The Configuration of Identity in Rebecca Walker's Black White and Jewish
Author: Zalfa Nazih Feghali
Publisher:
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 170
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe blurring and crossing of boundaries is a central and repeated theme in Black White and Jewish (2001). The daughter of black feminist author Alice Walker and white Jewish civil rights attorney Mel Leventhal, Rebecca Walker transgresses the racial, ethnic, and religious boundaries upheld by mainstream American socie ty. As a result, Walker does not have a stable, fixed identity. In fact, the que stion of how she configures her mixed-race identity is her very motivation in wr iting Black White and Jewish. In the first chapter of this study, I identify what I consider the main problema tic of Walker?s autobiography. As a result of her mixed-race identity, Walker is ostracized by society?s power of interpellation. Due to being biracial, she is hailed as a tragic mulatta and is doomed to exist at the cusp of dual belonging and dual alienation. Walker feels that she does not make sense, and has no sense of belonging with any community. The second chapter focuses on how Walker attempts to override the system that b rands her as tragic. Her need to make sense and feel a sense of belonging prompt s her to perform different identifications. She hopes that these performances wi ll help her fit in with different groups. However, her performances ultimately f ail. I show that these performances also silence her own voice, leading to dire consequences in her personal life. However, these consequences are a turning poi nt for Walker, as they prompt her to take control of her own life. In the third chapter, I trace the process by which Walker regains her silenced voice through learning how to critically read and write. Through writing, Walker is able vocalize and articulate for the first time. She is thus able to carve o ut a space in which her identity can make sense in all its complexity. It is fro m this in-between space that Walker writes Black White and Jewish and makes sens e for the first time in her life.