Reema Supriya Kujur
Assistant Professor of English, Simdega College, Simdega, Ranchi University, Jharkhand
E-mail: justme.k7@gmail.com
Issue: Volume 2 No. 1 (March 2026) Anubodhan
Received: 25 March 2026 / Accepted: 27 March 2026 / Published: 31 March 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.029
Abstract
This paper explores the poem “Caged Bird” through the perspectives of gender studies, subaltern theory, intersectionality, and postcolonial criticism. The paper’s main objective is to analyze how the poem represents the condition of marginalized women, especially Black women, and to examine how gender and race together shape their experiences of oppression and resistance.The methodology used in this paper is qualitative and analytical which is based on close textual reading of the poem along with theoretical frameworks of scholars such as Gayatri Spivak, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Edward Said, and Frantz Fanon. The paper provides an interpretation of symbols, themes and imagery in the poem to understand deeper meanings related to identity, power and inequality. Freedom , privilege and dominance is represented by the free bird , while the caged bird symbolizes women who are restricted by patriarchal and racial structures. From a subaltern view , the poem shows how marginalized voices are often silenced, yet the song of the caged bird becomes a wy of resistance. The paper also highlights intersectionality, showing how Black women face double oppression due to both gender and race. Additionally, the poem presents the idea of the “Other,” where the oppressed are treated as inferior, weak and face loss of identity. Overall, the paper concludes that “Caged Bird” is a powerful expression of suffering, resistance, and hope especially of Black women where voice becomes a tool for survival and protest.
Keywords: Gender study, subaltern, intersectionality, postcolonial criticism
How to cite: Kujur, R. S. (2026). Singing from the Cage: Race, Voice, and Resistance in Maya Angelou. Anubodhan, 2(1), 304–310. https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.029