Possessing the Secret of Joy in Self-Exile
Possessing the Secret of Joy in Self-Exile

Summary/Abstract: The paper will focus on one of Alice Walker’s novels, Possessing the Secret of Joy, which deals with the ritual of female circumcision. The African American writer states that torture should not be part of culture and this circumcision involves the scarring of womens’ bodies. It is different from men’s circumcision as it deprives young girls of future sexual pleasure and it may even lead to their death. For a better understanding, the article will also refer to Warrior Marks: Female Genital Mutilation and the Sexual Blinding of Women, a collection of stories and journal entries which served as the basis for a documentary on which Alice Walker collaborated with Pratibha Parmar. This documentary presents in greater detail the turmoil African women have to endure, which forces some of them to run away from home. As they reject tradition, their own parents disown them and the young women have to spend the rest of their lives in exile. The protagonist of Possessing the Secret of Joy is torn between the demands of her ancestors and her own personal needs as she tries to escape her past.

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