（英语语言文学专业论文）从妇女主义角度解读艾丽斯·沃克小说中的父亲形象.pdf

1 原创性声明原创性声明 本人声明兹呈交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下完成的研究成果。 论文写作中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写过的研究内容，如参考他人或 集体的科研成果，均在论文中以明确的方式说明。本人依法享有和承担 由此论文所产生的权利和责任。 学位论文作者签名： 日期： 学位论文版权使用授权声明学位论文版权使用授权声明 本人同意授权华侨大学有权保留并向国家机关或机构送交学位论文 和磁盘，允许学位论文被查阅和借阅。 论文作者签名： 指导教师签名： 签 名 日 期： 签 名 日 期： 1 abstract as the winner of the pulitzer prize for the novel the color purple, alice walker is a prolific writer with brilliant achievements in her novels, essays and poetry. walker, by addressing herslf a womanist writer, has never failed to show her concern for the male life, especially the father images, which are important roles in her novels. in the white supremacist patriarchy, the father plays a decisive role in society and in the family. for a black father, however, in the white dominated society, he cannot fulfill his social role according to the patriarchal code. so he vents his anger and frustration on his family members, which leads to the destruction of the relationship between the husband and the wife and of the relationship between the father and the children. consequently it would endanger the existence of the black people as a whole. in order to have a clear view of the images of father in walkers novels, the thesis studies her three different texts representing different times respectively: the third life of grange copeland (1970), the color purple (1982) and by the light of my fathers smile (1998). in these novels, we find that the images of father change over the time, while their importance in the family remains the same. walker is always concerned with the relationship between father and children. the thesis, from walkers womanist perspective, attempts to analyze the images of father in the three novels by studying the relationship between father and his white lord, the relationship between husband and wife, and the relationship between father and children so as to understand walkers criticism of the patriarchal system and her pursuit of the ideal father image. key words: alice walker; the images of father; womanism 2 摘要 摘要 因紫颜色而获得“普利策”奖的沃克是个创作力旺盛的作家，她在小说、 散文、诗歌创作都有骄人成绩。自称“妇女主义者”的沃克在探索女性解放独立 的道路上，也从未少关注过男性。应该说，父亲角色是沃克小说人物画廊里的重 要形象。在白人男性主宰的社会里，不论家庭事务还是社会事务，父亲都是有着 最终发言权的人物。但是，黑人父亲的情况有所不同。在白人主宰的社会中，由 于黑人父亲经济地位低下，不能实现自我的社会价值，他们难免将心中不满发泄 到家庭成员中，而破坏了夫妻、父子、父女关系，甚至危害到整个黑人种族的生 存状况，这或许是沃克关注父亲形象的重要原因。 本文选择了沃克的三部长篇小说格兰奇科普兰的第三次生命 （1970） ， 紫颜色 （1982）和父亲的微笑之光 （1998）对沃克小说中的父亲形象进行 分析和梳理， 。这三部作品反映了不同年代美国黑人的不同生活状态。沃克笔下 的父亲形象因时代不同有不同的思想性格，但有一点是肯定的，即身为父亲或拥 有“父权”话语的男性在家庭中有深远的影响。 本文借助沃克的妇女主义思想解读这三部小说的父亲角色， 梳理父亲与白人 雇主的关系，与妻子儿女的关系，并以此透视沃克对男权社会“父亲”的批判和 对理想“父亲”的期待的妇女主义思想。 关键词: 关键词: 艾丽斯沃克；父亲形象； 妇女主义 4 introduction alice walker (1944- ), an influential contemporary afro-american woman writer, has published eight collections of poetry, three collections of short stories and eight novels. walkers reputation rests mostly upon her novels. she has won the pulitzer prize for fiction and the national book award for her work the color purple (1982). walkers first novel, the third life of grange copeland (1970), chronicles the three generations of a sharecropping family of the copeland. this novel did not arouse much critical attention. however, meridian (1976), walkers second novel, affirms her status as a black woman writer. the story, set against the background of the civil rights movement, is a spiritual and political biography of a black woman, meridian hill. upon its publication, meridian has received favorable comments from the literary critics. marge piercy calls the book a “fine, taut novel that accomplishes a remarkable account”(winchell 1992:285). in 1982, walker accomplished her most well-known work the color purple, which is composed of many letters through which the protagonist celie finds her selfhood and new life against racial and sexual oppression. the temple of my familiar (1989) is an epic about a womans innumerable lives and experience from the prehistorical world to slavery in the united states. possessing the secret of joy (1992) reveals a womans spiritual trauma after a genital mutilation. in by the light of my fathers smile (1998), walker depicts how the troubled relationship is improved between father and daughter. since the publication of the color purple in 1982, there have been many famous collections of criticism on alice walker such as alice walker edited by harold bloom in 1989, alice walker written by donna haisty winchell in 1992, alice walker: critical and perspectives past and present edited by henry louis gates, jr., and k. a. 5 appiah in 1993, and alice walker: a critical companion by gerri bates in 2005. quite a few critics give attention to the main theme of womens plight and their struggle for survival and identity by focusing on the analysis of major female figures. there are some critics who are interested in walkers unique narrative style, such as the epistolary form in the color purple, and the scrapping forms in by the light of my fathers smile, which all symbolize the womans voice, not formal and not predominating as the patriarchal voice. generally, walker vividly portrays the african american womans life and depicts sexism, racism and poverty that make life a struggle. as a black woman writer, walker is mainly concerned with the black womens struggle for spiritual wholeness and sexual, racial, and political equality. to distinguish herself from a feminist, walker addresses her a “womanist” in one of her important collections of her own essays: in search of our mothers gardens, who is committed to “survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female” (walker 1983:xi). however, she is widely criticized for her negative portrayals of men in the color purple. literary scholars often link the color purple with walkers next two novels in an informal trilogy. celies granddaughter, fanny, is a major character