（英语语言文学专业论文）文化回归与认同：非洲文化对莫里森文学创作的影响.pdf

摘 要 i 论文题目： 文化回归与认同：非洲文化对莫里森文学创作的影响 论文题目： 文化回归与认同：非洲文化对莫里森文学创作的影响 专 业： 英语语言文学 专 业： 英语语言文学 研 究 生： 刘婷 研 究 生： 刘婷 指导教师： 张发祥 指导教师： 张发祥 摘 要 摘 要 文化回归和文化认同是全球化趋势下一种反叛现代社会的普遍反映。在过去 的 20 世纪，西方文化寻根已发展成为波及最广泛的文化复兴思想运动，也催生 了一批重要的文化成果。非洲作为人类文明的发源地之一，孕育了灿烂的古埃及 文明和丰富的文化传统。但在当今世界里，白人文化占主导地位及少数裔民族文 化逐渐被边缘化的现实引起了不少美国黑人作家认真严肃的思考，促使他们为持 民族历史和传统文化而积极创作。莫里森就是其中颇有建树的作家之一。对于中 国读者来说，托妮莫里森（1931 -）已经不再是一个陌生的名字。自从她 1993 年获得诺贝尔文学奖以来，她的作品尤其是其文学创作中蕴含的独特的非洲文化 魅力已经引起国内外评论界的广泛注意。至今,莫里森已经创作了 9 部作品，这 些作品为她赢得许多荣誉。 作为非裔美国人，莫里森从创作伊始就把目光投向本民族的历史与现状，并 从本民族的文化土壤中汲取了丰富的营养。其中非洲文化传统对其创作的影响是 显而易见的。莫里森在创作过程中致力于保持和弘扬非洲黑人文化,其作品深深 根植于美国黑人独特的历史传说和现实生活,始终以表现和探索黑人的历史命运 和精神世界为主题。莫里森一方面要挖掘那段谁都不愿提及的黑人历史，告诫人 们正视过去，面对历史。另一方面，她积极探索和重构黑人民族文化和民族意 识，弘扬黑人民族精神，在民族文化和精神中寻找真正的自我和身份。 本文试图从其最具代表性的三篇小说秀拉，所罗门之歌和宠儿 入手，结合历史的观点，通过文本分析及对渗透于该三篇小说中的根植于非洲大 陆的黑人民间传说、神话、音乐等传统文化的分析，深入探讨灿烂的非洲文化对 其文学创作的影响，充分挖掘莫里森潜意识里深厚的非洲文化之根的概念及其弘 扬黑人文化精华和展现黑人文化之美，实现民族文化回归和认同的强烈民族自豪 感。 本文共分四章 第一章：首先概括莫里森的生平及文学成就，其次是国内外有关莫里森的研 masters thesis of henan university of science and technology ii 究现状。 第二章：首先简单介绍秀拉，所罗门之歌和宠儿三部作品的主 要故事情节。其次是非洲的传统文化的概述，主要是神话传说，音乐及命名三个 方面。最后是这些文化传统在三部作品中的具体体现。 第三章：是本篇论文的核心。通过莫里森作品中体现的丰富的非洲文化特 色，分析非洲文化传统对莫里森文学创作的影响，具体归纳为三方面：首先，非 洲文化为莫里森文学创作提供了丰富的素材；其次，使莫里森形成了独特的音乐 叙事创作技巧；最后，激励莫里森形成民族文化回归和认同的创作理念。 第四章：为结论部分。通过分析我们可以看出，非洲文化遗产对莫里森文 学创作的思路和理念产生了重要影响。通过她的文学作品，莫里森提出了对于非 洲裔美国人摆脱文化身份困境的新的见解：实现文化回归与文化认同，以确立其 在新世界中的身份并由此真正地融入现代社会。 关 键 词：关 键 词：托尼莫里森, 非洲文化, 文学创作, 影响, 文化回归和认同 论文类型：论文类型：研究报告 abstract iii subject: cultural return and identification: the impact of african culture on toni morrisons works specialty: english language and literature name: liu ting supervisor: zhang faxiang abstract cultural return and identification is a general response of rebelling modern society towards globalization. in the past 20 centuries, cultural root-seeking has developed into the most widely spread cultural renaissance movement, and therefore spawned a number of important cultural achievements. africa, as one of the cradles of human civilization, once gave birth to splendid egyptian civilization and rich cultural tradition. however, in todays world, afro-american culture is being marginalized because of the dominant white culture. this trend has aroused serious thinking in afro-american writers and has strongly encouraged them to maintain national history and traditional culture by literary creation. morrison is one of these writers who have achieved a lot. she devotes herself to maintaining and promoting black culture in her literary creation, making her works rooted so deeply in the unique african traditional culture and real life of afro-americans. for chinese readers, toni morrison (1931-) is no longer a strange name ever since she won the nobel prize for literature in 1993. her works, especially the unique cultural features of africa implied in her literary creation have attracted broad attention from critics at home and abroad. so far, morrison has created nine novels, all of which are well-received by the public and have won many honors. as an african american, morrison put sights on her national history and current status from the very beginning of her literary creation, and absorbed much from african traditional culture. it is obvious that african cultural tradition has produced great impact on her literary creation. in morrisons novels, through depicting african mythology, folklore, music and so on, the author shows readers not only special charm of colorful african culture, but her deep concern and thinking on the future of afro- americans as well. she, on the one hand, tries to delve into the history of black people. on the other hand, she aims to not only explore and reconstruct black culture and masters thesis of henan university of science and technology iv national consciousness, but also carry forward the spirit of black nationalism, thus encouraging afro-americans to seek identity in national culture. undoubtedly she understands that only by rooting in the african traditional culture, can black people find the true identity. actually, it is not very new to study toni morrison from a cultural point. but it is also true that not too much attention is paid to the research from the angle of african tradition as a whole on her three major works, especially the research about concrete influences of african culture on her literary