Research Article

Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Volume: 26 Number: 1 June 28, 2025
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Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Abstract

In her Female Subjectivity in African American Women’s Narratives of Enslavement: Beyond Borders (2009), Lynnette D. Myles conceptualizes Black female subjectivity as an intersubjective act that actively challenges and transforms oppositional views and fixed notions of identity and defines it as the “Transient Woman.” The Transient Woman is a fluid consciousness that moves— in and out, back and forth, —in in-between places toward subjectivity rupturing various forms of Otherness. It is not a close-ended paragon, but rather a beginning of a new consciousness with which the Black woman talks back to the stereotypical images—either sexless or wanton, evil, stubborn, hateful, dependent, and living for others—of Black womanhood prevalent in cultural imagination and textual presentation. By drawing on Anzaldúa’s concept of the “New Mestiza” consciousness and Bhabha’s theory of the “Third Space,” Myles posits that the Transient Woman embodies a new form of consciousness—one that empowers Black women to transform from unconscious objects to deliberate, and active forces within hegemonic society. This paper argues that in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), Maya Angelou presents self-consciousness as a developmental journey toward self-actualization, which begins in a state of unconsciousness and gradually evolves into a new, autonomous awareness. Furthermore, it contends that by navigating the challenges of identities within the Third Space and embracing a fluid, dynamic subjectivity, the autobiographical Maya emerges as the “Transient Woman.”

Keywords

References

  1. Angelou, M. (1984). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. London: Virago Press.
  2. Anzaldua, G. (1987). Borderlands La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
  3. Arensberg, L. K. (1999). Death as Metaphor of Self in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In: J.M. Braxton (Eds.), Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook, 111-128. London: Oxford University Press.
  4. Barnwell, C. A. (2009). Singin’ de Blues: Writing Black Female Survival in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In: H. Bloom (eds.), Maya Angelou: Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: New Edition, 133-146. New York: Chelsea House Publisher.
  5. Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge. --- . (1990).The Third Space: Interview with Homi Bhabha. In:J. Rutherford (eds.), Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, 207-22. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
  6. Blackburn, R. (1980). In Search of the Black Female Self: African American Women’s Autobiographies and Ethnicity. In: E. C. Jelinek (eds),Women’s Autobiography: Essays in Criticism, 133-148. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  7. Braxton, J. M. (1989). Black Women Writing Autobiography: A Tradition within a Tradition. Pennsylvania:Temple University Press.
  8. Cudjoe, Selwyn R. (1984). Maya Angelou and the Autobiographical Statement. In: M. Evans (eds.), Black Women Writers (1950—1980): A Critical Evaluation, 6-24. New York: Knopf Doubleday.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Gender and Politics, Women's Studies

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Publication Date

June 28, 2025

Submission Date

December 25, 2024

Acceptance Date

June 14, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 26 Number: 1

APA
Popy, S. A. (2025). Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Kadın/Woman/2000, 26(1), 343-358. https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v26i1.529
AMA
1.Popy SA. Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. JWS. 2025;26(1):343-358. doi:10.33831/jws.v26i1.529
Chicago
Popy, Shirin Akter. 2025. “Black Female As the ‘Transient Woman’: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. Kadın/Woman/2000 26 (1): 343-58. https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v26i1.529.
EndNote
Popy SA (June 1, 2025) Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Kadın/Woman 2000 26 1 343–358.
IEEE
[1]S. A. Popy, “Black Female as the ‘Transient Woman’: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, JWS, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 343–358, June 2025, doi: 10.33831/jws.v26i1.529.
ISNAD
Popy, Shirin Akter. “Black Female As the ‘Transient Woman’: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. Kadın/Woman 2000 26/1 (June 1, 2025): 343-358. https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v26i1.529.
JAMA
1.Popy SA. Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. JWS. 2025;26:343–358.
MLA
Popy, Shirin Akter. “Black Female As the ‘Transient Woman’: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. Kadın/Woman/2000, vol. 26, no. 1, June 2025, pp. 343-58, doi:10.33831/jws.v26i1.529.
Vancouver
1.Shirin Akter Popy. Black Female as the “Transient Woman”: Anzalduan and Bhabhaian Construction of Subjectivity in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. JWS. 2025 Jun. 1;26(1):343-58. doi:10.33831/jws.v26i1.529