From Confusion To Awakening:a Study On African-American Poet Phillis Wheatley’s Identity Transformation

As one of the earliest black poets in America, Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) was known as " the mother of Black Literature in North America". She was also the first published African-American poet and the first African-American woman whose writings were published. The1773publication of Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral brought her fame, with famous figures such as American President George Washington and famous politician Benjamin Franklin praising her works."Phillis Wheatley became the most famous African on the face of the earth." Famous ideologist Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend.In America, Phillis Wheatley and her poems have been virtually ignored by scholars of American literature but fortunately the important position of the poet and her poems in the history of American literature is gradually recognized by American scholars in recent decades. The reseach about her and her poems has entered a new stage and many important essays and research results have been presented to the public. However, in China, it’s regretful that such an important figure has not been valued by Chinese scholars. There has been no Master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation in China’s academia and even no translated version of Phillis Wheatley’s poems by now. Such a situation is unsuited to her important position in the history of American literature. Therefore, this thesis will focus on the poet and her poems in order to remedy the regret of our country’s research. This thesis will start from analyzing in depth of Phillis Wheatley’s identity transformation process and its embodiment in her poems to reveal how she explored the way for African-Americans to get self-emancipation and self-development. The concrete research contents are as follows:the thesis’author will analyze Phillis Wheatley’s "White-washing" brought by the influence of education, culture and religion; how she experiences the conflicts and challenges caused by her special identity in mainstream culture; how she gradually awakens, fights for freedom and returns to be a real African-American. This thesis argues that her way not only inspires the contemporary African-Americans but also the construction of a multi-national society.