Female Genital Mutilation as Cultural Practice in Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy

Abstract

               Language shows identities in three ways: first, through the categories and labels that people use to show their belongingness; second, through the indexed ways of speaking and acting that people use to show their belongingness; and third, through the interpretations that others make of those indices. Part of shared culture is being able to see and understand the indexes. Everyone has a set of identities that includes national, ethnic, religious, generational and gender identities, as well as socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, profession and different levels of belonging to groups that are below and above the nation. The novel Possessing the Secret of Joy looks at how personal experiences and the long-term repercussions of colonialism are connected. It looks at how cultural practices are changed by outside forces and how they change them.