CHAPTER ONE

1.0       Introduction

The relationship between history and literature in every society, is a complementary one. In the light of this, the history of African Americans cannot be separated from their literature for it serves as the raw material for the writers even till present time. The term “African American Literature” cannot be discussed without bringing to mind the circumstances that first ushered in the presence of Africans in the land of America. Thus, to look at African American literature one cannot avoid touching the old wound of slavery.   As a trade route, the Middle passage saw millions of Africans being shipped into the “New World” via the Atlantic slave trade. According to Carson, Warner and Nash (2007:43), “Millions of Africans were transported across the transAtlantic in chains to labor in coffee, cotton and sugar plantations in the Americas, in what has been described as the greatest forced migration in human history.” 

Though these African slaves came from diverse socio-cultural groups and ethnicity, spoke different languages and had different religious beliefs, the common bond of slavery forced them to cluster together to build a common identity for themselves. This identity has today marked their history and literature as distinct from those of other regions. By the 1830s, black communities had many groups, organized specifically to oppose slavery and promote racial advancement. Schools and literary societies were common in the urban North and virtually all black organizations were dedicated to abolishing slavery. At this period, communities began sending delegates to an annual National Negro convention Movement where they discussed strategies for the abolition of slavery and racial advancement, for black Americans.

The declaration of emancipation from slavery by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and its complete abolition in 1865 while providing some kind of freedom, further aggravated the problems faced by the Negros. These include the problem of displacement, poverty and racism, among others. These problems and the attempts to tackle them, provided further materials for the production of

African American literature. With the emergence of Phillis Wheatley as the first African

American to publish a book of poetry in 1773, and the controversy that followed, African American literature continued to develop. It can be said to have gained its ground in the circle of world literature in the 20^th century even though the efforts of earlier writers like Harriet Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, OlaudaEquiano, Fredrick Douglas, among other writers who were slaves at one time or the other, cannot be ignored, considering how they foregrounded their slave experiences in narrative literary forms. The inter-relationship between African American literature and history makes it easier to connect an African American literary text to a specific historical period. 

To reflect the significant developments in African American history, Gates and Mckay (1997:1) chronicled African American literature into periods based on historical viewpoints. Thus, the period of 1746-1865features the literature of slavery and freedom. This includes the vernacular tradition of the Negro spirituals, blues, folk narratives and the classical slave narratives; 18651877 featured the literature of the reconstruction; 1878-1900 saw the literature of postreconstruction period; the literature of the Harlem renaissance flourished between 1920-1940; 1940-1960 featured literature of the civil rightsmovements, while the period of 1960-1970 saw the manifestation of the literature of the Black Arts Movement. From the period of 1970, modern

African American literature emerged to comment on diverse issues affecting the modern African American society. Though African American literature now centers on diverse issues, the experiences of slavery and racism remain core issues in its artistic enterprise. Some problems that were created for the African Americans by the condition of slavery and racism remain key issues in African American literature till date. One of such issues is the problem of single parenthood and mother-centered families.

1.1       Background of the Study

The roles of women either as authors, characters, or both in African American literature have so added to the growth and development of African American literature that their contributions cannot be overemphasized. Among these women are single mothers who are faced with the challenges of raising children alone, without the presence and support of the fathers of their children. From the works of slave narrators such as, Harriet Jacobs‟ Incidents in the Life of a slave Girlamong others, mothers appear to be at the forefront of African American families. The condition of slavery placed the sole responsibility of parenting in the hands of African American mothers. It is historically recorded in various slave narratives that some white masters had sexual affairs with their female slaves which in turn produced children whose paternity were never openly discussed. This was to spare such white masters the responsibility of being care givers to those children. Even though there were few records of marriages among slaves, sexual relationships equally existed among them. In the case of the latter, as was in several instances, the product of such relationships lacked paternal claim. Like the case of Linda in Jacobs (1973), the child comes out to become the property of her mother‟s slave owner. Thus, the paternal links of most African American children born during slavery were lost. This strong matriarchal lineage can be seen in most slave narratives from Harriet Jacobs‟Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,

Mary E. Lyons‟ Letters From A Slave Girl, to Ernest J. Gaines‟ The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, among others. 

