Alice Walker
A Woman for Our Times
Published on 18. August 2017
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-313-37750-1 (ISBN)
Description
This biography explores Alice Walker's life experiences and her lifework in context of her philosophical thought, and celebrates the author's creative genius and heroism.
Born in Eatonton, GA, in 1944, a daughter of sharecroppers, Alice Walker has lived a remarkable and courageous life, and she continues to do so as an elder. Taking inspiration from her great-great-great-great grandmother who lived enslaved in the American South and died at age 125, Walker's activism stems from a philosophy that embraces all life and expresses itself through courageous truth-telling, a resolute stand for freedom, and radical love.
Alice Walker: A Woman for Our Times offers a full examination of the intellectual underpinnings of Walker's life and her oeuvre from a philosophical standpoint. This philosophical biography draws a portrait of the author that reveals the nuances of her character, clarifies the relationship between her life experiences and her lifework, and the philosophical thought that underlies both. This work will be essential reading to those interested in Black studies, women's studies, the Civil Rights and Black Arts movements, peace studies, the American South, philosophy, psychology, sociology, spirituality and New Age literature, and ecology and eco-feminism.
Born in Eatonton, GA, in 1944, a daughter of sharecroppers, Alice Walker has lived a remarkable and courageous life, and she continues to do so as an elder. Taking inspiration from her great-great-great-great grandmother who lived enslaved in the American South and died at age 125, Walker's activism stems from a philosophy that embraces all life and expresses itself through courageous truth-telling, a resolute stand for freedom, and radical love.
Alice Walker: A Woman for Our Times offers a full examination of the intellectual underpinnings of Walker's life and her oeuvre from a philosophical standpoint. This philosophical biography draws a portrait of the author that reveals the nuances of her character, clarifies the relationship between her life experiences and her lifework, and the philosophical thought that underlies both. This work will be essential reading to those interested in Black studies, women's studies, the Civil Rights and Black Arts movements, peace studies, the American South, philosophy, psychology, sociology, spirituality and New Age literature, and ecology and eco-feminism.
Reviews / Votes
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * Choice *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
4 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
575 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-313-37750-1 (9780313377501)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2017
1st Edition
Praeger Publishers Inc
€55.99
Available for download
E-Book
08/2017
1st Edition
Praeger Publishers Inc
€55.99
Available for download
Person
Deborah G. Plant is associate professor of Africana studies at University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. She is editor of Praeger's "The Inside Light": New Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston and author of Praeger's Zora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit.
Content
Series Foreword by Joanne M. Braxton
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Section I. Earth
Poem: "There Are Bad Women Walking on the Planet Now" by Phyllis McEwen
One I Am the Earth....
Two For Six Years I Do Not Look Up
Three Everything Changed
Four A Spelman Girl
Five On My Own Terms
Section II. Fire
Poem: "A Message to Younger Sisters: Be Whole" by Phyllis McEwen
Six I Would Only Be the Philosopher
Seven Changing the World
Eight Meridian: Coming of Age in Mississippi
Nine Thought at the Meridian
Ten Truth Teller, Freedom Writer
Section III. Air
Poem: "The Clitoris Knows When and How" by Phyllis McEwen
Eleven Apologia: Honoring the Difficult
Twelve Helped Are Those Who Know
Thirteen A Woman of One's Own: Womanist Philosophy and Revitalization of the Sovereign Feminine
Fourteen The Sacred Masculine
Fifteen The Gnostic Gospel of My Father's Smile
Section IV. Water
Poem: "My Body Is a Farm" (For My Son) by Phyllis McEwen
Sixteen Mbele Ache
Seventeen Sub Rosa No Longer: Our Daughters Have Mothers
Eighteen Absolute Goodness
Nineteen Why War Is Never a Good Idea
Twenty We Are the Ones
Section V. Aether
Poem: "Little Girls" by Phyllis McEwen
Twenty-One The Cathedral of the Future
Twenty-Two Caritas: The Greatest of These
Twenty-Three Ouroboros
Twenty-Four "Alice" Is Old Greek for Truth
Twenty-Five Lapis Philosophorum
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Section I. Earth
Poem: "There Are Bad Women Walking on the Planet Now" by Phyllis McEwen
One I Am the Earth....
Two For Six Years I Do Not Look Up
Three Everything Changed
Four A Spelman Girl
Five On My Own Terms
Section II. Fire
Poem: "A Message to Younger Sisters: Be Whole" by Phyllis McEwen
Six I Would Only Be the Philosopher
Seven Changing the World
Eight Meridian: Coming of Age in Mississippi
Nine Thought at the Meridian
Ten Truth Teller, Freedom Writer
Section III. Air
Poem: "The Clitoris Knows When and How" by Phyllis McEwen
Eleven Apologia: Honoring the Difficult
Twelve Helped Are Those Who Know
Thirteen A Woman of One's Own: Womanist Philosophy and Revitalization of the Sovereign Feminine
Fourteen The Sacred Masculine
Fifteen The Gnostic Gospel of My Father's Smile
Section IV. Water
Poem: "My Body Is a Farm" (For My Son) by Phyllis McEwen
Sixteen Mbele Ache
Seventeen Sub Rosa No Longer: Our Daughters Have Mothers
Eighteen Absolute Goodness
Nineteen Why War Is Never a Good Idea
Twenty We Are the Ones
Section V. Aether
Poem: "Little Girls" by Phyllis McEwen
Twenty-One The Cathedral of the Future
Twenty-Two Caritas: The Greatest of These
Twenty-Three Ouroboros
Twenty-Four "Alice" Is Old Greek for Truth
Twenty-Five Lapis Philosophorum
Notes
Index