No crystal stair : visions of race and gender in black women's fiction /

This reissue of the first full-length, interdisciplinary study of novels by black women (1984) remains a significant text for the study of black feminist criticism. Using 14 works written between 1946 and 1976, Wade-Gayles (Spelman College) examines the effects of racism, sexism, and capitalism on black women in America, interfacing literary analysis with history and sociology. Though thematic in organization, the first two chapters present a historical overview of the conditions of black women during the period and interrogates their representation in scholarship and popular media. Themes in subsequent chapters are also situated in broader cultural contexts, thereby expanding the focus beyond literary motif. Of particular interest are the complex depictions of motherhood and the consequences of black women appropriating traditional (white) gender roles. As Wade-Gayles warns, this is a "painful book to read"; nonetheless, it provides the straightforward approach necessary to delineate the unique position of black women as a group distinct from black men and white women. Together, the original introduction by Beverly Guy-Sheftall and the new introduction by Wade-Gayles provide a comprehensive chronology of black feminist criticism. Highly recommended for all collections. A. J. Gosselin; Cleveland State University