The post slavery era with all its challenges on blacks in America further aggravated the problem of single motherhood among blacks. The Southern whites took action against black women by passing legislation, declaring that all children born to black women during slavery shall be known as the legitimate children of their mothers alone. According to Alice Childress in “The Negro Women in American Literature” (1966:18):

In the first generation of “freedom” the black woman was abandoned, not only by the white father-owner, but by any black man faced with acknowledging children bred by the slave-master, or by other black men, since women were mated by the owners with various men, to bring forth various kind of offspring. Mated for strength, endurance, size, color, and even docility. With one stroke of pen, she was told that no man, black or white, owed her anything, and her children were disinherited of all property rights.

Having been stripped of family relations, without paternal claims for their children, these mothers were left with no choice than to form the foundation of their own families; families of mothers and children. By playing the role of both father and mother, these single mothers protected their children as far as they could, against the otherwise harsh environment, answer their pleasant and un-pleasant questions, provided for them and most importantly, they were faced with the bitter task of explaining to their children the historical truth of blacks and whites in America. This task had to be done before the children were old enough to mingle with the society, to avoid social harassment. Generally, when a woman is not under the protection of a man, facing the world alone makes her stronger. Thus, the emancipated Negro woman of America did everything she could for the survival of her family.

Some of the familial problems created by slavery have had lasting effects which are evident today in American society. One of such problems is that of single motherhood. Though many exslaves were legally married after emancipation, in reality however, most African American mothers lived like they were singles in their marriages. The poor state of living and extreme poverty faced by blacks in America after emancipation did not give African American mothers the opportunity to become full-time homemakers or house wives. Like Richard‟s father in Richard Wright‟s Black Boy, frustration and circumstances forced most black men to abandon their families and disappear into the wild American world. In some cases, even with the presence of the father figure, black mothers keep toiling for the survival of their families as though they are single mothers. Describing her mother in the essay titled “In search of Our Mothers‟ Garden” (1974), Alice Walker puts it thus:

Her quick, violent temper was on view only a few times a year, when she battled with the white landlord who had the misfortune to suggest to her that her children did not need to go to school. She made all the clothes we wore, even my brothers‟ overalls. She made all the towels and sheets we used. She spent the summers canning vegetables and fruits. She spent the winter evenings making quilts enough to cover all our beds. During the “working” day, she labored beside - not behind - my father in the fields. Her day began before sunup, and did not end until late at night. There was never a moment for her to sit down, undisturbed, to unravel her own private thought; never a time free from interruption- by work or the noisy inquiries of her many children.

Stressing on the dedication of the above essay to her mother and other African American mothers who were not famous, Walker says that it was for the sake of these mothers that she went in search of the secret behind the strength of black American mothers. 

The appearance of single mothers in African American history and literature remains like a stream of water that has kept flowing from slavery till present day. In African American fiction, autobiographies, biographies, music and movies, the theme of absent fathers has remained an issue that has kept recurring. In an article, “The effect of slavery and emancipation on AfricanAmerican families and family history research” (African-American Research; Crossroad, March 2011), Tristan L. Tolman agrees that slavery and the condition of its aftermath created the platform for mother-centered family. According to him: 

The condition of the black family in America has been an issue of intense debate since the civil war. At the heart of this debate is the belief of some scholars that slavery created a propensity for a weak and fatherless family. This matrifocal (mother-centered) family, they argue, became typical of African Americans both during slavery and after emancipation and has been perpetuated generally to the present time. 

It is in the context of the foregoing and based on all these historical struggles by black mothers in

America that writers like Maya Angelou and James McBride set out in their books Mom & Me & Mom and The Color of Water respectively to reconstruct African American cultural and social history by revealing to their readers the struggles by their mothers in leading them through tough historical passages.

