| As a great African American writer,Maya Angelou is one of the most important representatives of modern African American literature owing to her great achievements.I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is her first autobiographical novel.In this work Angelou recalled her growth experience from the age of three to seventeen.Living in the southern town of Stamps in the 1940 s,Angelou not only struggled with the accompanying dislocation and insecurity,but also faced a series of oppressions such as racism,sexual harassment and rape,which seriously affected her life.However,with the help of people around,she finally realized that loving herself,being kind to others,becoming strong,and reading great works were keys to unlocking the shackles of the mind and freeing people from the oppression.Merleua-Ponty is praised as the greatest phenomenologist of France.Phenomenology of body is the core of his phenomenology of perception,which states that being in the world is a corporeal being in the world.On the basis of this unique thought of being in the world,Merleau-Ponty constructs his concept of body subject.Body subject has many aspects,such as space,time and expression.As a subject in the world,body subject is also an involved and practical subject.When the body is abnormal,the person may also be abnormal.This thesis tries to analyze Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from the perspective of Merleua-Ponty’s phenomenology of body,including the unity of body and soul,body’s perception field,the body as object,the body as expression and the relationship with other bodies.By means of analyzing all the texts in the novel which mention the protagonist’s body,this thesis aims to discuss what leads to Angelou’s body sickness,how her body sickness causes her failure in recognizing herself and constructing her identity and how she finally saves herself and makes a new achievement in her career through communication with her body,with other’s body and with bodies as parts of the black group. |
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