1. Sonia Sanchez’ Literary Work: An Analysis
Professor Elizabeth Owens
Enrique Sanchez
4/30/2012

2. Sonia Sanchez’ Literary Work: An Analysis
Sonia Sanchez, the African-American poet whose works have been an inspiration too
much of the African-American community, has produced an impressive body of work in her time.
For not only has she composed numerous poems, but also several plays, all centered on the
sorts of experiences she has had growing up and living in the African-American community in
New York. She is often referred to as one of the most prolific and profound female African-
American writers of her time.Her views on feminism, race, social and political have garnered for
her a plane among some of the most dynamic and important writers in her genre. Ultimately,
Sanchez’s literary works express a sense of the challenges, struggles, inequalities, social
esteem as well as a host of others that echo the shared values and experiences of minority
women in the US, and worldwide. Here, in this paper, an overview of Sanchez’s works will be
presented along with a look into how these complimented and often capture the whole of the
African-American woman’s experiences.
Sanchez’s poetry is particularly potent and filled with political and social fervor. But more
importantly, what lends it to such fervency is its rhythm and tone and word choice. Her love for
the informal and use of slang words embraced in the African-American community serves to
explain a great deal concerning the nature of her work. This powerful element of it helps to
secure a voice for the speaker of the poetry. What she attempts to do is to transform the slang
and informal into an elegant and eloquence through which the poem’s speaker can be heard. In
so much as the previously voice of the African-American had been, at least on some level,
diminished to unimportant and an almost gibberish, Sanchez sought to change this view and act
as an interpreter. By highlighting important features of the speech of African-American culture,
she helped to bridge the gap between the disenfranchised and Anglo culture.

3. In particular, Sanchez’s most endearing strategy to do this was through the employment
of rhythmic, jazz oriented utterances. Indeed, in doing so, she helped shape jazz poet genre
into what it became in her time. Considering that she uses the term “yo” instead of the word
“you”, she is mirroring the styles of the songs by the likes of Louis Armstrong. In fact, herslight
variation in punctuation and spacing, the insertion of slash marks”/” in the second line of “My
Favorite Things” and “A/Love/Supreme” indicates that not only black poets read and revise each
other’s “typographic representation of Black Speech, but they also form a relationship with each
other such that the poetry refers to the music, in part, through the conversation established by
other poets (JONES).” Sanchez’s influence on jazz poetry, as evident, was itself influenced by
the African-American mode of speech that determined the tenor of jazz speech and rhythm.
Furthermore, Sanchez expresses a deep interest in mimicking or expressing sound in
text or language in her Coltrane poem. It is drawn chiefly form Coltrane’s work “My Favorite
Thing” in which the saxophone melody is portrayed in the rhythm of the language she uses.
Oddly enough, the inspiration for the work by Coltrane is from a song from the Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s musical “The Sound of Music”. Sanchez stretches out the word screech, in
such a way as to emulate the sound of the saxophone in the song. “At one point she even gives
instruction to her ideal readership; “rise up blk people…move straight in yo/blkness…step over
the wite/ness/that is yesssssterrrrrday(Jones).” Here the speech tone of the poem expresses
that tie between jazz and the spoken word. In so much as this style of poetic speech writing
was not as novel or as popular, or even existing, style at the time.
Sanchez’s employment of jazz emulation and musical speech expressed in her poetry,
further, demonstrate a commitment to expose certain underlying speech patterns in African-
American slang. And even more than this, the slang itself, and informal use of words, particular
in her Coltrane poem, portrayed a deeper message to the world concerning the sense of what it
means to an African-American woman in the modern society.The particular speech she employs

4. reflects this, as that it is derived from cultural characteristics. And more importantly, its
particular structure and sense represents the collective mind of the culture. Having a voice to
express the African-American culture and self-realization of where it is and how it is to be in it
suggest a desire to break away from conventional and traditional poetry writing styles.
As to Sanchez’s employment of language in light of conventional and what was in style
of the time of her writing, it is also important to understand the position on deconstruction. In
reference to the African-American female writer, typical there is instability in language use.
However, from a perspective of Sanchez, she finds that this is not the case. As mentioned
earlier, as to her poems dedicated to the jazz musician Coltrane, the reader of her poem would
not necessarily have to have some particular tunes in mind as to compare the rhythm of the
poem to. However, some have described her work as being ambiguous, unreliable and
indeterminate (Joyce). This is typically due to the fact that her language is difficult to
understand at times. But, one reason why this isis based on the deconstructive nature of it.
One author states that, “Without my using the word deconstruction, in an interview with Sonia
Sanchez, I asked to comment on the idea that the more we explore the meaning of a text, the
more contradiction we encounter (Joyce). Here, there was a contention that Sanchez presented
her works in the form of a contradiction as to serve as a window, through which, she could have
the reader focus on the themes she expressed; not so that the reader could get something out
of it from their own sense of it. In her own words, she explained that “Well, I think it’s antithetical
to the whole tradition of being human. For everything that we do on this earth there is a
reaction. There is instigation. There is a result. And, therefore, we cannot separate words and
make them stagnant in a sense or inactive. You and I know that words have great actionand
great energy involved in them. And when they are spoken to written on a page, they can spirit
mankind, womankind and everyone to some action to thought that will lead to a better way of

