Other-Worldly Storytelling in Alice Walker's The Color Purple and The Temple of My Familiar

Abstract

This thesis is dedicated to exploring ecofeminist themes in two novels by Alice Walker. Ecofeminism here refers to the theoretical framework that recognizes the interlocking and intersectional nature of oppression. The aim of ecofeminism is to end all oppression by dismantling the systems that uphold it. Ecofeminism believes that this can only be achieved through reconstructing the relationship between the human and nonhuman world. An integral part of this work involves challenging origin stories and creating alternative narratives of the world that acknowledge the interconnectedness of all forms of life on earth. Central to this thesis is the concept of ‘other-worlding’ from Donna Haraway, which is about reconceptualizing the relationship between the human and nonhuman world. Through a close reading of The Color Purple and its sequel The Temple of My Familiar this thesis argues that Alice Walker makes visible other-worlding through literary encounters in which she challenges and rewrites creation stories that have served to justify the oppression of women, nature and animals. By reconstructing the experience of the ‘other’ and challenging an anthropocentric and androcentric worldview, this thesis sees Walker’s novels as contributing to the ecofeminist principle of social transformation by offering alternative stories upon which a new and better world can be created.