（英语语言文学专业论文）《秀拉》中黑人女性心理初探.pdf

vi 摘 要 托尼莫里森是世界上最著名的黑人女性作家。她的处女作最蓝的眼睛 （1970） 建立了她崭新的身份。自从莫里森发表秀拉以来，她得到了众多批评家和读者的关 注。凭借独特的视角和精湛的叙述技巧，她在美国黑人文学界越来越受欢迎。1993 年莫 里森幸运地获得诺贝尔奖。尽管小说秀拉算不上她最出色的作品，然而也是其成功 作品之一。 秀拉获得了国家图书批评奖。莫里森深入到黑人女性的真实生活中，以 其完美的写作技巧展现了黑人女性的心理发展过程。 本论文从贫穷和种族歧视两个角度尝试性地分析小说秀拉中几个黑人女性的心 理发展过程。论文深入到真实的生存环境中去，旨在让读者认识到黑人女性从心理混乱 到觉醒的变化过程。文中详细地解释了在物质贫穷和种族歧视的大环境下，黑人女性心 理变化的原因和表现。 总体来说，全文共分为三部分，包括引言，主体和结论。引言部分不仅简要介绍了 托尼莫里森本人和其作品秀拉 ，而且总结了国内外文学界关于本小说的文献和评 论。另外，引言还揭示了本学术论文的可行性和意义所在。 主体部分的三个主要章节分别从以下三个角度来研究小说秀拉中的黑人女性心 理： 第一章叙述贫穷压力下的黑人女性的扭曲心理。 底部的经济贫困给黑人女性带 来心理困境甚至导致女性永久的心理创伤。由于贫穷和愚昧，拥有最伟大的奉献精神的 黑人母亲为了生存而挣扎。寻求经济独立和个人价值的实现是她们的最终目的。 第二章分析了种族歧视造成黑人女性心理变化的原因和表现。 黑人女性不仅遭受白 人的身体污辱和非正常的母爱表现方式带来的绝望， 而且备受折磨于孩子们令人不满的 生活态度。 黑人女性的沮丧，困惑和不能抹去的创伤影响了她们的一生。 第三章展现了黑人女性人物从困惑到觉醒的心理过程。 因为贫穷与种族歧视的双重 压力， 黑人女性受到家庭创伤， 身份创伤甚至性别创伤， 她们创造的平等社会名存实亡。 男性权力的缺失以及孩子们的误解，黑人母亲一度绝望和沮丧。但是，尽管备受众多不 可言说的创伤折磨，黑人女性凭借其坚强和乐观的精神仍然生存于白人主流社会。被动 接受白人文化和明智地选择经济独立和性自由以及实现真我， 给予美国的所有黑人女性 一个充满希望的未来。 vii 结论部分讲述了黑人女性寻求身份的伟大精神。本节指出秀拉的写作目的和黑 人女性挣扎于异族社会的深远意义。众所周知，黑人女性的奋斗最终成功，她们在生活 中收获了奉献与自信带来的喜悦。总之，本小说在某种程度上展示了黑人女性乐观的生 活态度以及寻求自我的清晰画面。 关键词：关键词：黑人女性 心理扭曲 创伤 困惑 觉醒 iv abstract toni morrison is the most famous black woman writer in the world. her maiden work the bluest eyes (1970) has established her new identity. since the publication of sula(1973), morrison has received attention of many critics and readers. with unique perspectives and perfect narrative skills, she becomes more and more popular in american black literature. fortunately she received the nobel prize in 1993. although sula is not her best work, yet it is one of her successful novels. the novel sula won the national book critics award. morrison probes into the true life of black women and exhibits psychological state of several black women with perfect narrative skills. the thesis from two aspects of both poverty and racial discrimination tentatively analyze the psychology developed process of several black women in sula. it probes into the true life conditions and let readers acknowledge that black womens psychology develop from confusion to wake up. detailed explanation of why and how black womens psychology develops under the environment of poverty and racial discrimination has been narrated in this paper. in general, this paper concludes three important sections, as introduction, main chapters, and conclusion. introduction not only depicts a simple analysis of toni morrison and her novel sula, but also concludes the review and comment on this novel come from both domestic and overseas literature areas. besides, it exposed the feasibility and meaning of this academic paper. three main chapters study the novel from three points of view: the first chapter narrates the afro-american womens twisted psychology influenced by poverty. underneath the economic poverty in bottom, terrible mental state as well as unforgettable trauma finally happens on black women. with the economic poverty and ignorance, black mothers bestowed the greatest sacrificial spirit struggle for life. seeking economic independence and personal value seem to be their final aim. the second chapter explains why and how racial discrimination takes dreadful psychology changes of black women, who suffer from physic insult of the whites and v desperation of abnormal maternal ways as well as childrens unsatisfactory attitude toward life. obviously, black women depression and trouble with unforgettable trauma do affect their whole lives. the third chapter shows the mental develop process of the woman figures from destructive confusion state to wise choice. because of double oppression of poverty and racial discrimination, black women with family trauma, identity trauma and even sexual trauma create their unexcited equal world. with the emotional trauma of males powerless state and misunderstanding of children, black women ever were desperate and troubled. but fortunately, although the being of unspeakable traumas, most black women with strong and optimistic spirits still live in the white mainstream society. negative accepting of white culture and wise choices of economic freedom and sexual independence as well as being true self give rise to the bright and hopeful future of the whole black women in america. the conclusion part narrates black women great spirit of pursuing identity freedom. it states the aim of morrisons novel and the profound meaning of black womens struggle in strange society. it is known that these afro-american women are successful at last, and they receive the happiness of both sacrifice and confidence spirit in the life. in one word, this novel shows a clear picture of optimistic attitude toward life and self-seeking in a way. key words: black women twisted psychology trauma confusion wake up iii 学位论文原创性声明 学位论文原创性声明 本人所提交的学位论文 a tentative study of black womens psychology in sula， 是在 导师的指导下， 独立进行研究工作所取得的原创性成果。 除文中已经注明引用的内容外， 本论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。 对本文的研究做出重 要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中标明。 本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 论文作者（签名） ： 指导教师确认（签名） ： 年 月 日 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书 学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解河北师范大学有权保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交学 位论文的复印件和磁盘，允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权河北师范大学可以将学位论 文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或其它复制手段保 存、汇编学位论文。 （保密的学位论文在 年解密后适用本授权书） 论文作者（签名） ： 指导教师（签名） ： 年 月 日 年 月 日 1 introduction toni morrison (1931- ) is considered to be the most famous black woman writer in the world. her novels with the reproduction of life of black women have historic significance in the american literature. black literature is the necessary part of american literature. morrison has established a new identity in american literature. she argues the independence of her nation and that its own literature is not only important in american literature, but also in world literature. her novels written from a new perspective of her true life experience are the best representative of black females in america. as a black woman writer, morrison could have a better understanding of the relations between gender, race and culture. morrison aims to construct a new world where is with equal race and harmonious integrated culture. with the true experience of a black woman and unique narrative techniques, toni morrison portrays the black womens self-seeking in the slit and struggle for the destiny, and fortunately she has got great success. since the maiden work the bluest eyes was published in 1970, morrison has written many works with awards, for example, the sula (1973), which got the he national book critics award; song of solomon (1977) received national book critics circle award and also at the same year morrison got american academy and institute of arts and letters award; tar baby (1981), beloved (1987) with american book award as well as pulitzer prize for fiction; jazz (1991), paradise (1998) and love (2003), etc. morrison fortunately got the nobel prize for literature in 1993 and national humanities medal in 2000. morrison has also written some critical articles, for example, “playing in the dark: witness and the literary imagination” in race-ing justice, en-gendering power: essays on anita hill, clarence thomas, and the construction of social reality (1992), which illustrates the difficulties of black women writers underneath the dark environment of economic poverty, racial discrimination and identity-loss. her second novel sula successfully figures several black women of distinct personalities and narrates black womens twisted and traumatic psychology influenced by the poverty as well as racial discrimination. black females suffer from the poverty and its consequent ignorance, as their illiteracy and unawareness of identity, both of which make them hold the 2 belief that bottom is the best land under heaven, actually bottom is barren, infertile and impoverished. with painful perplex, confusion, black females struggle for life and fortunately they get success at last. underneath both oppression of economic poverty and racial discrimination, black females pursue economic freedom, gender freedom and self-identity. the blacks are forced to give up their own identity and to negate their native culture under distorted culture environment. black females hardly choose between family and society as well as identity. afro-american females bestowed with strong and optimistic spirits are badly influenced by the males powerless and irresponsibility, they were ever frustrated and depressed; however, with the aim of economic freedom and racial equality, they difficultly struggle for life and do not collapse. bravery, independence as well as freedom provide them a hopeful future. the aim of sula is to celebrate the free spirit of black females in seeking freedom. through her novels, toni morrison always try to create a world with the aim of anti-racialism, her main characters-black men-under the authority domineering, although someone have lost themselves, the whole race holds ground of their own racial and cultural value. chinese writers as wang shouren and wu xinyun study morrisons minds about relationship between race, gender and culture in gender, race and culture: toni morrison and american black literature of the twentieth century (2004); in gender, race and culture: toni morrison and american black literature of the twentieth century, which aims to explain the interweaving of history, fate and mental world and black females psychology influenced by complicated relations of white culture and black culture. with its new content, pertinent explanation, penetrating analyze, this book shows morrisons contribution to american literature. besides, there is also a series of academic paper study the motherhood of sula, as guo juans paper “the distorted and the repressed on the motherhood in toni morrisons novels”(2004); “deformed motherhood in toni morrisons the bluest eye, sula and song of solomon”(2006) by xv hongxia, etc, which illustrates the abnormal maternal love in morrisons novels. many critical works from different perspectives as postmodernism, black feminism, reader response critic, etc. study the novel sula. for example, xue yuxius the interpretation of sula from the feminism perspective: comments on the image of sula. 3 (2004)with the explanation of toni morrisons feminism as well as love for her nation, this book explores the particular circumstances of black women and their awakening. sula with feminism describes a series of black females deeds against tradition and morality. critical works in the aspect of morrisons writing skills as marc c.conners the aesthetics of toni morrison: speaking the unspeakable, wang shuyans “the narrative art of anti-simplification in sula” (2008), etc. sula is a good novel as “remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of social order and for the healing of individual victims”. 1 as is known, trauma might give rise to psychology twisting. the reader of sula often feels resonate “by extension, the listener to trauma comes to be a participant and a co-owner of the traumatic event: through his very listening, he comes to partially experience trauma in himself.”2sula records a series of unspeakable traumas interweaving both racial justice and gender power, including abnormal ways of maternal love and twisted psychology. black female figures have been tortured by the white peoples debase. they had become depressed and twisted by the poverty as well as traumatic in psychology by racial discrimination; however, psychology process from confusion to waking up should be paid attention. the majority of scholarship on mothers focuses on the experiences of women who fit the dominant cultural ideas of white, middle class, heterosexual, and married; little attention has been paid to the psychology of the black females, especially the mothers whose characteristics and personalities are deeply influenced by the social discrimination including racial discrimination and sexual discrimination, and their trauma is also caused by poverty. in this paper, the traumas of the female characters are exposed and explained clearly from several aspects. it tries to analyze the spirit of daring to pursue freedom of black women and the reasons of their mental trauma according to the historic and social environment. dubois said that the poor live enough hard, while in this money society they have been oppressed down the low status. this analyze helps the reader to understand the mental actions of the women victims in that white mainstream society. generally this paper concludes five parts. firstly, a brief introduction of toni morrison and her literary works, concluding sula, literature review from both domestic and abroad construct a base for this study. the first chapter illustrates the females mental dilemma 4 influenced by poverty, their life conditions is badly influenced by poverty, black females ignorance really troubles themselves. males irresponsibility, racial exploit and oppression both leave the unforgettable trauma in their memory. the second chapter explains the racial discrimination strongly affects the female figures psychological development with the white peoples harassment and degrades their identity being the black. morrison speaks high of sulas bravery and seeking-self. the third chapter shows the mental process from confusion to waking up. most of black women with emotional trauma live a harder life than before and try to be strong to seek self. conclusion to the paper serves the black womens hard road of seeking identity eventually brightens their future. this thesis with three chapters has three purposes: first, it proves that afro-american women are living a harder life than the white women, their stress is much stronger than the black men or white women; second, it analyses the reasons of the black females psychology difficulty in this white mainstream society, such as from the three aspects of economic conditions, racial discrimination and sexual discrimination to illustrate the females dilemma mental world; third, it better shows the black women author toni morrisons excellent write skills to let the reader have a clear understanding of her intention to the dream of letting black be equal with white race. while in this paper, the author gives equal importance to each chapter and every explanation of the reason is true to reflect the reality. it is not correct to say which part is more important than another. the social influence is hard to distinguish. the three reasons of poverty, racial discrimination and sexual discrimination strongly affect the black females mental actions and even cause their trauma and destroy their whole life. 5 chapter one womens twisted psychology influenced by poverty womens psychology shaped by poverty is full of strong and sacrificial spirit. the psychology process and state seem to be ambiguous. throughout the history of the united states, the relationship between white supremacy and male superiority has characterized the black womens reality as a situation of struggle to survive in two contradictory worlds simultaneously, one white, privileged, and oppressive, and the other black exploited, and oppressed. 3 contrast to white women with privilege, black females is really been exploited and oppressed. toni morrison gives the reader a landscape of black community where the black women live a hard and tough life. they could only do the low paid work and their husbands are always unavailable to support the family. the males are absent in the family. women under this hard condition are struggling by their strong will to survive. in that environment women have lost freedom to pursue their own happiness. some women show their strong character in the life. although they face several kinds of difficulties such as the husbands escape, childrens illness, white mens ridicule, they choose to be silent to resolve the problems by themselves. in one word, afro-american women are living a much harder life than the white women. their psychological pain is always out of peoples expectation. in order to obtain their own rights and support their children, some women are tempered by the hardships to have steely wills. in sula morrison has successfully depicted different female figures that are with multiple personalities. this novel vividly reproduces the hard struggle life of the black women. the peace women (eva, hannah and sula) express their awareness to self-seeking, but they finally cannot get away from the patriarchy binding. morrison depicts the multiple mental aspects of the female characters in sula. they help the whole community develop well in the historic way. the african american parents often want their children to do better than they have. black women are struggling with their hard life to provide their children with a better future. 6 the parents want to be supportive of their children in reaching this goal as being economic, academic and career successful. a. black females troubled personality under materialistic poverty at the very beginning of the novel, the narrator presents the blacks inhabitant “bottom”, on the top of a mountain, which is obviously barren not apt to the crops growing, the earth drift easily and even the seeds are often flushed down the hillside, in winter the cold wind threaten the blacks life. bottom is a community of economic poverty. blacks live here is impoverished .the unproductive land cannot provide them foods. because of extreme low status in the society, black males own few job chances in the society and they have lost the confidence of being the pillar of the whole family; they cannot support the wife and his children, so they esca