Stitching Up The Fragments Of Life: The Budding Of Womanism In Alice Walker's Meridian

Alice Walker is one of the most eminent writers in contemporary American literature.Published in 1976,Meridian is Walker?s second fictional work.The novel tells a story of black women?s development on their quest for wholeness within the social milieu of the Civil Rights movements extending from 1960 s to 1970 s.Since the very day of its publication,Meridian has aroused the attention of numerous critics and scholars whose research mostly focus on the thematic issues of the novel at the topsoil level,without touching its deeper soil,namely the construction of Walker?s womanist theory.Distinguished from the previous Meridian studies,my research intends to interpret the novel from the perspective of Walker?s womanist theory construction.By digging into the theme of the novel,that is,black women?s quest for wholeness,the thesis attempts to prove that the novel marks the budding of Alice Walker?s womanist theory.There are in total five parts constituting the thesis.The introduction part gives some information about Alice Walker?s life experiences,her major works(with special attention to Meridian),the previous Meridian studies,as well as Walker?s womanist theory.To be noted,it posits in the last section of the introduction that Walker?s womanist theory features by the following tenets: Anti-sexism,Anti-racism,Afro-centrism,and Humanism.Chapter One focuses on the fragmented life of the black women in Meridian,which reveals both in historical and realistic dimensions that black women have been suffering from their fragmented lives caused by the multiple oppression of sexism,racism and colorism etc.in the white patriarchal society.Chapter Two deals with black women?s quest for wholeness.To stitch up the fragments of their life,black women embark on the journey of quest to seek for the wholeness of their life.They manage to garner the strength from black culture and their own community,which complies with the core idea of Afro-centrism in Walker?s womanist theory.Equipped with such formidable strength,they are then courageous enough to walk out of home to fight against the oppression of sexism and racism.Their struggle is indubitably congruent with the tenets of Anti-sexism and Anti-racism which lie at the core of womanism.To move further to shatter the shackle of the stereotyped motherhood,they endeavor to redefine and reconstruct black motherhood.On the one hand,they have inherited from their maternal ancestors their creativity and their belief in animism,which instills into them an inspiring power on their quest.On the other hand,Meridian,as the representative of the emerging womanist fighter,struggles to broaden the definition of black mother by extending her love to more black children,nurturing their spirituality as their mother not biologically but humanistically.All of her deeds reveal the core idea of Humanism in Walker?s womanist theory.As a womanist fighter,Meridian has indeed made some achievements,which lies in not only her nurturing the spirituality of black kids but also her fighting for the spiritual survival of her people.By persuading her folks into participating in the vote,Meridian instills into them the power to utter their own voice for their survival not only materially but more important spiritually.The third chapter concentrates on the outcome of black women?s quest.It is observed that although they have embraced a primary triumph,there is still a long way ahead before their ultimate triumph,namely the wholeness of both themselves and the entire people.The last part is a conclusion,which reveals that in Meridian the nascent womanist ideas are steeped in the process of black women?s quest for wholeness,thus establishing the fact that the novel marks the budding of Alice Walker?s womanist theory.By employing the brand-new perspective of Walker?s womanist theory construction,the paper has effectively broadened the research field of the novel.