 | |
| Author | Audre Lorde |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Aunt Lute Books |
Publication date | 1980 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 77 |
| ISBN | 978-0933216037 |
| 362.1/9699449 | |
| LC Class | RC280.B8 L58 1980 |
The Cancer Journals is a 1980 book of non-fiction by Audre Lorde. It deals with her struggle with breast cancer.
The Cancer Journals is a 1980 book of non-fiction by poet and activist Audre Lorde. It deals with her struggle with breast cancer and relates it to her strong advocacy and identity in certain social issues such as lesbian, civil rights, and feminist issues. The Cancer Journals consists of an introduction and three chapters, each featuring passages from her diary.
Audre Lorde's upbringing and background plays a key role in understanding her perspectives and passion about feminist, civil rights, and lesbian issues. Understanding the early developments of her life and her journey to writing poetry, leads to a better understanding of her work on The Cancer Journals and its significance.
Apart from the story Lorde tells in her book, it is also essential to understand her experience with cancer apart from the literary work. Her cancer battle serves as a catalyst for much of her work, and is thus an important aspect in understanding the bigger picture of The Cancer Journals.
The feminist themes that appear in The Cancer Journal have had tremendous impact on Lorde's legacy and in those respective realms of social culture.
Audre Lorde (February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was a writer, feminist, womanist, and civil rights activist. Her work mostly relates to issues surrounding the female black identity, as well as feminism and civil rights. Her parents were both Caribbean immigrants, and she grew up with two older sisters, Phyllis and Helen. She was the youngest member of the family, and was nearsighted to the point of being deemed legally blind.
Growing up in Depression Era New York City, Lorde struggled to find her voice and turned to poetry and writing to express herself. Around the age of twelve, she began writing her own poetry and connecting with others at her school who were considered "outcasts", as she felt she was. [1] Lorde spoke about her beginning in poetry in Black Women Writers: "I used to speak in poetry. I would read poems, and I would memorize them. People would say, well what do you think, Audre. What happened to you yesterday? And I would recite a poem and somewhere in that poem would be a line or a feeling I would be sharing. In other words, I literally communicated through poetry. And when I couldn't find the poems to express the things I was feeling, that's what started me writing poetry, and that was when I was twelve or thirteen." [2] In high school, she saw her passion come further to life by participating in various poetry workshops, sponsored by the Harlem Writers Guild, despite feeling like an outcast. Her first poem was published by Seventeen magazine when she was still in high school. [2]
After high school, Lorde went on to attend Hunter College from 1954 to 1959, graduating with a bachelor's degree in library science. [1] Lorde then furthered her education at Columbia University, attaining a master's degree in library science in 1961. [1]
During the 1960s Lorde's career as a poet took off. Her work got published in many different works, including Langston Hughes's 1962 New Negro Poets, USA, in several foreign anthologies, and in black literary magazines. [1] Some of her most famous poetic works include: The First Cities (1968), Cables to Rage, From A Land Where Other People Live (1973), New York Head Shop and Museum (1974), Coal (1976), and TheBlack Unicorn (1978). [1] The Cancer Journals followed these works in 1980.
Lorde did not just identify with just one category, but many, wanting to celebrate all parts of herself equally. She was known to describe herself as black, lesbian, a mother, a warrior, and a poet. [3] Her idea was that everyone is different from each other and it is the collective differences that make us who we are, instead of one thing. Focusing on all of the aspects of identity brings people together more than choosing one piece of an identity.
The Cancer Journals is a very personal account and documentation of Lorde's battle with breast cancer. It examines the journey Lorde takes to integrate her experience with cancer into her identity. [4] It consists of three parts with pieces from journal entries and essays written between 1977 and 1979. [1]
The first chapter, 'The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action', is derived from a speech that was given on December 28, 1977, at the Lesbian and Literature Panel of the Modern Language Association. [5] In this talk, Lorde examines the difficulty of speaking out about such a personal subject. She assesses the risks of misunderstanding or even ridicule against the comfort of silence. [6] Starting with an excerpt from her previous poetic work The Black Unicorn, Lorde calls on the reader to abolish silence and speak out.
The second chapter, 'Breast Cancer: A Black Lesbian Feminist Experience', is a day-to-day account of her cancer experience, from biopsy to mastectomy. This chapter describes the emotions experienced by one without any close peers or role models through the course of diagnosis, surgery, and recovery. A primary focus of this section is Lorde's recognition of her intense need to survive, to be a warrior rather than a victim, and her acknowledgment of the network of women whose love sustained her. [1] She also describes the benefit she had in talking about it with other lesbian cancer survivors. She also emphasizes her decision not to wear silicon breasts after her mastectomy operation.
