Alice Walker (b. 1944)

A selective list of online literary criticism for African American poet, essayist, short story writer, and novelist Alice Walker, favoring signed articles by recognized scholars and articles published in peer-reviewed sources


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introduction & biography

"Alice Walker." A substantial article on Walker's poetry, fiction, themes, and the critical reception of her work. Includes a list of her books of poetry and fiction and a recommended reading list. Poetry Foundation.

"Alice Walker." A short biography and discussion of her poetry and fiction. New Georgia Encyclopedia.

"Alice Walker." A very brief introduction to Alice Walker. Academy of American Poets.


literary criticism, The Color Purple

Cutter, Martha J. "Philomela Speaks: Alice Walker's Revisioning of Rape Archetypes in The Color Purple"." MELUS 25, 3/4 (Autumn/Winter 2000) pp 161-80 [preview, jstor].

Jones, Jacqueline. "Fact and Fiction in Alice Walker's The Color Purple." The Georgia Historical Quarterly 72, 4 (Winter 1988) pp 653-69 [free at jstor, click "Preview" or "Read Online"].

Marvin, Thomas F. "'Preachin' the Blues': Bessie Smith's secular religion and Alice Walker's The Color Purple." African American Review Fall 1994 [subscription service, questia].

Pifer, Lynn; and Tricia Slusser. "'Looking at the Back of Your Head': Mirroring Scenes in Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Possessing the Secret of Joy." MELUS 23, 4 (Winter 1998) [sub ser, questia].


literary criticism, Everyday Use

Cowart, David. "Heritage and Deracination in Walker's Everyday Use." Studies in Short Fiction 33, 2 (Spring 1996) pp 171-84 [sub ser, questia].

Farrell, Susan. "Fight vs. Flight: a re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker's Everyday Use." Studies in Short Fiction Spring 1998 [sub ser, questia].

Sarnowski, Joe. "Destroying to Save: Idealism and Pragmatism in Alice Walker's Everyday Use." Papers on Language & Literature 48, 3 (Summer 2012) [sub ser, questia].

Whitsitt, Sam. "In Spite of It All: A Reading of Alice Walker's Everyday Use." African American Review Fall 2000 [sub ser, questia].


literary criticism, other works by/on Alice Walker

Bloom, Harold. Alice Walker (Chelsea House 1989). Essays on Alice Walker. The complete book is available through the subscription service Questia.

Butler, Robert James. "Alice Walker's vision of the South in The Third Life of Grange Copeland." African American Review 27, 2 (Summer 1993) [sub ser, questia].

Ferris, William R. "Alice Walker: 'I know what the earth says.'" Southern Cultures 10, 1 (Spring 2004) pp 5-24 [substantial extract, muse].

Fike, Matthew A. "Jean Toomer and Okot p'Bitek in Alice Walker's 'In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens.'" MELUS 25, 3/4 (Autumn/Winter 2999) pp 141060 [preview, jstor].

Hendrickson, Roberta M. "Remembering the Dream: Alice Walker, Meridian and the Civil Rights Movement." MELUS 24, 3 (Fall 1999) [sub ser, questia].

Hollenberg, Donna Krolik. "Teaching Alice Walker's Meridian: From Self-Defense to Mutual Discovery." MELUS 17, 4 (Winter 1991) [sub ser, questia].

Johnson, Ellen. "Geographic Context and Ethnic Context: Joel Chandler Harris and Alice Walker." The Mississippi Quarterly 60, 2 (Spring 2007) [sub ser, questia].

Johnson, Maria V. "You Just Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Alice Walker sings the blues." African American Review Summer 1996 [sub ser, questia].

Lester, Neal A. "'Not my mother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standing': Alice Walker's 'The Child Who Favored Daughter' as Neo-Slave Narrative." Studies in Short Fiction Summer 1997 [sub ser, questia].

McMillan, Laurie. "Telling a Critical Story: Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens." Journal of Modern Literature 28, 1 (Fall 2004) pp 107-23 [free at jstor, click "Preview" or "Read Online"].

Mickelsen, David J. "'You Ain't Never Caught a Rabbit': Covering and Signifyin' in Alice Walker's 'Nineteen Fifty-Five.'" Southern Quarterly 42, 3 (Spring 2004) [sub ser, questia].

Moore, Geneva Cobb. "Archetypal Symbolism in Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy." The Southern Literary Journal 33, 1 (Fall 2000) pp 111-21 [full text, free].

Nadel, Alan. "Reading the Body: Alice Walker's Meridian and the Archeology of Self." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 34, 1 (Spring 1988) pp 55-68 [substantial extract, muse].

Petry, Alice Hall. "Alice Walker: The Achievement of the Short Fiction." Modern Language Studies 18, 1 (Winter 1989) pp 12-27 [free at jstor, click "Preview" or "Read Online"].

Piacentino, Ed. "Reconciliation with Family in Alice Walker's 'Kindred Spirits.'" Southern Quarterly 46, 1 (Fall 2008) [sub ser, questia].

Sadoff, Dianne F. "Black Matrilineage: The Case of Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston." Signs 11, 1 (Autumn 1985) pp 4-26 [free at jstor, click "Preview" or "Read Online"].

Warren, Nagueyalti; and Sally Wolff. "'Like the Pupil of an Eye': Sexual Blinding of Women in Alice Walker's Works." The Southern Literary Journal 31, 1 (Fall 1998) pp 1-16 [free at jstor, click "Preview" or "Read Online"].


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