Writing from the Hearth

Writing from the Hearth probes the relationship of gender to space in close readings of texts of Francophone women writers of Africa: Aoua Kéita, Mariama Bâ, Calixthe Beyala, and Aminata Sow Fall, and the Caribbean: Marie Chauvet, Simon Schwarz-Bart, Maryse Condé, and Edwidge Danticat. It explores the hypothesis that the female protagonist moves toward empowerment by appropriating public space and transforming domestic space into alternative space.