1.2       The Concept of Single Motherhood

Motherhood as a term means different things to different people.While some have viewed it as simply the state of being a mother, others see it as possessing the qualities and characteristics of a mother. Thus, a single mother is a woman who is raising a child or children with little or no help of a man. She is sometimes referred to as solo mother. She is a parent, living without a spouse. For this, the sole responsibility of raising her child or children lies in her hands. The free Dictionary defines a single mother as a woman who has a dependent child or children, and who is widowed, divorced or unmarried (www.thefreedictionary.com/single-mother). Dowd E. Nancy in her In Defense of Single-Parent Families (1997) opines that a single mother is usually considered the primary care giver for her child or children. Thus, single motherhood is a term which suggests the presence of only the female parent in raising a child or children. There are variety of reasons that can place a woman in the position of a single mother. Some of the reasons are: single motherhood by choice, divorce, rape, careless sexual affair, widowhood, among others. Basically, single mothers can be classified into three categories. The first category are those without visible spouses. In this case are widows and those that adopted, those that became pregnant by insemination and those that were raped by unknown men. The father figures in this category are not involved because they do not exist or, are not traceable.  The second category are single mothers with non-residence spouses. That is, the ones whose partners do not reside in the same house with them. The third category are those with non-involved spouses. Unlike in the second category wherein the father may be involved in any way in raising a child or children, even though he does not reside with them, non-involved fathers are not in any way involved in child upbringing, even though they exist and can be traceable. The only difference between a non-visible father and a non- involved father is that the non-involved father is alive and traceable yet, is not involved in his child or children‟s upbringing. In all these categories of single mothers,one thing is common; the fact that the father figure is absent.  

In most cases, a single mother bears the financial responsibility of her child or children alone. In such cases, the single mother works full time or even takes more than one job to meet up with her family‟s financial needs. Like the mother hen, most single mothers are over protective of their children. This is tied to the fact that by being solo parents, single mothers commonly assume that if they cannot protect their children, no one will.

1.3       Autobiography and New Historicism

1.3.1 The Concept of Autobiography

The term autobiography is of Greek origin. It is made up of three morphological components:

„auto‟, „bio‟ and „graphy‟, which means „self‟, „life‟, and „write‟ respectively. Over the years, various scholars have attempted a definition of the term as well as drawing its scope. For this, there have been contradictions in conceptualizing what an autobiography really is. While some scholars believe it to be a true account of the life of its author, others argue that there cannot be a true account of a person without some elements of fiction in it. Scholars that argue in support of the latter, believe that since the autobiographical writers make use of fictional writing techniques such as characterization, point of view and dialogue, there must be a fusion of fiction and facts in the story they want to present. Among scholars who champion this argument is Stuart Bates. He defines autobiography as “a narrative of the past of a person by the person concerned” (Bates

1937:13). Bates argues that a pure autobiography is impossible and proposes the term

„autofiction‟ for a work about the life of its writer. However, critics like Philippe Lejeune in

Anderson (2001:7) defines an autobiographical work as “A retrospective prose narrative produced by a real person concerning his own existence, focusing on his individual life, in particular on the development of his personality”. Thus, Lejeune is of the opinion that if a work states within it that it is an autobiography, then it is. Rita Truschel in agreement with Lejeune defines autobiography as, “The story of a person‟s life, written by that person” (Truschel 2012:41). She goes further to assert that since ancient times, autobiography has been the purview of people with important and lasting accomplishments, for the purposes of explanation, selfjustification, public instruction, moral example, and entertainment. She also points out that with the rise of popular press in the 17th century, the scope of autobiographical subjects has expanded to include popular celebrities and lesser persons with significant or scandalous experiences.

