Woman, an Economic Force: A Kaleidoscopic Reading of "Womanism" in Anne Tanyi-Tang's Visiting America

Abstract:The marginalization of the Black African and African American woman the world over has given rise to a profusion of concepts that have enabled her to re-assert her self-identity amidst a society regimented by both male chauvinism and Western feminist trends. From gender equality to women's empowerment, the concepts that have significantly contributed to enhancing the African woman's image stem, in the majority of cases, from the dissatisfaction of Black feminists who, in their soul and flesh, felt doubly marginalized due to the color of their skin, on one hand, and their status as the weaker sex, on the other; a social malaise caused not only by their men, but also their white feminist counterparts. In a bid to castigate this tendency to absolute supremacy, Sub-Saharan African female writers decided to join the movement initiated in Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose, a book in which the African American novelist coins the word "womanism." This holds true in Central African women's writings, in general, and those of female Cameroonian writers, in particular. From a Black feminism vantage point, this study discusses the tenets of womanism in Anne Tanyi-Tang's Visiting America. It examines such concepts as the "liberal and progressive womanist," the "love of food and roundness," and the "spirit of entrepreneurship"; so many ideas that the Cameroonian playwright brings forth in her masterpiece to carve out new spaces for her fellow African women and awaken those who still remain under the spell and shackles of male dominion. Thus, the vital part they play in boosting the world economy is examined. The analytical appraisal of the selected drama text reveals that as the Cameroonian writer liberates women of color from serfdom, she equally commits them to the survival and wholeness of entire people.