TheFailureofSubjectivityinTheBluestEyeand

1、The Failureo fSubjectivity in The Bluest Ey e and Song of Solomon 最藍(lán)的眼睛和索羅門之歌中的主題性失敗Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 Background and ContextIn Morrison two fictions, The Bluest Eye and Song ofSolomon, she explores the impactthat social conditions have on the parents systems of value, which lead to the daugh

2、ters failure in constructing their subjectivities.First, when Southern environment possesses little in the way of material compensation, Northern setting is made attractive because desire is an end in itself. Morrisons characters become the victim to their desire frequently in the form of commodific

3、ation and objectification.Self-worthiness then is measured by ones material wealth or social belonging, for which one usually seeks at the expense of cultural detachment or loss. The main action in The Bluest Eye takes place in 1940 to 1941, with flashbacks to the previous two decades when Cholly an

4、d Pauline Breedlove encounter poverty, unemployment, and the GreatDepression even in Ohio. In this wake of civil rights legislation, racial discriminations and refusals still persecute the Afro-Americans so that they are treated as the others, the aliens, who negotiate the Northern settings of capit

5、al and profit by means of self-negation and internalization of white values with the result of demise.Second, Spanning from 1931 to 1963, the main plot of the fiction about Milkman Deads search for identity is chiefly set in the years of the movement in communities, as Melissa Walker observes where

6、the civil rights activity never makes national headlines and where characters still confront racism, including discrimination in public facilities, transportation, employment, and housing(130, 137). By juxtaposing Milkmans search for identity without heeding the political concerns of the larger comm

7、unity and Pilates preoccupation with spiritual affluence without solving the younger generations ill equipment for the late capitalist society, Morrison interrogates the sufficiency of black culture for the individuals survival in a competitively racist, capitalist, and patriarchal environment.1.2 S

8、cope and ObjectivesAnd this dissertation aims to study the power of this environment, in terms of Lacans visual regime and Lefbvres visualization, over the younger generations initiations, which would fail as long as any one of the environments-the communal and the domestic-deprives them chances for

9、 recognizing their self-worth. In addition to the factor of character, the young protagonists response to the environment determines their fate.Starting from the aspect that while the material living condition and the rejection by the community for Pecola Breedlove and Hagar Dead are similar, the ov

10、erwhelming maternal love that Pecola is devoid of does not prevent Hagar from ruin, I would attempt to find out the reason behind their behavior through the examination of the geopolitics imposed on them. On the other hand, with the wealthy living condition and self-equipment, contradictory to what

11、Pecola and Hagar possess, First Corinthians Dead-Macon and Ruths daughter leads a sterile domestic life and remains celibate. Her struggle for a space outside the family is also my concern for investigating the result of her subjectivity establishment.1.3 AchievementsThe social condition have great

12、impact upon the parents system of values, which are the replications of the white bourgeois ideal in the form of capitalism, patriarchy, and nuclear family. The Northern environment appeals to the parents because they measure self-worthiness by their material wealth or social belonging, even at the

13、cost of cultural alienation.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewFor the two realms selected as the themes of mythesis, the black female subject and spatiality, there have been a great number of researches. The following are reviews on first the fictions concerning the black female subject, then the critiques

14、 examining the motif of self and place in Morrisons fictions, and lastly the theories of space from which my combination of psycho-geopolitics for studying Morrison derives.A. The Black Female SubjectI choose to study Morrisons black female characters because the black female subject in literary wor

15、ks has undergone many layers of change, and Morrison is the one who claims black female identity by merging racial,cultural, and realistic facets of black female subject without falling into prey of feminism, which, in part, excludes males. Originally, black writers tried to create, other than the s

16、tereotype proposed by the white writers, their own stereotype of the tragic mulatta, which carried on into the twentieth century.B. Self and Place in Morrisons FictionsMy basic understanding of the significance of space in Morrison s fictions isgrounded on these researches: thesearch for self and pl

17、ace within the community as well as the uses and meanings of the South. Differing from these former researches, my thesis is a systematic study of the women characters subjectivities by investigating first the politics of space over three main sites of power (the workplace, the community, and the ho

18、me) and then two reactions to the spatial power in these three sites: reception and resistance, which are reflected in the individual s mind and body.C. Theories of SpaceAs the body and mind receive and resist power in space, space is not a limited concept of geography. Henri Lefebvre in The Product

19、ion of Space analyzes space itself and the social relationships within it. It could mean the real, physical sphere, or the external, social field; it is also intimately connected to the realm of mentality, or to the internal domain. Lefebvre believes that while minds existent in bodies inhabit space

20、, space participates in the mental realm simultaneously. The objective existence of space is always subjectively perceived.W.J.T. Mitchell distinguishes “space” from “place ” in Landscape and Power: Space, Place, and Landscape:“Ifa place is a specific location, a space is apracticedplace, a site act

21、ivated by movements, actions, narratives, and signs, and a landscape is that site encountered as image or sight ”. The perceived space then is colored with peoples feelings, experiences,learning, imaginations and memories. Individual differences are apparent.Chapter 3 Findings3.1 IntroductionUnder t

22、he gaze of the visual regime in the community full of racial hostility, Pecola internalizes the society s abjection in light of the white standard of beauty. Hagar feels “hungry ” for the intercourse with theneighborhood and for an order in her family because her impoverished mentors are rejected by

23、 the society supervising their bodies and social status. Corinthians is confined in the patriarchal and capitalist systems of value. The parental roles, also suffering from the frustration of the environments, become another source of violence for Pecola,remain incapable of assessing the youngstersp

24、roblem for Hagar, and impose a vain identity on Corinthians by controlling her space.3.2 Data analysis3.3 SummaryThe result of the black femal e character s searching for self is the failure of subjectivity,embodied by Pauline and Pecola Breedloves in The Bluest Eye, Hagar and Corinthians in Song of

25、 Solomon. The social condition has great impact upon the parents system of values, which are the replications of the white bourgeois ideal in the form of capitalism, patriarchy, and nuclear family. The Northern environment appeals to the parents because they measure self-worthiness by their material

26、 wealth or social belonging, even at the cost of cultural alienation.Chapter 4 ConclusionIn The Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon, the social and familial environments fail the youngsters. First, their bodies gazed, ig no red, teased, rejected, abhorred, commodified, and repressed fun cti on as the si

27、te for thepower articulation of both white and black communities, amongwhich the membersin the former despise the black for securing their position while the members in the latter disguise themselves by expelling their black folk.Pecola accepts the society s rejection and internalizes the abjection

28、in light of the white standard of beauty. Hagar feels “hungry” for the intercourse with the neighbourhood and for an order in her family.Corinthians is confined in the patriarchal and capitalist systems of value. They are all charmed by the white spell. The parental roles, also suffering from the fa

29、ilure of the environments, becomeanother source of violence for Pecola, remain incapable of assessing the youngster s problem for Hagar, and impose an ideal but empty identity by controlling space for Corinthians.positionality by calling for a community of resistance and learning to love their selves. And lastly, they insiston their me-ness by reconstituting a new cultural politics of differen