Loss And Reconstruction Of The Black Women's Identity

Toni Morrison(1931-)is a black American female writer in the 20~thh century and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993.In her novel Sula,Morrison takes root in traditional black culture and focuses on revealing the survival situation of black women under racial discrimination and gender oppression.At present,scholars at home and abroad have made a variety of studies about this novel.These studies are much concerned with the analysis of the characters,especially Sula;the analysis of the themes,such as the theme of female growth and the theme of pursuit of self;the examination of writing skills,etc.Reseachers interpret the novel with the guidance of black feminist theory,archetypal criticism,psychoanalytic theory and so on.This paper tries to apply postcolonial feminist theory to analyzing the particularity of black female identity,so as to show readers the manifestation and causes of their identity loss and the ways to construct identity.The body part is made up of three chapters.The first chapter discusses the manifestation of the black women's identity loss.Black women aredeprived of human rights.In Medallion,the black have long been enslaved due to racial discrimination.The black have been accustomed to the discrimination and lost the rebellious spirit.As a result,the black lose dignity,let alone the same equality as the white.Black culture is also inferior viewed by white people and consequently they strive to exclude black culture.To integrate into the mainstream society,the black internalize white culture and deviate from their own ethnic culture.In patriarchy,black women are unable to get out of patriarchal thoughts.In the white-dominated society,black men's pursuit and realization of male power are hindered,so they change from the oppressed to the oppressors.They aim to regain the power by marrying docile women and sexually conquering them.The old black women internalize patriarchal thoughts and instill them into the younger ones in purpose so as to help men to control women.The second chapter discusses the causes of the black women's identity loss.The black have been regarded as an inferior group since they were sent to the American continent.The inferior status of blacks inhibits their economic development.Not only do the black get no social help,but also they have no opportunity to improve their economic situation because of the restrictions on employment and education.The black are excluded from the mainstream society.Under the influence of white cultural hegemony,the black deny their own ethnic culture and look down upon themselves and their compatriots.It is this kind of intra-racial discrimination that incurs their hatred for themselves and others and become psychologically distorted.Influenced by patriarchal ideology,black men engender hatred for black women in order to reduce their sense of powerlessness.Moreover,black women also hate black men.This twisted social cultural context prevents the women from recognizing themselves.These constitute the causes of their identity loss.The third chapter discusses the problem of reconstructing the black women's identity.The awakening of self-consciousness is vital for identity reconstruction.Only by daring to resist racial discrimination can the women regain dignity,equality and self-independence.The reconstruction of black women's identity is inseparable from the distinctive black culture.Black women will not get lost in white culture and can establish the unique racial identity only by adhering to black culture.In patriarchal society,regainning female subjecivity is the prerequisite of women's identity reconstruction.Hence,faced with sexual oppression,black women endeavor to pursue sexual freedom,thereby regaining physical autonomy and getting rid of the identity of sex object.They also aim to achieve economic independence through their own efforts.Besides,they strive to establish a harmonious relationship within two genders.They have realized that the identity problem caused by patriarchy can be effectively solved only by pursuing the help and love of men and the harmonious coexistence with men.Though black women experienced setbacks and failures in the course of rebuilding identity,they have never ceased to make efforts and struggle.