This book is a study of the works of Margaret Walker (1915–1998) in chronological order, in the social and intellectual context of twentieth century America. Walker is a writer who is known by name for her works; however, very little criticism is written on her literary contributions. This is the first monograph on Walker’s work by a single author and is an attempt to establish the importance of Walker’s representation of twentieth-century America against its critical obscurity.
This book shows that Walker is a woman writer who slipped to the margins of the African American literary canon for improper reasons. Material presented in this study is based on research on available criticism published on Walker’s work. It is also based on research on the social, intellectual, and political aspects of twentieth-century America. This text also incorporates information derived from the researcher’s close reading of Walker’s work. It argues that issues of race, gender, and class are always connected in twentieth-century America and in Walker’s work as reflective of this century in America. It also argues that Walker’s feminist consciousness develops from one work to another until it reaches its peak in her later poetry.