in the temple of my familiar (1989), and the protagonist of possessing the secret of joy (1992) is tashi, the african wife of celies son. in walkers novel by the light of my fathers smile (1998), strong sexual and religious themes intersect in a tale narrated from both sides of the grave. the novel features a family of african american anthropologists whose journey to mexico is to study a tribe descended from former black slaves and native americans. one of the major themes of alice walkers fiction is the exploration of intra-family relationships. the maternal bond is, as walker has always reiterated, essential to the survival of black people, for through the bond black people can share 6 their cultural heritage and then restore their own racial identity. the mother is a symbol of creation and source of life, and mothers tales and quilts are symbols of black cultural roots and identity. but in walkers novels mothers both in the family and outside are usually deprived of a voice and of the room to create things. instead, they can do nothing but submit to their husbands and to the white people. as domineering figures in the families, most black fathers, negatively portrayed at the beginning of her novels, initially either ignore and abuse their wives and children or attempt to control them physically and mentally. therefore the negative portraiture of black fathers has incurred a lot of criticism. for instance, many critics think walker goes too far in portraying brownfield as a good-for-nothing black man. in these critics eyes, walker does not do justice to black men by not presenting the right image of them but giving a programmatic assault on them. walker responds that it is a shame she knows so many brownfields. besides, she points out that those who criticize her for her negative portrayal of brownfield fail to see the balance between grange and brownfield (tate 1983:177). it is true that fathers in walkers novels are far from being desirable, but it is by no means her ultimate aim to simply present the negative images of black fathers in her fiction. according to walker, her womanism is committed to the survival and wholeness of the entire people, male and female. so through the womanist reading of walkers works, we may avoid one-sided understanding of negative black father images in her novels. the criticism on the negative portraiture of fathers may well be given by male readers and critics from the patriarchal perspective, which is insufficient to cover the complexity of father images in walkers novels and fails to grasp the womanist concern of walkers writings. what walker is truly concerned about is not simply to criticize the evil deeds of fathers but to expose their evil sides so as to find their deep cause and to get 7 themselves out of the plight in the white dominated world. only when black men realize what is really responsible for their troubled life can they realize that their abusive behavior can by no means show their masculinity or male power. instead, they should undertake the burden of changing the adverse situation for black people. but to ones disappointment, some black fathers are trapped so deeply into the white supremacist patriarchal system of values and beliefs that they treat black women as inferior; they suffer from being isolated from both the white and black communities. as a result, the strength of black people would be too weakened to struggle for freedom and equality against the white people. this vicious cycle may well explain why walker so urgently voices her womanist concern for the survival whole of the entire people. from the brief review of walkers novels, we believe that, aside from tracing the maternal bond, walkers exploration of the paternal bond should not be ignored or denied. actually, family is a basic unit in society. in the patriarchal society, the father is the core of a family. and the family is a background on which children start cultivating their self-images, moral values, or rather their self-identity. as an enlightener, the father plays a decisive role in shaping childrens personality and social cognitive mode (hou jing 侯婧 2006). this can also be seen from walkers own experience. walkers relationship with her father can be described as the mixture of love and hatred, just like the complicated relationship from misunderstanding to reconciliation between father robinson and his two daughters in by the light of my fathers smile. walker loves her father, “a fat funny man with beautiful eyes and a subversive wit,” but views him “as a man with shortcomings, namely, sexismshe challenged her fathers system of values and beliefs. the two clashed for years until she left home to attend college. walker 8 later acknowledged that she had to reexamine herself for long periods in order to reconcile herself with her father. she had to realize that her father could not fathom the injustice of his attitudes. to him his actions were normal everyday life actions, not to be opposed. walker decided to focus on his other qualities that she loved about him, those things that were difficult to see when her attention was on his not seeing her as a person, not seeing her for who she was, seeing her only as a girl. when she focused on his good qualities and reached out to him as daughter to father, she embraced him warmly” (bates 2005: 4-5). in the patriarchal world, the father tends to see himself as “sky father”, who is supposed to be confident, aggressive, competitive and militant, the qualities required for a protector and an arbiter. he is interested in technology, fact, logic and decision. being cool-headed, accurate, attentive and aspiring for light and power, he denies the value of emotion, feeling, intuition and irrationality. he does not raise his children on the substantial level. instead, he gives his opposite side “earth mother” the kinship and the fostering duty