Trauma And Recovery:the Construction Of Black Woman's Subjectivity In Toni Morrison's Beloved

Toni Morrison is one of the greatest figures in contemporary American literature. In1993, she was awarded the Noble Prize for literature. This brilliant achievement marked the international recognition of African-American fiction a new era in literature. Her fifth novel, Beloved, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in1988. Since its publication in1987, it has attracted a great deal of attention. It is a story about love, history, black people, especially black women. Morrison depicts Sethe, the black female slave, as an example of the black women to tell a slave mother's painful experience under slavery system. From the viewpoints of black women, Morrison deeply explores the relationships between the black women with the whites, with the other black women and with the black community. She points out that the black women should not discard their selfhood or deviate from their own cultural root in the pursuit of self-identity. This thesis tends to analyze the traumatic experience which Sethe has gone through, including her suffering in the Sweethome, her deprivation of maternal love and her psychological trauma caused by her daughter, Beloved's possessive demand of love. However, Sethe has never given up the hope to survive the miserable life. She struggled to recover from the trauma and to construct her self-identity. She made efforts to defend her maternal right under the severe slavery system to construct her maternal identity. Then through the process of setting up stable relationships with other people, she realized her value as a human being. And by telling the horror past which hidden deeply in her heart, she can face up to the horrible memories bravely. Therefore, Sethe finally achieved the construction of her subjectivity as a black woman. Through the analysis, the thesis shows the construction of black women's subjectivity depends on the black women's facing up to the past, their correct understanding of maternal love and their union with the black community.This thesis will be conducted in four parts.Chapter One is a brief introduction of the achievements of Morrison's novels, the content of Beloved, focusing on the plot, the source and the literature reviews.Chapter Two analyses Sethe's psychological trauma caused by the cruel slavery system, by the deprivation of maternal love and by the excessive offering of love to Beloved to make up the infanticide of her daughter. The trauma caused by all these aspects is the reason of the absence of Sethe's subjectivity.Chapter Three shifts to analyze Sethe's active efforts to recovery from the psychological trauma and the final construction of subjectivity. The first part analyzes her efforts to construct her maternal identity with the raising consciousness of being a human and a mother. The tragic fate of Paul A and her husband Halle made her realize the real plight of the black people to be a human, and thus run for her life to the north state. Moreover, the oppression by the white owner, Schoolteacher, stimulated her courage to defend her maternal right. Sethe tried pretty hard to defend her maternal right of reproduction and breeding and to protect her children from being slaves again. Sethe's courageous and resolute consciousness of protecting her maternal rights represents her strong efforts to construct her maternal identity which is an important part of women's self-identity. The next part is analyzing Sethe's efforts to construct her subjectivity by setting up stable relationships with others and the black community as well as by retelling the horror past memories. In this novel, Morrison shows how important the sisterhood is for the black women to gather strength and realize self-worth. At the same time, the past, which refers to the black people's traumatic experience in the history of slavery and racial violence, is essential for the black people to face up to and get out of the dark shadow of the past to strive for a better future. Therefore, by recalling and retelling the past memories, Sethe realizes the true reasons which caused her trauma and thus realizes her self-value as a human being, and finally constructs her subjectivity.Chapter Four is a conclusion shows that Morrison conveys a message that African-American women can construct their subjectivity through active efforts and persistence. That is, they must learn self-worth and then to struggle for their self-independence; they must seek recovery from the past and face the history bravely; they must recognize the importance of the black community and sisterhood, and finally to protect the black culture. According to Morrison, the construction and completion of the black women's subjectivity can be a powerful weapon for the solidarity of the black people to strive for their rights and improve their social status. Through the process of Sethe's construction of subjectivity, Morrison encourages and inspires all black women and similar suppressed groups to fight for true equality and freedom.