Notwithstanding the arguments on whether an autobiography is pure or has elements of fiction, it is pertinent to note some key features that are being expected of an autobiographical work. One of such features is the narrative voice of the work. Grammatically, an autobiography makes use of first person narrative voice, since the work is about personal self.  In most cases, autobiographical writers embark on search for identity and self fulfilment. Another feature of autobiography is that it is subjective in nature. It accounts as well as reflects on self. Through the writing of their own experiences, autobiographical writers express their retrospective feelings and thoughts. By being the authors of their own history, most autobiographers use such as a therapeutic tool, to heal themselves of “historical diseases”, which could be some negative attributes or occurrences that are not favourable to their personalities. This notwithstanding, while some authors use the autobiographical form to merely present the story of their lives and comment on socio-political issues that affect them negatively or positively, others seize it as an opportunity to re-evaluate and re-define their past for better understanding of their present. The redefinition of the self through the writing of autobiography empowers its writers to define themselves as well as share their self-identity with the readers. 

1.3.2 The Relationship between Autobiography and New Historicism

Historical criticism in general insists that to understand a literary piece, the critic needs to understand the author‟s biography and social background, ideas circulating at the time, and the cultural milieu. However, in the case of new historicists, they insist that ideology manifests itself in literary productions and discourse, explaining why the attention and interest is in the interpretive constructions which the members of a society or culture apply to their experience.

According to Michael Delahoyde:

New historicists concern themselves with the intricate means by which cultures produce and reproduce themselves. These critics focus on revealing the historically specific model of truth and authority (not a “truth” but a “cultural construct”) reflected in a given work (www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/new.hist.html). 

Delahoyde‟s contention here is that history is not a mere chronicle of facts and events, but rather a complex description of human reality and evolution of preconceived notions. Thus, literary works may or may not tell us the facts of the world from which they emerge, but they will surely carry the ideologies and prevailing ways of thinking, prejudices and the historical make ups of the society that produces them. Explaining the historicity of texts and textuality of history in his essay; “Professing the Renaissance: The Poetics and Politics of Culture” Louis Montrose (1989) says:

I mean to suggest the cultural specificity, the social embedment, of all modes of writing-not only the texts that critics study but also the texts in which we study them. By textuality of history, I mean to suggest, firstly, that we can have no access to a full and authentic past, a lived material existence, unmediated by the surviving textual traces of the society in question- traces whose survival we cannot assume to be merely contingent but must rather presume to be at least partially consequent upon complex and subtle social processes of preservation and effacement; and secondly, that those textual traces are themselves subject to subsequent textual meditations when they are construed as the „documents‟ upon which historians ground their own texts, called „histories‟ (31).

Bearing the above view in mind, the task of a new historicist critic is thus, to analyse the interplay of culture; specific discursive practices, being mindful that these too, are practices and so participate in the interplay they seek to analyze. New historicism equally erases the distinction between fact and fiction, and by so doing, it implies that one no longer acknowledges the special and crucial authority of facts. According to Hayden White (1978):

Readers of histories and novels can hardly fail to be struck by the similarities. There are many histories that could pass for novels, and many novels that could pass for histories, considered in purely formal (or I should say formalist) terms. Viewed simply as verbal artefacts, histories and novels are indistinguishable from one another (121).

White further posits that history is fiction with ethical consequences. A comparison of two or three books for example, could possibly show the specific differences between the fictional and the autobiographical approaches as means of attempting to tell some nearly untellable events. New historicism sees a record of historical events as literary text and acknowledges the crucial role that the study of such text plays in the understanding of historical periods. Thus, it insists on the historicity of the text itself, fictional or non-fictional. Rather than denying the distinction between history and fiction, the new historicists define their field of study in such a way that both are necessary for the study of each other.

