities as a result of the social mingling; rather than doing so, they got hold of their traditions in order to make their richness known and valued as well as the individuality and identity of their root culture.