Mythmaking and metaphor in black women's fiction /

This badly flawed study focuses on the use of myth as a metaphor for psychological growth in the work of contemporary African American women novelists. Emphasizing the "New World" synthesis of Greek, Hebraic, African, and indigenous American myths, De Weever offers occasional insights into particular myths in novels by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Paule Marshall, and others. Unfortunately, the book is riddled with factual and methodological problems. De Weever conflates terms such as archetype, myth, and motif and frequently bases her analysis on factually inaccurate information. Her analysis of African American critics' use of Greek myth is based on an essay by white critic Kimberly Benston; her reading of the Brer Rabbit story is based on half of the version presented by Uncle Remus, the fictional creation of white writer Joel Chandler Harris. Readers seeking nuanced readings of the novels considered in this study should consult B. Christian's Black Women Novelists (CH, Apr'81) or M. D. Kubitschek's Claiming the Heritage (CH, Jun'91). C. Werner; University of WisconsinDSMadison