Give birth again-to the dream : releasing the caged bird in Maya Angelou's poetry

Abstract EN

This paper traces the journey undertaken by Maya Angelou throughout her poetry in which she struggles hard to get out of the cage and liberate herself and her African American people from the chains of an extremely bigoted white culture, bringing into sharp light the various sorts of injustice and oppression practiced against black people in American society.

For the theoretical framework of this paper, the researcher primarily draws on the history of slavery and racism in the United States as well as the history of the Civil Rights Movement in which Angelou played a significant role.

Then, examples of Angelou's poems revealing racial segregation, inequality, and discrimination against black Americans are thematically and technically analyzed.

Angelou, the researcher sees, adopts certain strategies and mechanisms in order to set the caged bird free and help the oppressed in her poetry throw away their heavy burden of suffering which they have long endured in a racially oppressive society.

Instances of the poems conveying these meanings are given and elucidated, together with a concluding note of hope and happiness running through Angelou's poetry, particularly after her success in rising above bigotry and narrow-mindedness