从女性主义角度论《紫色》中西莉的解放过程本科生.doc

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1、摘 要这篇论文主要从女性主义方面研究爱丽丝沃克紫色中女主公西莉的解放过程。小说中沃克并不仅仅局限于描写非裔美国妇女的悲惨遭遇，并且旨在为所有在父权制和性别歧视下压迫下的妇女指引一条光辉的道路。小说中的黑人妇女遭受着双重压迫，一方面是来自黑人男性的性别歧视压迫，另一方面则是白人对她进行的种族歧视压迫。她重新确立自己的精神信仰，并在姐妹的帮助下成长为一位在经济、思想以及生活上独立的女性。她寻求自由和解放的方式正印证了艾丽斯沃克的妇女主义。论文主要包括三章：第一章主要介绍了作为本文理论基础的妇女主义。第二章将主要讲述小说中黑人妇女所受到的双重压迫。第三部分主要介绍耐蒂、索菲亚和莎格对西莉的觉醒中起的

2、至关重要的作用以及黑人女性取得解放的必经途径。关键词：妇女主义; 黑人妇女; 压迫; 解放AbstractThis thesis examines the protagonists emancipation process from womanism perspective in Alice Walkers novel The Color Purple. Walker does not limit herself in describing the sufferings of African American women but suggests to all women a path to

3、follow in order to free themselves from the evils of patriarchy and sexism. The black women suffer double oppressions of sexism and racism from both the black men and the white people. Celie, the protagonist, rebuild her belief and free herself physically, spiritually and economically. Their ways to

4、 liberation also formslots of elements of Alice Walkers womanism, which is defined as black feminism or feminism of the color. The thesis is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, womanism is interpreted as the theoretical basis of the thesis. In the second chapter, the thesis focuses on

5、 the double oppressions on the black women .The third chapter is about the sisterhood relationship with Nettie, Sofia and Shug who are the key elements in this emancipation process and the black womans fighting back to achieve her liberation. Key Words: womanism, black women, oppression, emancipatio

6、nContents摘 要.iAbstract .iiIntroduction.1Chapter1 Feminism and Womanism. .31.1 The Background of Womanism: Feminism in America.31.1.1 The First Wave of American Feminism: 1840s to 1920s.31.1.2 The Second Wave of American Feminism: 1960s.41.2 Walkers Definition of Womanism.7Chapter2 Double Oppression

7、on the Black Women in The ColorPurple.152.1 As Women: Sexual and Violent Oppression from the Black Men.152.2 As Black People: Racial Oppression from the White People.19Chapter 3 Black Womens Approach to Emancipation.23 3.1 Sisterhood and Its Role in Celies Emancipation Process23 3.1.1 The Role of Ne

8、ttie .23 3.1.2 The Role of Sofia.24 3.1.3 The Role of Shug.26 3.2 The Road of Emancipation.273.2.1 Physical and Sexual Freedom.273.2.2 Spiritual Freedom.293.2.3 Economic Freedom.31Conclusion.33Bibliography.36AcknowledgementsivB.A. Thesis IntroductionIntroductionThroughout the ages, women have always

9、 been part of literature. They have inspired many writers, whether dramatists, novelists, poets or essayists. Unfortunately most works often depicted women as the inferior gender, a passive object that could not survive on its own and that could do nothing for itself. Women, in literature, could onl

10、y exist through the eyes, minds and lives of men but never for themselves. Many of Walkers works are inseparable from her life experience. She is very proud of her origins and she believes that the grace with which we embrace life, in spite of pain, the sorrow, is always measure of what has gone bef

11、ore. She was born in Eatonton, Georgia on February 9, 1944. Her father was a sharecropper and she is the youngest of the eight children in her family. At the age of eight, Walker was accidentally injured by a BB gun shot to her eye by her brother. Then she set out to learn to write poetry in order t

12、o ease the loneliness.Alice Walkers epistolary novel, The Color Purple, is one of the best literary works that vividly depict the sufferings of African-American women from patriarchy sexism and racism. The Color Purple does not only describe but goes beyond that purpose. In fact, Alice Walkers true

