Revelation of Ideology in Literary Discourse: A Case Study

Abstract

Literature as a socio-cultural discourse has historically prepared a fertile land where authors can freely express their experiences and ideologies. It functions as a safe site to struggle, challenge, and resist the power relations. Toni Morrison as an acclaimed African American literary figure uses her rhetoric art of negotiation to reveal an authentic image of black womanhood. In this article equipped with black feminist lenses properly adjusted on black women's positioning and experiences, I try to manifest Morrison's power of discursive authority in the course of resistance against the hegemonic patriarchal constructions as she challenges the traditionally approved assumptions, ideologies, and discourses regarding the identity of black womanhood. She engages with the socio-cultural, political, and ideological construction of the society to problematize the discourses imposed on black womanhood.