5. looking at the world, or to have thought that says simply, this will make me want to be more
human. There are some novels that are full of contradiction (Joyce)”.
This is the true essence of Sanchez’s writings, it is in the informal and the everyday
language from which humanity is charged and revitalized. The contradiction she of, those
elements of a text that are incompatible and thus incomparable to one another, speak of
something more than the mere content. It is in the context of the work. And even more, rather
than mere context, it is in the spirit of what is said. For Sanchez, her style of poetry writing goes
above that of conventional. It is reflective of a voice that is often unheard. It is in the common
tongue of the African-American woman and the intricate nature of her speech.
But, while Sanchez’s works are primarily poetic, this says nothing to other styles of
literature that she has produced. More specifically, Sanchez has contributed to the stage and
had her hand in playwright. One of her more famous works was entitled “I am Black When I am
Singing, I am Blue When I Ain’t”. In it, she expresses the depth of Black Arts’ Movement. Also
she goes on to provide a historical background of the play’s context as well as the significance
of herself, the artist. In reading her essays on theater it is clear that her view on expressing
ethical themes is particularly unique, as seen in “I am Black When I am Singing, I am Blue
When I Ain’t”. Sanchez purpose for writing plays, at least in this case, was that she found it
beneficial to use the medium of plays in place in of poetry. For her view that some experience
are best served upon the plate of theater demonstrate her understanding of the women of
African-American communities, household and in society. It allows that space, that opportunity
for communicative dialogue that is absent in poetry (Moriah). Poetry does not allow this space,
nor does it offer opportunity to express personal and internal struggles that explode in the form
of drama. Poetry, while not always simply introspective, has the tendency to focus on the
individual and his or her reaction to whatever situation is being addressed in the poem.

6. However, as to drama and the theater, this medium proves to be ideal for Sanchez as she
expresses many of her concerns related to extreme radical feminist ideas.
One of the chief concerns of Sanchez, as to address in her words, is that of the
aftermath of post-colonial society in the US and other Western countries (Kumar). The male-
centric, Anglo-centric atmosphere prevalent in society is one that has made a negative
impression on Sanchez, and accordingly others as well. Her “deepened insight into the
operation of oppressive structure is seen as leading Sanchez to post-colonial stances in her
poetry and drama, such as her interest in the mental health of a young black woman, Reena, in
“I am Black When I am Singing, I am Blue When I Ain’t”, where ideas come close to those of
Fanon (Kumar). Her addressing the whole of women in African-American society is two-fold
defend; that from racial perspective and that from the gender perspective.
In conclusion, Sonia Sanchez, the African-American author and feminist, boast of a large
of body of laudable works. Her poetry is an extension of her experiences as an African-
American woman in modern day society. As well, Sanchez’s use of musical language in concert
with text and language speech is a testament to the African-American cultural voice. Her poetry
suggests a break from conventional and an embracing of non-traditional form. Furthermore,
Sanchez’s use of dramatic plays and theater are bot another dimension through which she can
express the intricacies of women in African-American society. In so much as she supports a
radical feminist approach, her work stands alone. And so, Sanchez’s body of work is one of
non-conventional, music-speech voice and unique dramatic settings which express women’s
issues in the African-American community.

7. Works Cited
Davis, Elisa. Lucille Clifton and Sonia Sanchez: A Conversation. Callaloo. 25.4 Pages
1038-1074. 2004.
Jones, Meta DuEwa. Jazz Prosidies: Oral and Textuality. Callaloo 25.1 Pages, 66-91. 2002.
Joyce, Ann Joyce. A Tinker’s Damn. Callalo 31.1. 2008
Kumar, Nita. Contemporary African- American Women Playwrights: A review. 33.1. 2010
Moriah, Kristin. I’m Black When I’m Singing’, I’m Blue When I Ain’t: A Review. Theater
Journal.Vol 64, No.1. 2012