"The caged bird sings of freedom": o lugar entre o apagamento e a resistência da mulher negra em I know why the caged bird sings, de Maya Angelou

Abstract

Discussions and literary analyzes in academic fields are increasingly broad and this also applies to African descendant literature, which is increasingly discussed and debated in classrooms at Brazilian universities. However, not enough; even less, questions about being a black woman are debated. In this work, based on a bibliographical research, we intend to analyze the autobiographical novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ([1969] 2015), by American writer Maya Angelou (1928-2014), so little mentioned in Brazilian academic works, in addition to proposing a reflective discussion about black women in society, more specifically the place they occupy between erasure and social resistance. Thus, having as a theoretical and critical basis the texts of authors such as Angela Davis (2016), bell hooks (2013) (2015), and Djamila Ribeiro (2018), especially, we seek to develop an analysis of the female characters in that novel, while focusing on the protagonist, Maya. In addition, it was necessary for us to do a study on the structure of autobiography as a literary genre. Finally, from Angelou9s memories and narrative, we understand that, in order to be heard, black women need, in addition to speaking, to ensure that they are being heard, despite constantly facing processes of erasure. In her novel, Angelou shows the reader that the form that the protagonist Rittie found – and which seems to be universal when it comes to women9s rights – was resistance.