creation. therefore, this paper tempts to challenge its difficulty and complexity. through analyzing the text, this essay attempts to offer a new angle to appreciate morrisons three novels sula, song of solomon, beloved and enrich their textual meanings; to make readers have more thoughts and enlightenments of african cultures; to find out the concrete impact of african culture on morrisons literary creation; to emphasize the importance and necessity for the contemporary african americans to realize the importance of their traditional culture in order to help find their identity in a whitened world; to widen the view of the research on morrison. this thesis consists of four chapters. chapter 1 will first give a brief introduction about toni morrison and her literary achievements, followed by relevant researches on morrison at home and abroad. chapter 2 will first make a brief review of sula, song of solomon and beloved, then introduce african traditional culture, mostly about myth and legend, music and naming, lastly followed by the specific embodiment of these cultural traditions in sula, song of solomon and beloved . chapter 3 is the most important part in this thesis. it aims to analyze the impact of african cultural tradition on morrisons literary creation, which can be summarized into three aspects: firstly, african culture provides a wealth of materials to morrisons literary creation; secondly, african culture promotes morrison to form a unique musical narrative in her creation; finally, african culture inspires morrison to establish her literary creative belief of pursuing cultural return and cultural identification. chapter 4 is conclusion. according to analysis, it is easy to conclude that african cultural heritages have a strong impact on her literary creation and literary philosophy. through her works, morrison proposes that realizing cultural return and identification abstract v is the only way for african-americans to escape from identity dilemma in order to establish their identity in the new world. key words: toni morrison, african culture, literary creation, impact, cultural return and identification thesis type: research report chapter one introduction 1 chapter one introduction 1.1 a brief introduction of toni morrison toni morrison (born chloe anthony wofford on february 18, 1931) is a nobel prize-winning american author, editor and professor. she is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary novelists and the first african-american writer to be so honored. 1.1.1 early life toni morrison was born in lorain, ohio, the second of four children in a working-class family. her parents moved to ohio from the south to escape racism and to find better opportunities in the north. as a child, morrison read constantly and she loved to read. her early favorites were the russian writers tolstoy and dostoyevski, french author gustave flaubert and english novelist jane austen. at that time storytelling (a method of later worked its way into morrisons writings), is a shared activity in her family. her parents would spend hours telling them terrifying ghost stories, and the children were encouraged to participate in it. in terms of music, her mothers family were all musicians. her grandfather was a violinist, her mother played in silent-movie theaters and sang everything from opera to jazz. throughout her childhood, she absorbed a number of folktales, myths and songs that had been important parts of african traditional culture for centuries. at lorain high school, morrison was an excellent student. after graduating with honors from high school in 1949, morrison entered howard university, one of the nations most prestigious black colleges. as a member of it, she toured deep south, where for the first time she witnessed what life was like for black people in the south. that was a crucial and impressive experience in tonis life, which influenced her writing fifteen years later. morrison received a b.a. in english from howard in 1953, then earned a m.a. also in english from cornell university in 1955, for which she wrote a thesis on suicide in the works of william faulkner and virginia woolf. after graduation, morrison became an english instructor at texas southern university in houston, texas (1955-1957) then returned to howard to teach english. masters thesis of henan university