The Criterion: An International Journal in English

Volume 17, Issue 5 · October 2026 · ISSN 0976-8165

The Feminist Dialogics of Black Womanhood: Maya Angelou and Bernardine Evaristo

Ms. Aradhana Jyala, Prof. A S Adhikari

Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n5.38

This study examines the texts of Maya Angelou and Bernardine Evaristo from the frame of reference of Black feminism, particularly their attempts to redefine Black womanhood through their reinvention of narrative technique. In light of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theoretical perspective regarding notions such as polyphony, heteroglossia, and novelization, this paper examines how both Angelou and Evaristo defy the conventional monologic nature of literary genres in their respective literary works. By examining elements of linguistic hybridization, the multi-voiced structure of narration, and other stylistic features, this analysis reveals how both authors challenge monolithic portrayals of Black women in literature. While Angelou employs the autobiographical I in order to link individual trauma to Black American history, Evaristo uses fusion fiction to represent the lived experiences of vibrant and diverse Black Britons. Their experiments with narration are a defiance of racialised and gendered displacement and establish the literary means to develop a resilient subjectivity. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the practice of linguistic plurality is not merely a literary style but a means of self-definition.

Jyala, Aradhana, and A. S. Adhikari. “The Feminist Dialogics of Black Womanhood: Maya Angelou and Bernardine Evaristo.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 5, Oct. 2026, pp. 691-706, https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n5.38.

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