Reading The Bluest Eye From The Perspective Of Power And Discourse

in the history of American Literature, the study of minority literature becomes more and more popular and significant. According to Wang Jiaxiang, African American literature forms its existence more difficultly than any other national literature, but it turns out to be more successful and mature. Among the novelists, the first African-American female writer, Toni Morrison, deserves our attention. Her works describe about African-American females’living experiences, spiritual conditions and their values; moreover, they reveal how various African-American females make a survival and progress in the white people’s world. When literary discourse is related with Foucault’s theory of discourse and power, the literary work is endowed with deeper meanings, and the fates of characters are closely tied together with the fate and trend of an age. Therefore, this thesis intends to read Morrison’s first novel-The Bluest Eye with Foucault’s theory of power and discourse.Besides the introduction and the conclusion, this thesis is divided into three chapters.Chapter One reads the African-American females’helplessness under the pressure of the discourse of power. It is divided into two parts. Firstly, it displays their external helplessness when facing white people. Such as, Pauline cannot get her payments from the white woman, and Darlene not only has to bear the white men’s peeping desire, but also suffers Cholly’s humiliation. However, she takes everything for granted and suffers without complaints. Secondly, it shows the females’mental repressions and their struggles under the influence of the discourse of power. According to Freud’s theory of personality structure, id, ego and superego are always in constant conflict, so the African-American females’inner conflict, especially Claudia’s, Pecola’s and Pauline’s, mainly lie in how they handle the delicate relationships among id, ego and superego.Chapter Two studies how the courageous African-American females make their own voices and make a development in a world of the discourse of power. First of all, as a representative of young African-American females, Claudia has a doubt about the western standard of "physical beauty", and her Christmas wish for the black culture makes her alien from the western world. Moreover, her praise and liking to blues is more than a challenge to the discourse of power. Secondly, as an heir to black culture and blues, Mrs. MacTeer not only expresses her care for daughters, but also shows her love for homeless Pecola, which displays her unselfish devotion and support for the black race. Finally, as a representative of passing traditional southern black culture, the world of Aunt Jimmy is unique, from which we can see valuable quality and noble personality, as well as some mysterious traditional black custom and culture. In a sense, the nostalgia and mourning to Aunt Jimmy is a certain regression of traditional black culture and ethnic discourse.Chapter Three studies how the negative African-American females, such as Pecola, Pauline and Geraldine, lose themselves in the discourse of power. No matter at home, at school or at store, the discourse of power monitors Pecola’s "ugliness" all around like eagle eyes, so her desire for blue eyes gets so strong and urgent that it finally turns her to be the sacrifice of the discourse of power. Pauline changes dramatically after moving to the North, and finally becomes vassal and accomplice of the discourse of power. Geraldine crazily pursues the western standards and draws a definite line with the black people; however, she never belongs to the white people’s world.In the world of the discourse of power, they belong to a speechless race. The pessimistic and grieve African-American women convince themselves into accepting the fact and change themselves to cater for the demands of the discourse of power, so that they can be accepted; however, the strong and persistent African-American women resist the discourse of power and unite together to get the power of discourse belonging to their own race.