In an article, “Autobiographical Texts as Historiographical Sources: Rereading FernandBraudel and Annie Kriegel”, JaumeAurell is of the view that the rise of historian-autobiographers after

the       1970s      led      critics      to      consider      a      “historians‟    autobiographical         turn”

(www.academia.edu/.../Autobiographical/-). Aurell further explains that during the period, approaches to history and autobiography became more complex, as historians began to dialogue more personally with the events that they had previously analyzed from a clearly defined critical distance. In this regard, the historian autobiographer uses his or her own perspective to present crucial issues to the reader. In an article, “Coordinated lives: Between Autobiography and Scholarship”, Jeremy D. Popkin (2001) defined an academic autobiography as:

A published text presented as a truthful account of the author‟s own life, written by someone who has spent a significant part of that life as a professional member of an academic discipline, and in which the role of that academic discipline in the author‟s life is evident either in the content or in the construction of the narrative, or both (790).

By asserting that autobiography is a text presented as a truthful account of its author‟s life, Popkin in the above definition is agreeing with the fusion of fiction in autobiographical narratives. In trying to establish the relationship between history and autobiography, Popkin in History, Historians, and Autobiography, analyses the connection between history and autobiography. He uses the autobiographical accounts of historians as sources for historical understanding. He concludes in the book that the connection between history and autobiography is that of reconstructing the past, approaching texts as sources for the knowledge of the historians‟ experiences and professional positions. Popkin sees autobiography as a framework for knowing the ways in which authors function professionally. He also states that autobiographies can equally be used as a reference for comprehending the way historians construct the readers‟ access to the knowledge of the past, that is, the historical texts. Popkin further states that the practical and methodological links between history and autobiography are important because they share structural formulations that invite the reader to read them in conjunction, and decipher possible ways their enactments of events might be similar. Thus autobiography increases ones understanding of history and most importantly, the writing of history. It can therefore be summed up that autobiographies contribute greatly to history because they enable readers to have a clearer view of historical issues. It is against this background that this work looks at the way James

McBride‟s The Color of Water and Maya Angelou‟s Mom&Me&Mom have contributed to issues that may be seen as belonging to the sphere of contemporary history and also re-shaped ones understanding of history.

1.4 Maya Angelou and James McBride as African American Writers

1.4.1 Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is described as “America‟s most visible black female autobiographer” (www.poemhunter.com/maya-angelou/). She was one of the first African American female writers to lay open her life in autobiographical form for public criticism. She was born Marguerite Johnson, on April 4th, 1928, and grew up in a broken home which led her and her only brother to be raised by their paternal grandmother in rural Arkansas. She experienced a bitter effect of a broken home when she was raped by her mother‟s male friend at the age of seven. This left a great psychological trauma on the young Maya. Growing up in the rural South provided the young Maya with a firsthand experience of racism as an African American. In her teenage, Maya became a single mother. This new status of a single teenage mother led Maya out of her mother‟s house in search of independence. She ventured into so many careers, including dancing, acting, producing, directing, journalism, teaching, and writing etc.

As an African American writer, Maya chronicles her life history as well as other issues in her seven autobiographies. In presenting the story of her life as a product of a broken home, an African American, a civil rights activist, and a single mother, Maya touched on quite a number of issues that concern blacks in America. Thematic concerns in her seven autobiographies include, racism, identity, family and travel. The complicated issue of motherhood is a unifying but also a disruptive theme throughout her autobiographical series.

Angelou is today, one of the most celebrated African American female writers. Her first autobiography; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings(1969) was nominated for a National Book award. She wrote six more autobiographies after,Mom & Me & Mom, being the last. In 1972, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poetry; Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water „fore I Diiie. In 1981, she became the Reynolds professor of American studies at Wake

Forest University in North Carolina. Angelou‟s contribution to African American literature is well documented. Her literary works have contributed greatly to the study of African American literature, and they have won her a presidential medal under President Barack Obama

(http:www.britannica.com/…/Maya-Angelou).

1.4.2 James McBride

James McBride first attained fame in literary circles with the publication of his debut piece; The Color of Water: A Black man‟s tribute to his white mother. The book gives a deep insight about his life, his mother, and his effort to come to terms with his biracial identity. His father Rev.

