From Testimony to Appropriation: A Radical Intersectional Critique of The Help

This article develops an intersectional – decolonial critique of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help (2009). While the novel depicts the compounded oppression of Black domestic workers under Jim Crow, its narrative form re-centers whiteness by positioning a white protagonist as the gatekeeper of Black pain. Previous scholarship has highlighted racial stereotypes and white-savior tropes; however, this study departs from that focus by applying intersectionality as both interpretive framework and methodological object of critique. It argues that conventional intersectional readings remain insufficient unless radicalized through decolonial perspectives that confront how cultural texts appropriate and commodify subaltern testimony. Drawing on Black feminist, critical race, and decolonial thought, the article advances three claims: first, the novel shows how race, gender, and class intersect to structure Black women’s subjugation; second, its narrative design renders Black testimony audible only through white mediation; third, this contradiction underscores the need to radicalize intersectionality within postcolonial literary studies.