A Study On The Black Mother-Daughter Relationship In Beloved

Beloved is one of the representative works of the American black woman writer,Toni Morrison.Through describing the tragic experiences of black mothers and daughters,the book reproduces the physical and mental trauma brought by the slavery system to black women in the United States.At present,domestic and foreign studies on this work mainly focus on the structural characteristics,narrative mode,African traditional culture,symbolic significance and maternal love and other perspectives,but insufficient attention is paid to the mother-daughter relationship.The author believes that the relationship between mother and daughter is a very important group of character relations,which directly relates to the understanding and development of textual meaning.Therefore,this paper intends to interpret the black mother-daughter relationship in Beloved with the help of critical theories such as neo-historicism,feminism and psychoanalysis,in an attempt to discover the profound historical and cultural roots of black women's misfortune.The thesis consists of four chapters.Chapter one analyzes the research status of Beloved at home and abroad and the purpose,significance and framework of this paper.Chapter two analyzes the forced separation of black mothers and daughters during the slavery period in America and points out that colonialism,racism and patriarchy are the main reasons for the separation of black mothers and daughters.Chapter three analyzes the conflicts between the mother and daughters in Beloved after the abolition of slavery.The author believes that social status and the difference in cultural values between black mother and daughter is an important reason for the tension between the black mother and daughters in the novel.Chapter four focuses on the self-salvation of black mothers and daughters in the novel and points out that the key to the improvement of black mother-daughter relationship lies in facing up to the history,inheriting the black cultural tradition,and striving to find self in the white mainstream society.In conclusion,the author points out that racism,patriarchy and cultural differences are the root causes of the tragedy of black mother and daughter in Beloved.Black women should support and understand each other in the society ofracism and patriarchy.The mother should play the role of cultural inheritance.The daughter should take the initiative to understand the mother's experience and black history,and advocate the dominant position of women in the white mainstream society,which is the proper meaning of the author Morrison's advocacy of black women's resistance to the white mainstream culture and patriarchy.