Andrew D. McBride was an African American, while his mother Ruth McBride Jordan was a Jewish immigrant from Poland. Though McBride started his writing career as a journalist, it later dawned on him that like most African Americans, his background lacks clear identification. This awakening led him to go into historical reconstruction after which he came up with a memoir: The Color of Water, which was published in 1996. The memoir is so handy and timeless that it

remained       on       the       New       York       Times       Bestseller       list                       for      two      years

(http://www.thefamouspeople.com/.../James-...). It has equally been translated into more than sixteen languages with a record sales of 2.5 million copies. The book has become an American classic and is widely read in schools, colleges and universities. It won the prestigious Anisfield wolf book award in 1997. 

For its revelation of the strength and sacrifices of a single mother, The Color of Water was in

2002 chosen by The New York Women‟s Agenda as the book for “New York City Reads Together” project; the first book selected for that honour.  The great success of The Color of Water motivated McBride to venture into fiction. He later came up with his first fictional novel;

Miracle at St. Anna, and in 2008, he published his second fictional novel; Song Yet Sung. In 2013, McBride published his first comic literary piece; The Good LordBird which won him a national book award. The creative gift of McBride is not limited to literature, but extends to music where he has won lots of musical awards (http://www.academia.edu/445900/color-ofwater-Guide).

1.5       Statement of the Problem

The study and criticism of African American literature is largely centered on issues such as slavery, racism, migration, displacement, poverty, violence, survival, quest for identity, gender marginalization and crime, among others. Although some scholars have not failed to acknowledge the contributions and importance of women to the growth and development of African American literature, yet, looking at the American society today, there is still need to critically appraise the efforts of mothers who as single parents, have led their children through the cultural, social and historical difficulties that confront blacks in the American society.

Most of the works on the subject of motherhood and women‟s contributions to literature and society have been looked at from the viewpoint of feminism as a literary theory, but by looking at the same subject matter from the new historicist point of view, the dynamic nature of historical narratives will be established, particularly given the nature of the primary texts which are autobiographical navels

By taking a slightly different direction from previous research works concerning the focus on African American mothers, this study posits that rather than being a problem to the society, African American single mothers can contribute and have contributed positively to their society.

Again, it is generally assumed that black women possess such a great strength to manage a family with or without the presence of the father figure, but, by appraising a white single mother within the context of African American literature, this study illustrates that the vigor is not inborn in blacks, rather, that a literary character who in many senses is a real character, is a product of the society that produces him/her. 

Furthermore, looking at the relationship between a text and the historical and cultural contexts that produced it helps a critic to prefigure an author‟s hidden message in any given text.

This study is therefore anchored on the propositions that:

v  Although the end of slavery and civil war seem to have brought about legal freedom from slavery, black families have generationally faced the challenges of keeping a family with the presence of both parents.

v  The continuing recurrence of the presence of single mothers in African American literature is part of the larger narrative on poverty, physical and mental displacement, high death rates among black men, among other challenges.

v  The concept of single motherhood has generally been seen as a negative influence on African American literature and society, whereas, there are single mothers who amidst challenges have greatly impacted on their literature and society as well.

v  African American biographies and auto-biographies have served as viable tools for scholars to look at some social and cultural issues pertaining to African Americans.

v  A white single mother within the context of African American Literature is not immune to sufferings and other difficulties faced by black single mothers, owning that literary characters are products of the socio-cultural context that produces them.

v  More than any other literary theory, new historicism opens a point of entry into the study of the curious and enabling relationship between literature and history.

