Davis: Oral Narrative as Short Story Cycle: Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!

Rocio G. Davis' article, "Oral Narrative as Short Story Cycle: Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!" is her literary analysis of Edwidge Danticat's novel, Kirk? Krak! Davis states her thesis by saying "This article will explore the short story cycle as a vehicle for the development of ethnic literature by analyzing Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak! to show how the drama of identity and community is mediated through a genre that is linked to the oral narrative, itself a way of fostering imaginative communities and developing identities," (Davis). Throughout this article she greatly focuses on how Danticat uses the mother daughter relationships in the stories that she writes as well as how these stories tie into each other and her people and she uses the works of Amy Tan, Gloria Naylor, Julia Alvarez, and Louise Erdich as examples of how mother-daughter relationships have been used in ethnic literature over time. Davis believes that "Danticat's narrative presents the voices and visions of women, usually mothers and daughters, whose personal tragedies impel them to form community in the midst of oppression and exile," (Davis). Davis shows this by summarizing and analyzing the stories in Krik? Krak! such as "Children of the Sea," "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," and "Wall of Fire Rising." Davis also talks about important symbols in these stories of Krik? Krak! such as the sea, butterflies, and death. This type of article is an excellent example of what this English class will be aiming to achieve for our literary analyses. The thesis was clear and easy to find and Davis' argument follows what she tells her audience what she intended to write about.