3 Review(s)

Women as Seen by Women : A study of African-American Women WritersThe present work, “Women as Seen by Women : A study of African-American Women Writers” has grown out of Dr. Navneet Sethi’s doctoral dissertation by the same title. Dr. Sethi received her Ph.D. in 1998 from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.The study analyses the portrayal of women by African-American women writers from a universalist perspective. The study shows that the complex nature of an African-American woman’s experience is highlighted satisfactorily through a universalist approach. A comparative analysis is made in the portrayal of women by two contemporary African-American women writers, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. The parallels and contrasts in their individual visions of African-American experience emphasise the possibility of multiple responses by African-American women writers. Alice Walker’s ‘womanist’ orientations are reflected in her rendering of black woman’s experience. Toni Morrison, in contrast, see experience of an African-American woman as more than a conflict against males or whites. Her portrayal tries to grasp and recreate the ambivalence within a black woman’s experience.The study emphasises that a close reading of their works can reveal significant parallels and contrasts in Walker’s and Morrison’s vision of African-American woman’s experience.*********Dr. Navneet Sethi is Assistant Professor of English at the Centre of Linguistics and English, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she teaches postgraguate students and has begun to guide studentsoriented towards research on African-American literature, which happens to be her specific area of specialization. Dr. Sethi’s area (s) of specialsation are American Ethnic literatures, with further specialisation in African-American literature. She has to her credit formulation and designing of new courses on, Native-American literature and Jewish-American literature to provide to the students at J.N.U. an opportunity to study the rich, and vibrant literatures of Native-American and Jewish-Americans people.Dr. Sethi is a recepient of gold medal for honors achieved in postgraduate diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Mumbai.She is also trained in Hindustani Classical music, and enjoys writing for children and telling them stories. Photography and Stained Glass painting are hobbies that she dabbles in frequently.