1.6       Aim and Objectives of the Study

By critically studying the selected primary texts for this research, alongside other secondary materials, using New Historicism as literary theory for the study, this work aims at demonstratingthat single motherhood in African American Literature is a historically dated and a rooted occurrence which till today has remained an issue among blacks in America. Consequently, the study also seeks to achieve the following objectives:

v  To attest to the dynamic nature of history by looking at the generational issues as well as the day to day activities and lives of authors and characters in the selected autobiographies.

v  To illustrate that autobiographers greatly participate in, and contribute to the various discourses on African American social and cultural history.

v  To show how single mothers in African American literature have come to be for their children, social and historical interpreters, as well as survival pillars.

v  To expound that the place and importance of single mothers in African American literature and history requires more critical appraisal and at such, cannot be overemphasised.

v  To demonstrate how both Maya Angelou and James McBride deploy their narratives to interrogate the social, historical and political contexts that define their experiences and reality as African Americans.

1.7       Justification of the Study

The phenomenon of single mothers in African American society is like a norm in African

American literature. As blacks in America passed through various historical phases, the issue of single motherhood kept trailing them. For this reason, quite a number of African American children have lost, or struggled to come to terms with their paternal lineage. As the case has been, the strength of family lines lies more on the maternal, rather than the paternal side in the

African American community. Children grow up to see themselves under the care of one parent (the mother), and they are left to puzzle on the existence of the other (the father). Thus, there is need for a critical appraisal of the root cause of this situation that has persisted since slavery, as well as the various social, economic and cultural dimensions that are the consequences of this development.

Though some scholars have acknowledged the issue of single motherhood as a vice in African American literature, even then, a critical look is required in order to foreground the re-occurrence of the problem. There is equally need to appraise the strength of single mothers who have single handedly raised children that have contributed positively towards the growth and development of African American literature, history and community. Some of these single mothers have applied various measures in order to circumvent the problems they face as single mothers. Examining some of these measures will serve as a form of awareness as well as providing viable solutions to one of the societal problems: parenting.

1.8       Scope and Delimitation

This research focuses primarily on two African American autobiographical texts: Maya

Angelou‟s Mom&Me&Mom and James McBride‟s The Color of Water, to drive home its argument. The study limits its scope to the aspects of autobiographical writings that new historicism as a literary theory pays attention to. Though to further boost its arguments, other secondary materials have been consulted. Its scope is also limited to single mothers within the context of African American literature. Although there are some other literary texts that Angelou and McBride have written, the two under study were chosen because they are exhaustive memoirs, about single mothers in African American literature.

1.9       Research Methodology

For the purposes of this research, books, journals, articles, interviews, unpublished dissertations and internet materials have been consulted. The work also applies qualitative analytical research method as it explores the two selected primary texts using the New Historicist literary theory. Some of the propositions of new historicists scholars like Stephen Greenblatt, Louis Montrose, Catherine Gallagher, among others, have been deployed to analyse the literary efforts of Maya Angelou and James McBride in the selected primary texts: Mom & Me & Mom and The Color of Water. 

On the whole, this chapter has given a general introduction to this research work and has provided a background of the study. It equally has broadly introduced the concept of single motherhood and outline the various instances that places a women to the position of being a single mother. It has also focused upon some notable stages in the lives of African Americans and the occurrence of single motherhood in each stage. The chapter also justifies the need for this research and outlined what this research sets out to do as well as how it achieves its aim. This chapter has also, introduced the primary texts to be used in analyzing this research as well as their authors. It also has explored the literary theory to be applied in order to draw home the argument of this research.

Buyers has the right to create dispute within seven (7) days of purchase for 100% refund request when you experience issue with the file received. 

Dispute can only be created when you receive a corrupt file, a wrong file or irregularities in the table of contents and content of the file you received. 

ProjectShelve.com shall either provide the appropriate file within 48hrs or send refund excluding your bank transaction charges. Term and Conditions are applied.

Buyers are expected to confirm that the material you are paying for is available on our website ProjectShelve.com and you have selected the right material, you have also gone through the preliminary pages and it interests you before payment. DO NOT MAKE BANK PAYMENT IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE.

In case of payment for a material not available on ProjectShelve.com, the management of ProjectShelve.com has the right to keep your money until you send a topic that is available on our website within 48 hours.

You cannot change topic after receiving material of the topic you ordered and paid for.