of science and technology 2 in 1958 she married harold morrison, a jamaican architect and worked at howard university. they had two children but divorced in 1964. after the divorce she moved to syracuse, new york, where she worked as a textbook editor. a year and a half later she went to work as an editor at the new york city headquarters of random house. as an editor, morrison played an important role in bringing black literature into the mainstream. she edited books by such authors as toni cade bambara, angela davis and gayl jones. especially she contributed a lot to design, edit, and produce the black book, published in 1974, which made her have a deep and comprehensive understanding about afro-american history and culture. 1.1.2 career and achievements morrison began writing fiction as part of an informal group of poets and writers at howard university who met to discuss their work. she went to one meeting with a short story about a black girl who longed to have blue eyes. the story later evolved into her first novel, the bluest eye (1970), which she wrote while raising two children and teaching at howard, was chosen as a selection for oprahs book club in 2000. in 1975, her novel sula (1973) was nominated for the national book award. her third novel, song of solomon (1977), brought her national attention. the book was a main selection of the book-of-the-month club, the first novel by a black writer to be so chosen since richard wrights native son in 1940. it won the national book critics circle award. in 1987 morrisons novel beloved became a critical success. when the novel failed to win the national book award as well as the national book critics circle award, a number of writers protested over the omission. shortly afterward, it won the pulitzer prize for fiction. beloved was adapted into the 1998 film of the same name starring oprah winfrey and danny glover. morrison later used margaret garners life story again in an opera, margaret garner, with music by richard danielpour. in may 2006, the new york times book review named beloved the best american novel published in the previous twenty-five years. ( scott, 2006: 68) in 1987, toni morrison was named the robert f. goheen professor in the council of humanities at princeton university. she became the first black woman writer to hold a named chair at an ivy league university. she taught creative writing and also chapter one introduction 3 took part in the african-american studies, american studies and womens studies programs. she also started her next novel, jazz, about life in the 1920s. the book was published in 1992. in 1993 morrison was awarded the nobel prize in literature, making her the eighth woman and the first black woman to do so. in 1996 the national endowment for the humanities selected morrison for the jefferson lecture, the u.s. federal governments highest honor for achievement in the humanities. morrisons lecture, entitled “the future of time: literature and diminished expectations,” began with the aphorism, “ time, it seems, has no future,” and cautioned against misuse of history to diminish expectations of the future. (morrison, 2008: 186) so far, morrison has created nine novels: the bluest eye (1970), sula(1973), song of solomon(1977), tar baby(1981), beloved (1987), jazz (1992), paradise(1998), love (2003) and a mercy(2008), all of which are well-received by the public and has won her many honors. her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed black characters. her works root deeply in the peculiar history, tradition, legends, and the lives of african americans. she offers a penetrating look at the trauma of african americans and scrutinizes the damaging impact of the dominant culture. she pushes the african american novels to a newer and higher standard both in thematic content and in the narrative skills. in her works, toni morrison has explored the experiences and roles of black women in a racist and male dominated society. with her complex and multi-layered narratives and the unique cultural inheritance of african-americans, morrison shows utmost concern for the identity of african americans. in her multiple roles as writer, editor, educator and scholar, morrison has consistently demonstrated her commitment to black literature and culture which established her place in the literary cannon as