Grace Paley and the subject of family in her work and life: Between motherhood, womanhood and generational relationships

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,25, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Institut für England und Amerikastudien), course: Grace Paley, language: English, abstract: Grace Paley is a well-renowned author of prose and poetry, a political activist, and a passionate mother and grandmother. She never detached her working as an author from her family life and her own family relationships, but made it a central subject of her work. Her life and work resist separation; it would only result in artificial and false distinctions. Besides political concerns and feminist issues, the family and generational relationships are the main focus in both Grace Paley¿s life and work. I will analyze this in three steps: first I will examine her biography and its influence on her work. In a second step I argue that the subject of family is a central and repeating issue in Grace Paley¿s work, exemplifying this on a selection of short stories and poems. In the third and final section I will show how family matters are interwoven with feminist issues.