Transmission of matrilineal/matriarchal society in ethnic American and in fantasy literature

Maya Angelou uses an autobiographical form in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to portray her childhood. The lessons she acquires as a child are depicted in positive scenes between her and her grandmother and other female figures in her life. Likewise, Maxine Hong Kingston portrays, in an arguably autobiographical form, her life lessons in Woman Warrior. She aligns herself matrilineally with her female ancestors and heritage. Struggles between her American self and the Chinese heritage her mother speaks of become her means for finding self-definition. In contrast, Sheri S. Tepper's fantasy novel A Plague of Angels, portrays a female utopian society against a backdrop of male dominated ruin. She aligns the female protagonist with nature and ecological concerns. The turn away from society that is patriarchal and destructive is made toward a society defined in ecofeminist terms of Earth Mothers, animal rights, and the health of the environment.