In the third chapter, 'Breast Cancer: Power vs. Prosthesis', Lorde describes her coming to terms with the results of and life after her mastectomy. This chapter centers around her decision not to wear a prosthesis after her double mastectomy. She explains that although it is a woman's choice as to whether or not she wants to wear a breast prosthesis, the options seems like "a cover-up in a society where women are solely judged by and reduced to their looks". [7] She compares wearing breast prosthesis to an empty means for a woman to become adjusted to and accept her new body, thus claiming a new identity. Essentially, as described by Lorde, if a woman chooses to identify as a cancer survivor and then opts to use a prosthesis, she has begun to claim her altered body, and life. [4] She describes this in the book, "Prosthesis offers the empty comfort of ‘Nobody will know the difference.' But it is that very difference which I wish to affirm, because I have lived it, and survived it, and wish to share that strength with other women. If we are to translate the silence surrounding breast cancer into language and action against this scourge, then the first step is that women with mastectomies must become visible to each other." [2]
Lorde touches on the counseling procedures that take place post-op via the American Cancer Society's Reach for Recovery Program and their encouragement and promotion of the breast prosthesis. She argues that the program, while doing work under the guise of "good" and "recovery", actually reinforced a kind of misogynist nostalgia. Lorde understands the "cosmetic" focus of the Reach for Recovery program as part of a general problem of sexism and racism. She also speaks of the possibilities of alternative medicine, arguing that women should be afforded the space to look at all options, and negotiate treatment and healing on their own terms.
The Cancer Journals touches on themes that were prominent in Lorde's life. In describing her identity as a multitude of labels, black, lesbian, feminist mother and poet, [4] Lorde seeks to intertwine her battle with cancer into her identity. "I have cancer, I am a black feminist poet. How am I going to do this now?" [8] she asks and seeks to answer through her writing. Lorde touches on feminist ideals when she combats the societal notion of what a woman should look like and what her body looks like post mastectomy. Lorde states "a kindly woman" attempted to give her "a soft sleep bra and a wad of lambswool pressed into a pale pink breast-shaped pad". [8] The message is clear: the absent breast must be made up for somehow, such that Lorde's one-breasted deviation from the ideal female form is never visible. [8] By embracing her one breast, Lorde avoids denial and persists beyond the impending victimization sick women receive. [8] Lorde works to challenge the notion of femininity in cancer survivors.
Other prominent works by Audre Lorde include:
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches , a collection of essays in which Lorde focuses on the importance of communication between marginalized groups in society. In this work, Lorde pushes the idea of uniting these groups by finding common ground in their trials and tribulations.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) is an biomythography in which Lorde delves into discovering her identity and self-awareness.
Adrienne Cecile Rich was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse". Rich criticized rigid forms of feminist identities, and valorized what she coined the "lesbian continuum", which is a female continuum of solidarity and creativity that impacts and fills women's lives.
Audre Lorde was an American writer, professor, philosopher, intersectional feminist, poet and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet," who dedicated her life and talents to confronting all forms of injustice, as she believed there could be "no hierarchy of oppressions".
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logical result of feminism. Lesbian feminism was most influential in the 1970s and early 1980s, primarily in North America and Western Europe, but began in the late 1960s and arose out of dissatisfaction with the New Left, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, sexism within the gay liberation movement, and homophobia within popular women's movements at the time. Many of the supporters of Lesbianism were actually women involved in gay liberation who were tired of the sexism and centering of gay men within the community and lesbian women in the mainstream women's movement who were tired of the homophobia involved in it.
Chrystos is a writer and activist who has published various books and poems that explore Indigenous Americans's civil rights, social justice, and feminism. They self-identify as Menominee and two-spirit, but are not a citizen of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin or any other Native American tribe. Chrystos is also a lecturer, writing teacher and fine-artist. The poet uses the pronouns "they" and "them".
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name is a 1982 biomythography by American poet Audre Lorde. It started a new genre that the author calls biomythography, which combines history, biography, and myth. In the text, Lorde writes that "Zami" is "a Carriacou name for women who work together as friends and lovers", noting that Carriacou is the Caribbean island from which her mother immigrated. The name proves fitting: Lorde begins Zami writing that she owes her power and strength to the women in her life, and much of the book is devoted to detailed portraits of other women.
Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press was an activist feminist press that was closely related to the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) which was started in 1980 following a phone conversation between Barbara Smith and at the suggestion of her friend, poet Audre Lorde. Beverly and Barbara Smith and their associate Demita Frazier together cofounded the Combahee River Collective (CRC). The Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press was most active beginning in 1981, but the Press became inactive soon after Audre Lorde's death in 1992. Smith explains how the motivation for starting a press run by and for women of color was that "as feminist and lesbian of color writers, we knew that we had no options for getting published, except at the mercy or whim of others, whether in the context of alternative or commercial publishing, since both are white-dominated."
Joan Larkin is an American poet and playwright. She was active in the small press lesbian feminist publishing explosion in the 1970s, co-founding the independent publishing company Out & Out Books. She is now in her fourth decade of teaching writing. The science fiction writer Donald Moffitt was her brother.
Sinister Wisdom is an American lesbian literary, theory, and art journal published quarterly in Berkeley, California. Started in 1976 by Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Ellenberger (Desmoines) in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is the longest established lesbian journal, with 128 issues as of 2023. Each journal covers topics pertaining to the lesbian experience including creative writing, poetry, literary criticism and feminist theory. Sinister Wisdom accepts submissions from novice to accredited writers and has featured the works of writers and artists such as Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich. The journal has pioneered female publishing, working with female operated publishing companies such as Whole Women Press and Iowa City Women's Press. Sapphic Classics, a partnership between Sinister Wisdom and A Midsummer Night's Press, reprints classic lesbian works for contemporary audiences.