13、intention from writing this novel is not only to give voice to black women but also to provide them with a path to follow in order to emancipate themselves and get their freedom. Walker shows us the evolution of her major character, Celie, from being a sexually abused child to a passive wife and fin

14、ally to an emancipated woman.36B.A. Thesis Chapter 1 Feminism and WomanismChapter 1Feminism and Womanism1.1 The Background of Womanism: Feminism in AmericaFeminism in America has a long history and it is not an invention of a singleperiod of time. Here, this thesis just focuses on the 19th and the 2

15、0th centuries to give a very general account of American feminism from the perspective of history time and different types of schools.1.1.1 The First Wave of American Feminism: 1840s to 1920sIn 1848, the first Womens Rights Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other women who had been

16、 denied a place at the international anti-slavery convention in London in 1840, was held in Seneca Falls, which marked the beginning of the first wave of American Feminism. The convention passed the Declaration of Sentiments, which was primarily drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. “We hold these trut

17、hs to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equalThe history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on thepart of man toward woman ” (Schneir 77).In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony established the National Womens Suffrage Association . In the sam

18、e year, Lucy Stone founded the American Womans Suffrage Association. Both of the two associations were devoted to promote a suffrage amendment of women to the Constitution. In 1890, the two organizations merged into the National American Womans Suffrage Association, which later became the League of

19、Women Voters. The first wave of American feminism focused on the suffrage right for women but was not very successful. However, there was some progress in the reform of property laws and educational opportunities and “it did lay some of the intellectual groundwork for the second wave of American fem

20、inism ” (Madsen 6).1.1.2 The Second Wave of American Feminism: 1960sThe second wave of American feminism began with Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique, which was published in 1963. Later, Friedan founded the National Organization of Women (NOW) in 1966, marking the formal beginning of the second m

21、ovement of American Feminism. The main concern of the movement was against different kinds of discrimination, especially sex-based, of women in a patriarchy society. With the development of feminist activism, feminist theories in the areas of literature, politics, philosophy and history also began t

22、o rise. Many womens study programmes emerged in America. “The first full Womens programme was set up at San Diego State College in 1970” (Leitch 325). The intended aim of the organization was “to change the sexist bias of traditional education and social practices” (Madsen 15). In literary critical

23、field, traditional criticism became the target of feminist theory because of its blindness to gender. The pioneer in this field was Kate Miller, the author of Sexual Politics (1971). Other critics working in this field included Ellen Moers, Elaine Showalter, Patricia Meyer Spacks, Sandra Gilbert, Su

24、san Gubar, Nina Baym and so on. They aimed to help people recognize womens value by criticizing the images of women in literary works and “define a tradition of womens writing by finding and publishing the work of neglected writers ” (Madsen 15-16). Different schools of feminism also appeared during

25、 the two periods of feminist movements, such as Liberal Feminism, Marxist Feminism, Psychoanalytic Feminism, Ecofeminism, Socialist Feminism, Feminism of Color and so on. And it was the Feminism of Color that shaped the real backbone of Alice Walkers womanism.American feminism continued, more and mo

26、re colored women gradually realized that they had been excluded from the mainstream white feminism, which only paid attention to white middle class women. Therefore, different kinds of colored feminism appeared. They were Black Feminism, Chicana/Latina Feminism, Native Feminism and Asian Feminism (M

27、adsen 216). Each group of them had a distinctive historical experience in America. From the first wave of American feminism, the white leaders did not pay any attention to the relationship between racial prejudice and gender discrimination. Angela Y. Davis, a black feminist, quoted Elizabeth Cady St

28、antons letter to the New York Standard in 1865 in her book Women, Race and Class (1981): “in fact, it is better for black women to be the slave of an educated white man, than of a degraded, ignorant black one” (70). The second wave of American feminism still did little “to recognize the interdepende

29、nce of racism and sexism as symptomatic of a culture of oppression” (Madsen 215). In her book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984), bell hooks (sic) criticized the blindness of color in Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique (1963): Friedans famous phrase, “the problem that has no name”, actu

30、ally referred to the plight of a selected group of college-educated, middle and upper class, married white women- housewives bored leisure, who wanted more out of life. That “more” she defined as careers. She did not discuss who would be called in to take care of the children and maintain the home.

