Nineteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Possessing the Secret of Joy is the searing story of Tashi, a tribal African American woman, whose life has been totally altered, after she experiences genital mutilation. Through her story and that of her sister who bled to death after unsuccessful cutting, Walker’s narrative unfolds the physical and psychological trauma born from a ritual practice, the goal of which is to reshape the body of the woman, to excise any sexual pleasure and to ensure men the privilege of de-tightening the transfigured female genital organ. This unspeakable experience has brought Walker to weave a polyphonic narrative, with characters disclosing the foundation of excision and the extreme pain felt by the excised. In analyzing the chain of voices in the story and the archetypal symbolism connoting the ordeal of genital cutting, the objective of this article is to explore Walker’s treatment of the cultural and spiritual rationale behind a tradition which takes the female body as locus, and which places men at the heart of sexual pleasure and happiness. It demonstrates that the chorus of voices called on to by the author is an expression of her commitment to scorn the objectification of girls in patriarchal systems, which, by a sly twist, has made of elderly women the perpetrators of life-agony. It finally unveils the author’s optimistic vision, through Tashi’s struggle to (re)possess the secret of joy.