Publisher's Synopsis
A study of the autobiographical writing of Maya Angelou is significant not only because it offers insights into personal and group experience in America, but also because it has created a unique place within Black autobiographical tradition. While the burden of Angelou's autobiography is essentially a recapturing of her own subjective experiences from early childhood to adulthood, the intent of the work is to describe the influences - personal and cultural, historical and social - that have shaped her life. In this book, Dolly McPherson provides readings of the five-volume serial autobiography (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Gather Together in My Name, Singin'and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, The Heart of a Woman, and All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes). Through these readings, she examines the recurring themes and the techniques Angelou employs to articulate these themes, and connects her to both the Black American and the dominant American cultural traditions. In the final chapter, McPherson assesses Angelou's significance in Black autobiography.