31、She did not speak of the needs of women without men, without children, without homes. She ignored the existence of all non-white women and poor white women. She did not tell readers whether it was more fulfilling to be a maid, a babysitter, a factory worker, a clerk, or a prostitute, than to be a le

32、isure housewife.In 1973, a special Black Feminist group, the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO), was founded in New York. In 1977, the Combahee River Collective, a Black Feminist group in Boston, announced in the famous A Black Feminist Statement “Above all else, our politics initially spra

33、ng from the shared belief that black women are inherently valuable, that our liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody elses but because of our need as human persons for autonomy. We realized that only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation is us. Our p

34、olitics evolve from a healthy love for ourselves, our sisters and our community which allows us to continue our struggle and work”.Other female black writers and critics, like Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Huston, Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, Patricia Hill Collins, promoted the development o

35、f Black Feminism greatly by their vigorous participation and works. Alice Walker especially stood out among them. In her book In Search of Our Mothers Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983), she put forward a very important icon for black feminist: womanism, which will be discussed in detail in the next par

36、t.1.2 Walkers Definition of WomanismDefinitely, a womanist should be a woman; however, the point is for which sex a womanist should serve. First, Walker indicates that a womanist should love other women, sexually and nonsexually, which means both lesbians and non-lesbians can be the womanist. It als

37、o emphasizes sisterhood. In Walkers works, the good relationship among women can be found everywhere. As in Meridian, the protagonist, Meridian, helps “Wile Chile” when she hears that “Wile Chile” is pregnant. In The Color Purple, the lesbian love between Celie and Shug, and the friendships among Ce

38、lie, Shug, Sophie, Nettie and etc. which will be discussed in detail later in this thesis, illustrate the important effect of sisterhood on the liberation of black women. She also emphasizes womens culture and womens emotion. When she wrote The Color Purple, Walker lived a very simple life in a moun

39、tainous village, but she still did not forget to make the quilt. “I bought a quilt pattern my mama swore was easy. I worked on my quilt . My quilt began to grow” (Walker 1983, 358). Making the quilt also gives some help for her to finish the novel. In The Color Purple, Celie, Shug and Sophie also ma

40、ke a quilt named “sisters choice”, which symbolizes their friendships. Despite womens good relationship, Walker never forgets men. The womanist should also love individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually, for the womanist should commit themselves to the entire people, whether they are male or femal

41、e. The womanist should also be the universalist, which means that they should not work only for the liberation of black people or their own race, but also for all the human beings in spite of their skin color. People with white, beige, black, brown, pink, yellow and any other skin color are all brot

42、hers and sisters. Thus although the womanist are the colored women, they should work for all human beings, male and female with all kinds of skin color. The last part of the second interpretation means that the womanist should be brave and be an activist. She is brave and capable enough to fight for

43、 and protect her people. “It wouldnt be the first time”, for the ancestors have fought for many years and it would not be the last time until everyone gets his/her liberation. Walker once stated in one of her essays Silver Writes that: although she valued the Civil Rights Movement deeply, she has ne

44、ver liked the term itself because it had no music and no poetry (336). Therefore, the womanist must be full of love, loving music, loving dance, loving all the creatures and mostly important, loving oneself. In her prose, “In Search of Our Mothers Gardens”, Walker depicts the lives of many black wom

45、en, who must be her mothers and grandmothers. They are the sexual objects of men. “They stumbled blindly through their lives: creatures so abused and mutilated in body, so dimmed and confused by pain, that they considered themselves unworthy even of hope” (2374). Under such living condition, however

46、, their creativity still enabled them to be artists. They wanted to paint watercolors of the sunsets or model heroic figures of rebellion in stone or clay, though their time was full occupied with baking biscuits for lazy backwater tramp and their bodies were broken because of bearing so many childr

47、en (Walker 1985, 2375). The quilt made by an anonymous black woman in Alabama a hundred years ago, hanging in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C., was the best example of black womens artistic creation (Walker 1985, 2379). Thus, for black and other colored women, their cultural uniqueness lies in the heritage of a11 love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself(sic). Womanist is to feminist as purple to lavender. (Walker 1983, 1) The first interpretation delimits the scope o