A Study On The Reconstruction Of Black Women’s Subjective Consciousness In Naylor’s Novels From The Perspective Of Theory Of Space

Gloria Naylor is one of the most prominent African American women writers in contemporary society,known as the “Holy Trinity” with Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.Naylor’s works are rich in spatial dimensions and link spatial writing to her marginal identity as an African American woman writer,thereby deeply reproducing the social oppression and unequal power relations in everyday practices and discourses as reflected in spatial locations and margins.This thesis attempts to outline the journey of reconstruction of black women’s subjective consciousness in Naylor’s tetralogy from the spatial perspective of Lefebvre,trying to reveal the survival situation of black women under the spatial representation of racism and patriarchy,highlighting the struggle and resistance of black women in the process from the loss of subjective consciousness to reconstruction in the spatial perspective,and showing the hardships and efforts of black people to survive and dream.This thesis is divided into three chapters in addition to an introduction and a conclusion.The first chapter illustrates the discipline and oppression experienced by Black women in the racial and patriarchal representations of space,resulting in the loss of Black women’s subjective consciousness and their becoming the “Other” and the“silenced” in the racial and patriarchal representations of space.The second chapter illustrates the role of the representational spaces “home” and “house” in facilitating the awakening of black women’s subjectivity.It attempts to clarify how black women’s dialectical perceptions of “unhomely home” and “a house of their own” have led to an awakening of their sense of self-rebellion and self-independence.The third chapter illustrates the reconstruction of black women’s consciousness of ethnic culture and consciousness of national community through a series of spatial practices,which are manifested in black women’s inheritance and promotion of black Patchwork Quilt culture,reconstructing consciousness of ethnic culture,and dismantling of the “wall” of race and gender dichotomy,reconstructing consciousness of the national community.This thesis argues that space is a production of power,embodying a complex relationship between power,ideology,sense of subjectivity,etc.In Naylor’s tetralogy,we see the writing of power by race and patriarchy under the representation of space,as well as the black women who inhabit the space of representation,using it as a space of dynamic resistance to give voice to their own subjective consciousness and rights.It also sees these women crossing different spatial boundaries and engaging in active spatial practices to reconstruct the consciousness of ethnic culture and national community.Naylor’s works both reflect the power relations within the space and show us the hardships and efforts of the entire black women’s community in this space to reconstruct their own subjects under oppression,while also displaying their wisdom and courage.