characterized by being mysterious, boundless, prolific and intimate (coleman trans. by wang jun liu wencheng 1998:28-29). in walkers novels fathers usually act as or even attempt to be like sky father as decision-makers at home, while mothers acting as earth mother are restricted at home with cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. therefore when a father tries to utilize his patriarchal power to dominate his children, he is bound to meet with resistance from them. walker is interested in exploring the intra-familiar relationship, the relationship between father and daughter in particular, to show her womanist concern. through portraying the troubled relationship between father and his children, walker seeks an ideal father and an ideal relationship between father and his family. by exposing the weakness and flaws in the patriarchal mode in the family, walker strongly opposes the clear-cut roles of parents in the growth of children. she is very critical of patriarchal 9 fathers in the family, who damage both the family relationship and the development of children. as a female writer trapped in the ambivalent feelings of love and hatred for her father, walker acknowledges the indispensable role of a father in the family while she cannot be blind to so many evil consequences brought by a patriarchal father. therefore both in reality and in fiction walker has always been in pursuit of an ideal father figure. as bates notes that, “because walker felt that she was always in search of a father figure, she spent a few adult years reuniting and reconciling with him, affirming the father that she loved and admired. however, she understood him better after his death in 1973 than she had ever done while he was alive. her relationship with her father and her disdain of sexism appear thematically in her art and her political activism” (bates 2005: 5). in this thesis, i want to choose walkers three novels the third life of grange copeland, the color purple and by the light of my fathers smile to analyze the images of fathers from the womanist perspective so as to get a more inclusive and balanced view of black fathers and a deeper understanding of walkers womanism. the thesis is composed of five parts. part i serves as a brief introduction to walkers three novels and her womanism. in this part, the author of the thesis presents the major father figures in the novels and then briefly introduces walkers important womanist ideas. part ii traces the transformation of grange from the absent father to the responsible father in the third life of grange copeland. in this part the author of the thesis contrasts the evil impact of the absent father with the wholesome influence of the responsible grandfather. in part iii, two father figures in the color purple are chosen for close study to show the physical and psychological harm the abusive fathers have done to their family members. it also presents the positive influence of 10 the tender father on the son. part iv mainly explores the relationship between father and daughter in by the light of my fathers smile. in this part attention is given specially to the ideal father image and the ideal intra-familiar relationship according to walkers womanism. part v comes as the conclusion of the thesis. through the womanist reading of the father images in the three novels, it can be concluded that walker is not intended to attack black men by portraying these father images negatively. instead, what walker is really concerned about is to achieve a harmonious relationship among the black community, as her womanist concern is “survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female” (walker 1983:xi). 11 i. brief introduction to walkers three novels and her womanism before the textual analysis, it is necessary for me to have a brief introduction to the three novels i intend to cover in my thesis: the third life of grange copeland, the color purple and by the light of my fathers smile. walkers first novel the third life of grange copeland chronicles three generations of a black sharecropping family, the copelands, over a span of some four decades around from the year 1920 to the peak of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. by exploring the effects of poverty and racism on their lives, walker exposes how the copeland mens humanity and fatherhood are repressed and twisted in a white supremacist patriarchal society. grange, the father of the copeland family, indulges himself in alcohol and brutality to avenge the boredom of his sharecropping life. brownfield grows up in a family receiving no care or guidance from his father. in brownfields memory, his father has never shown him any love or concern a father is supposed to have for his son. instead, brownfield could only remember the neglect and violence of his father to his mother and to him and remember the fear and hatred in his father toward the white lord. as a result, his mother, anxious for love, turned out to be a loose woman, who even has an affair with the white lord. in such a family absent of a father role, brownfield does not have a model to follow. in turn he cannot live a straight life and accordingly seeks solace in alcohol and brutality as his father grange used to do. but walker does not end her story by portraying negative images of father. she continues her story by showing granges change. after an accidental encounter with a white woman, grange changes the view toward himself, toward the black and toward the white. he begins to admit his fault in his life and tries his utmost to make amends by caring and loving his granddaughter. but his son brownfield makes every attempt to intercede in granges 12 effort to raise ruth. brownfield takes custodianship over his daughter ruth but does not really want to take care of her as a father. out of his possessive desire and hatred to his father, br