Pat Parker was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian feminist. Her poetry spoke about her tough childhood growing up in poverty, dealing with sexual assault, and the murder of a sister. At eighteen, Parker was in an abusive relationship and had a miscarriage after being pushed down a flight of stairs. After two divorces she came out as lesbian "embracing her sexuality" and said she was liberated and "knew no limits when it came to expressing the innermost parts of herself".
Irena Klepfisz is a Jewish lesbian author, academic and activist.
Coal is a collection of poetry by Audre Lorde, published in 1976. It was Lorde's first collection to be released by a major publisher. Lorde's poetry in Coal explored themes related to the several layers of her identity as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet."
Deena Metzger is an American writer, healer, and teacher whose work spans multiple genres including the novel, poetry, non-fiction, and plays. Metzger is a creative writing teacher and feminist scholar. In the 1960s and 1970s Metzger was a member of the Critical Studies faculty at the California Institute of the Arts, taught English at Los Angeles Valley College, and was on the faculty of the Feminist Studio Worship. Metzger also founded the writing program at Woman's Building in Los Angeles. Metzger was a contributing editor to Chrysalis: A Magazine of Women's Culture that ran from 1977 to 1980 in Woman's Building.
Michelle Parkerson is an American filmmaker and academic. She is an assistant professor in Film and Media Arts at Temple University and has been an independent film/video maker since the 1980s, focusing particularly on feminist, LGBT, and political activism and issues.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches is a collection of essential essays and speeches written by Audre Lorde, a writer who focuses on the particulars of her identity: Black woman, lesbian, poet, activist, cancer survivor, mother, and feminist. This collection, now considered a classic volume of Lorde's most influential works of non-fiction prose, has had a groundbreaking impact in the development of contemporary feminist theories. In fifteen essays and speeches dating from 1976 to 1984, Lorde explores the complexities of intersectional identity, while explicitly drawing from her personal experiences of oppression to include sexism, heterosexism, racism, homophobia, classism, and ageism. The book examines a broad range of topics, including love, self-love, war, imperialism, police brutality, coalition building, violence against women, Black feminism, and movements towards equality that recognize and embrace differences as a vehicle for change. With meditative conscious reasoning, Lorde explores her misgivings for the widespread marginalization deeply-rooted in the United States' white patriarchal system, all the while, offering messages of hope. The essays in this landmark collection are extensively taught and have become a widespread area of academic analysis. Lorde's philosophical reasoning that recognizes oppressions as complex and interlocking designates her work as a significant contribution to critical social theory.
The Erotic, as defined and discussed by educator and poet, Audre Lorde, is a profound resource of feminine power housed within the spiritual plane of women's existence. This power, as she describes in her 1978 essay "Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power", is a sense of deep satisfaction – beyond the sexual deceptively portrayed in the pornographic – elevated by a profound feeling that lives in the joy and fulfillment of a woman's being. This fulfillment becomes, as Lorde describes, the conscious decision in a woman's work, the power that embodies and manifests change in the fight against the oppression of women, especially Black women and women of color. This power of the erotic is a lifestyle, a potentiality that has been recognized as a threat, treated as suspect, and therefore suppressed out of fear. Lorde writes, "women so empowered are dangerous". Lorde demonstrates in redefining and reclaiming the erotic – a profound feeling of knowing, an empowering knowledge, "a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence" – that the erotic is a critical element in dismantling the social and political hierarchy situated in a white patriarchal power structure that reproduces the erotic as pornographic.
Your Silence Will Not Protect You is a 2017 posthumous collection of essays, speeches, and poems by African American author and poet Audre Lorde. It is the first time a British publisher collected Lorde's work into one volume. The collection focuses on key themes such as: shifting language into action, silence as a form of violence, and the importance of history. Lorde describes herself as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet", and addresses the difficulties in communication between Black and white women.
Movement In Black is a collection of poetry by Black lesbian feminist Pat Parker.
Feminist poetry is inspired by, promotes, or elaborates on feminist principles and ideas. It might be written with the conscious aim of expressing feminist principles, although sometimes it is identified as feminist by critics in a later era. Some writers are thought to express feminist ideas even if the writer was not an active member of the political movement during their era. Many feminist movements, however, have embraced poetry as a vehicle for communicating with public audiences through anthologies, poetry collections, and public readings.
Terri Lynn Jewell was an American author, poet and Black lesbian activist. She was the editor of The Black Woman’s Gumbo Ya-Ya, which received the New York City Library Young Persons Reading Award in 1994.
Gloria Ida Joseph was a Crucian-American academic, writer, educator, and activist. She was a self-identified radical Black feminist lesbian writer who synthesized art and activism in her work. Joseph's scholarship centered race, gender, sexuality, and class. She is known for her pioneering work on Black feminism and her activism on issues concerning Black women across the diaspora, including in the South Africa, Germany, and Caribbean.
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