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<i>The Womanist Reader</i> (review)

2009; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 19; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/ftr.0.0053

1934-6034

Stacy Shotsberger Russo,

Gender Politics and Representation

Reviewed by: The Womanist Reader Stacy Russo (bio) Phillips, Layli , ed. The Womanist Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006. 437 pp. In "Womanism: On Its Own," the introduction to The Womanist Reader, Layli Phillips traces the roots of the term "womanist" to Alice Walker's 1979 short story "Coming Apart." Phillips has observed a "major void" that she describes as "the absence of any systematic treatment of the womanist idea and, notably, the absence of any definitive compendium of womanist scholarship documenting what has now been more than a quarter century of womanist scholarly and creative work" (xix). This volume performs well at beginning to fill the void. The Womanist Reader is organized into five parts: (1) Birthplaces, Birthmothers: Womanist Origins; (2) Womanist Kinfolk: Sisters, Brothers, Daughters, and Sons on Womanism; (3) Womanist Theory and Praxis: Womanism in the Disciplines; (4) Critiquing the Womanist Idea; and (5) Womanist Resources. Name and subject indexes round out the volume. This organization allows for varied and creative approaches to the reading and/or teaching of the text. Those both familiar and unfamiliar with womanist theory will likely find something of interest here, making the volume potentially useful in moderately to highly advanced classrooms. Part 3, which branches out to a variety of disciplines, will be discussed later in this review. It is one of the most exciting sections in regards to instructional use of the text, allowing students pursuing different degrees to discover the many ways to integrate womanism in their own disciplines, both practically and theoretically. It is important to first examine the earlier sections that lead to part 3. Part 1, a discussion of the origins of womanism, appropriately begins with three selections by Alice Walker: (1) "Coming Apart" (1979), (2) "Gifts of Power: The Writings of Rebecca Jackson" (1981), and (3) "Womanist" (1983). The final piece, "Womanist," is Walker's well-known definition that appeared in her collection, In Search of Our Mothers Gardens: Womanist Prose. Following Walker, Phillips includes selections by Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi on African womanism and Clenora Hudson-Weems on Africana womanism. These writings provide insight into how the term womanist, for some, has evolved beyond Walker and taken on variations. Although certain authors use womanism interchangeably with black feminism, this interchange is not universal. Hudson Weems, for example, carefully points out: "The Africana womanist is not be confused [End Page 243] with Alice Walker's 'womanist'" (48). She continues, "Africana Womanism is an ideology created and designed for all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture, and therefore, it necessarily focuses on the unique experiences, struggles, needs, and desire of Africana women" (48). Within the context of this understanding, Africana womanism is set apart from both black feminism and African feminism. Part 2 contains writings by several authors, including the male voices of Gary L. Lemons and Michael Awkward. These selections, if used in a diverse classroom, could surely trigger much discussion. In "To Be Black, Male, and 'Feminist': Making Womanist Space for Black Men," Lemons states his understanding of Walker's womanism as "a liberatory location for remaking black manhood toward a male identity that transgresses the boundaries of patriarchy . . . " (97). His thoughts can be examined along with Awkward's "A Black Man's Place in Black Feminist Criticism." Awkward concludes, "What black male feminism must strive for, above all else, is to envision and enact the possibilities signaled by the differences feminism has exposed and created" (82–83). Lemons and Awkward share their section with the voices of Patricia Hill Collins, Layli Phillips, and Barbara McCaskill. As mentioned earlier, part 3 contains essays from a significant number of disciplines. Phillips has two goals in mind with this section: (1) "to demonstrate the disciplinary breadth and depth of womanism" and (2) "to highlight the cultural and geographical reach of womanism" (xliii). She writes, "This is the section in which womanism's development 'under the radar'—at a time when womanism was being largely ignored or downplayed by feminists—becomes visible, its history effectively recovered" (xliii). Disciplines represented are theology, literature and literary criticism, history, theater and film studies, communication and media studies, psychology, anthropology, education, social work, nursing science, sexuality studies, and architecture...