Ntozake Shange Language

Shange’s use of language is also important to examine in the context of writing against the grain. The English language has been used to oppress black women for centuries. The stereotypes we see regarding black women in the spoken and written word, and the power that language has in shaping the way we think and act are impossible to ignore. Shange, in her interview with Luster, discusses the idea of “[l]anguage as a liberator” in conjunction with how women are oppressed through language, stating, “the challenge was to kill off these things and to trip it and trick it [ . . . ] in ways that people speaking the language I speak would receive and feel a sense of joy in” (“At the Heart). The poems that make up for colored girls who have considered …show more content…
In “Speakin Arms” and Dancing Bodies in Ntozake Shange, Sarah Mahurin discusses the role of the body in the choreopoem in harnessing power in order to achieve self-ownership, a sentiment that challenges the oppression described above. According to Mahurin, by providing the space for the seven black women to express their pain and interact with one another without the imposition of men or whites, “Shange’s all-female, all-black production defiantly presents itself as a refuge for the bodies that occupy its stage” (332). This refuge is key in working toward self-ownership. In her opening monologue, the lady in brown introduces the idea of “the black girl”, first saying, “she’s been dead so long” and then later in repetition, “let her be born / let her be born” (Shange, 18-19). The desire to be born reflects the urge to realize one’s self-identity in a world that imposes so many oppressive standards. Mahurin even goes further to say that this invocation “suggests that the aim of the entire piece is [ . . . ] to allow the old black female body to recreate itself” (340). Clearly, Shange writes against the grain as she uses the body and movement through performance to challenge societal notions of …show more content…
It is fresh, provocative, and relevant. Analysis of spoken word and movement-based performance on the written page might seem daunting, but it is a challenge that can only enhance this class’s study of unconventional writing. A choreopoem that works with form, language, and movement, the piece would both enhance and challenge previous discussions of writing against the grain. On the whole, Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf should definitely be included in this