Autonomous, independent and lettered subjectivation: contra-hegemonic language conceptions in written productions of black women writers

Abstract

This article analyses ideas and arguments about language and its derivatives in written productions of self-identified black women writers, from the viewpoint of contemporary cultural and post-colonial studies. For that, we mapped the written productions of self-identified black women writers available online, selected through the key-words “language”, “to write”, “written”, “discourse”, “oral/ity”, and “speech”. Twenty productions were found as a result. For these authors, language – particularly the written word considering literature is the main thematic context of the texts that were found – is marked by the body, that is, by the race and gender which guide their writings. However, to some of them, this should not be considered as the main focus of their writings.