An Analysis Of Womanism In By The Light Of My Father's Smile

Alice Walker is a well-known African-American female writer in the contemporary literary world.She pays close attention to the black women's living condition under the patriarchal system.She also reveals women's oppression deeply.In the preface to In Search of Our Mother's Gardens(1983),Alice Walker coins the word "womanist" and indicates that womanist is different from feminist,thus directs a way to the construction of harmonious relationship among people.Womanism,as the core of Walker's thoughts,has prevailed in each of her books.By the Light of My Father's Smile is the novel written by Walker in 1998.It continues with her womanist thoughts in the creation of novel in the earlier stage,yet adds something new to it.In the novel,Alice Walker moves forwardly to criticize the oppression that American black women suffered by black patriarchal system and explore the theme of the entire black race's harmonious wholeness.This paper will explain the womanism in By the Light of My Father's Smile from three aspects: black women's oppression in the black patriarchal culture,the resistance of black women and their recovery of wholeness.The introduction part introduces Alice Walker and her work By the Light of My Father's Smile as well as her womanism.Furthermore,the literature review.The first part describes the women who suffer patriarchal oppression and control.Mother's generation and daughter' generation hold different attitudes towards patriarchal oppression.Secondly,it analyzes the process of black women's struggle against theoppressions.The elder daughter expresses her hatred to her father through controlling her body and living an asexual life,while the younger daughter seeks for liberation through lesbianism.The third part discusses the recovery of wholeness.By analyzing the process of black women's struggle,we can conclude that the black men's recovery plays an indispensable role in black women's liberation.In conclusion,it conveys that when both the black women and black men recover themselves,it could build harmonious gender relationships and racial relationships,which expresses the Alice Walker's womanist ideas that the entire black race can gain harmonious wholeness.In a word,through the analysis of black women's oppressions,resistance and the final liberation,it concludes that black men's liberation and black women's liberation are very important,and with black people's recovery,the black race can get the recovery and survival.This idea expresses the author's equal concerns for black race and the concerns for the whole humans.