an afro-american woman writer. the nobel prize for literature described her as “a literary artist of the first rank”, one “who, in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of american reality” and one who “delves into language itself, a language she wants to liberate from the fetters of race”. (allen, 1997: 30) she became the first afro- american woman to appear on the cover of time magazine in jan. 19, 1998, because of her great achievements in literature. the 1993 nobel prize for literature marks not masters thesis of henan university of science and technology 4 only her personal triumph but also the recognition of the artistry of african american fiction and the black womans voice. in 2002, scholar molefi kete asante included toni morrison on his list of 100 greatest african americans. (asante, 2002: 35) 1.2 relevant researches on toni morrison since morrison was awarded the nobel prize for literature in 1993, she has become the focus in the western readers and critics. as a result, relevant researches about her and her works are increasing in large numbers. according to statistics, pqdd (proquest digital dissertations) included more than 300 dissertations before the year of 2000. (chen fachun, 2000: 5) by 2004, there had been about 120 doctoral dissertations about morrison studies in the west. (wang yukuo, 2006: 2) in 1988, beloved won the pulitzer prize for literature, marking morrisons literary achievement has been fully recognized by the u.s. mainstream literary world. in 1988-1993, many western scholars such as harold bloom, nellie mckay, wilfred samuels, doreatha mbalia, barbara rigney, trudier harris, started writing books to study morrison in depth. (du zhiqing, 2007: 4) in the west, feminism is always the theme of study on morrison. many famous scholars always focus their attention on feminism in their study on morrison such as hazel carby, carole davies, elizabeth cannon, aoi mori and so on. (du zhiqing, 2007: 123) even some scholars do their researches on morrison from the point of marxist critical theory, represented by richard schur, candice jenkin and chuck jackson. (124) despite a late start on morrison research in china, it is undeniable that the domestic audience has shown growing interest in her at present. her novels have become hot topics in studies on american literature. it is also true that in china， morrison had not received enough critical attention until she was awarded the nobel prize for literature in1993. a number of chinese scholars and researchers have began a systematic study of her works and have achieved certain results. some influential magazines such as foreign literatures，contemporary foreign literature, foreign literature review，foreign literature studies, world literature recent developments and so on, publish articles about her. the works of toni morrison: a survey，written by wang jiaxiang and published in foreign literatures，no.4，1988，may be the first article to introduce critical knowledge on morrison. wang shouren and wu chapter one introduction 5 xinyuns gender, race and culture: toni morrison and american black literature of the twentieth century is the first academic book about morrison (later produced revised edition in 2004). in this book, by analyzing morrisons novels, the authors try to make a comprehensive discussion and a thorough interpretation of morrisons literary thinking and artistic characteristics. this book marked a breakthrough and a new stage of morrison study in china. after wang shourens book, treatises about morrison develop very quickly and begin to bear fruit. pain and healing: a study of maternal love in toni morrisons fiction from a cultural perspective wrriten by zhu yingjie, published in henan university press, 2004, is a representative which aims to analyze morrison from the point of feminist and post-colonialism. mao dexins toni morrison: a super star of african-american literature, published in zhejiang university press, 2006, is a book focusing on morrisons literary creation. wang quans a lacanian reading of toni morrisons three novels, published in foreign languages press, 2006, may be the first to interpret morrison from lacanian theory. some scholars choose to make comparative researches between toni morrison and other black women writers, exampled by tang hongmeis race , gender and identity: