WOMANISM / WALKER’S WOMANIST AESTHETIC
Alice Walker had coined the term womanist in the preface to her book In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. The word ‘womanish’ is associated with audacious, willful behaviour. In The Color Purple, Sofia and Shug are clearly womanist characters for there is very little traditional or conservative about them. Walker includes Black sisterhood concept in womanist definition because a womanist is a woman who loves other women sexually or non-sexually. The most important connotation of the term is “committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female”.
The Black community has a very strong female presence in the form of maternal figures—the mothers, the surrogate-mothers and other mothers. Walker’s womanist is directed at violence practiced by Afro-American men on their womenfolk. The female-centric cultural context of African Americans is prominent since Black women have always stayed together and devised strategies for survival as well as for healing. Linda Abbandonato remarked that Walker’s communism is clearly influenced by Adrienne Rich’s concept of a ‘lesbian continuum’. The lesbian continuum spans the whole spectrum of women’s friendship and sisterly solidarity. Celie does all the housework, tends to the field and supports the family but is raped by her stepfather and physically beaten by her husband. It is the women around her who helps her to heal and to continue to live.
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Sofia teaches her about resistance to anyone, anywhere who dared to humiliate or oppress her. Celie first feels jealous of her happiness with Harpo and instructs him to subordinate her by beating her up. Later, however, she apologizes to Sofia and learns about her intrepid sisters who are together under every situation. Shug teaches Celie about sexual pleasure and belief in the beauty of God’s creation to help her to be whole after remaining alone just like automaton. Celie nurses Sofia when she is beaten up in jail. She also nurses Shug back to health. Squeak or Mary Agnes goes to the jail to convince the jailor to free Sofia but is raped in the process. Shug talks to Mr._____ to stop physically assaulting Celie. She is also there to help her get over her anger when she learns about Mr._____ keeping Nettie’s letters concealed from her. Shug also helps Celie to cultivate her creative skills by encouraging her to sew and later on finances her business venture too. Mary Agnes and Odessa take care of Sofia’s children when she is serving the prison sentence. Later on, Sofia nurtures Mary Agnes’ daughter Suzie Q when the former is away pursuing her singing career. They are all womanish in their behaviour as they are ‘audacious’ and sometimes ‘outrageous’ but they love and value each other’s company as women and help in the survival of the race.
When Celie celebrates her family at the end of the novel, the value of the womanist community is evident since the men and women share the meal without any bitterness or arrogance. Alice Walker believes that the meaning of The Color Purple is belief in the love of the people.