The emancipatory benefits of literature and the formation of identity.

As a young child I marvelled in the complexities of the English language. I always rejoiced at the task of colouring my syntax with a wide array of metaphors and idioms. The jewels of the English language; all the hidden treasures buried within a person’s lexicon. As a child I marvelled at this task, making sure my lexicon was as colourful as a person could imagine. Imagination is a key factor within this, as it is imagination which evokes a sort of emancipatory spirit and essence. This blog-pots will feature how literature saved my life, and the lives of so many others like me.

If you are astutely aware of the greats of modern American literature, you are thus probably familiar with the work of Maya Angelou. Angelou is often regarded as one of America’s greatest poets. Her work contains emotive prose, reminiscing on a time distinct from our own.  When writing, Angelou used literature as an emancipatory tool to liberate herself from the traumas and inner turmoil of her own past. Raped as a young child, Angelou became mute as a direct consequence of her experiences. Mute and traumatised, Angelou notes in her groundbreaking novel ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, how she used literature to emancipate herself from the traumas of her past and overcome her innermost turmoil.

It is important to bear in mind that when reading canonical prose, there is often a skewed agenda attached to the prose. Many within the canon tend to fit into the category of ‘dead, white men’. Within this blog-pots I will attempt to diversify my interpretation of canonical readings by implementing work from famous black feminist scholars.

As well as Angelou, there is also the work of Audre Lorde to consider, who writes in great depth as to how poetry and literature should not be regarded as a luxury. Lorde (1977) regards poetry as illumination, ‘for it is through poetry that we give name to those ideas which are – until the poem – nameless and formless, about to be birthed and already felt’ (Lorde, 1977, p.7). the idea that poetry is an illumination of power that is not birthed but already felt is a powerful metaphor to envisage. Lorde continues her poetic prose, illuminating how for women, poetry is not a luxury but instead is a vital necessity of our existence. This is also true of the black female experience, which is so often hidden in the shadow of the white male canonical experience. Poetry is a mechanism for survival and change, forming our hopes and dreams ‘towards survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action’ (Lorde, 1977, p.8). She comments on this further noting that ‘poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought’ (ibid).

What can we decipher from Lorde’s interpretation of poetry? There are many interpretations that can be made. The first is that poetry has emancipatory benefits far beyond the syntax of the prose. Poetry is visionary and used as a mechanism for survival and change. As aforementioned, this goes far beyond the syntax of the prose as it is embedded within our very psyche. As Lorde notes, ‘the farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives’ (ibid). Thus, poetry occupies the space as a sanctuary, encompassing a safe-house for the very difference that is so necessary for revolutionary change. Poetry thus becomes the conceptualisation of meaningful action.

What we can also decipher from the work of Angelou and Lorde is that poetry is dependent upon feelings and within this brings around emancipatory and revolutionary change. As Lorde notes, through the benefits of literature, ‘we can train ourselves to respect our feelings and transpose them into a language that can be shared’ (Lorde, 1977, p.9).

This is a vital assertion made by Lorde as the emancipatory benefits of literature can be aroused from a universal language that is understood and shared among the oppressed. This is something in which Angela Davis comments upon. She notes when enacting revolutionary change, ‘the question of how to bring movements together is also a question of the kind of language one uses and the consciousness one tries to impart (Davis, 2016, p.21). Language is thus key within our assessment because language directs a movement towards both inner change and external change via revolution.

bell hooks writes in great depths about the benefits of literature. She notes how ‘literature…helps inform masses of people…helps individuals understand feminist thinking and feminist politics’ (hooks, 2014, p.22). Emphasising on the importance of language she notes however that this literature needs to be written in a variety of different styles of formats. For literature to become truly revolutionary we need to gear it towards the younger cultures in a language in which they understand. She notes how thus children’s literature is one of the most crucial sites for feminist education for critical consciousness as it is in the adolescent stage when identities are being formed. If children’s literature were to contain the emancipatory rhetoric of feminist politics, these values could thus be internalised by the youth.

Linking to feminist intersectionality, when unpicking hooks’ theory on the development of child identity through literature, this sparks wider questions regarding how literature can also impact the formation of racial identity.

Beverly Tatum writes profusely on this topic. She notes how the psychology of becoming black has been coined nigrescence.  Beverly Tatum argues that people in life go through immersion and emersion phases relating to the psychological development of a child into adulthood. She argues that ‘the black person in the immersion/emersion phase is energised by the new information he or she is learning – angry perhaps it wasn’t available sooner…(learning) there is more to black history than victimisation’ (Tatum, 1997, p.76) Thus, she importantly comments that the person at the immersion/emersion phase is subsequently ‘unlearning the internalised stereotypes about his or her own group and is redefining a positive sense of self, based on the affirmation of one’s racial group identity’ (ibid).

To conclude, through literature one can unlearn internalised stereotypes. Unlearning internalised stereotypes relates to the notion that specific beliefs, attitudes and emotional reflections are articulated by interpretation. These interpretations hinder our cognitive development of certain interpretations and attitudes. And it is through this dogma in which literature can have emancipatory benefits.

Sources used:

Davis, A. (2016) “Freedom is a Constant Struggle”, Chicago: Haymarket Books.

hooks, b. (2014) “Feminism is for Everybody”, New York: Routledge.

Lorde, A. (1977) “Your Silence Will Not Protect You”, UK Silver Press.

Tatum, B. (1997) “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in Cafeteria”, US.