Study On Black Cultural Heritage In The Color Purple

Alice Walker and her masterpiece The Color Purple played an important role in contemporary American literature.She devotes herself to the emancipation of black community,especially the emancipation of black females.The ultimate goal of Womanism,a term proposed by Walker,aims at the liberation of the entire black community,including both black males and females,as well as harmony of the entire human society.In her novels she deals with topics such as racial prejudice against black women in a patriarch society that holds everything against women,and such double shackles imposed on women which prevent them from recognizing their predicament and persecution they suffer.This thesis is devoted to a detailed exploration of the unique black cultural heritage and its significance in The Color Purple.Through the analysis,the thesis aims to explore how Afro-American women in a biased white society depend on their own national culture and seek spiritual and physical liberation as well as independence.Meanwhile,it is also enlightening for the countries and nations of today to explore why it is so essential and how to keep their national culture alive in a world of diverse cultures.Most importantly,she points a way out for black women who are under the shackles of double oppression from their gender and race,by draining inspiration and power from black cultural heritage,the black women were able to achieve the liberation for themselves,and even the black race in the U.S.as a whole.From a cultural perspective,this paper attempts to focus on the important elements of black cultural heritage,such as black religion,black sisterhood and black music,which are reflected in the novel,and to explore the important role of black cultural heritage on the liberation of black women.This paper argues that Alice Walker,through her exploration and description of the black cultural heritage in her novel,has opened up a feasible way for the black women who suffer from the double oppression of gender and race to get rid of their predicament and achieve self-liberation,which is by drawing inspiration and strength from the black cultural heritage.And in so doing,to redeem the African-American female group and the African-American black people as a whole.This thesis is composed of five parts.The introduction gives a brief account of the research background of this thesis,including the literature review on Walker andThe Color Purple.The first chapter mainly discusses the spiritual process of Celie,a representative black woman in The Color Purple,and her journey of rebuilding her religious beliefs.It mainly discusses the religious imprisonment and loss faced by black women living in the white Christianity-dominated society,and how they obtain spiritual inspiration and strength so as to release themselves from the oppressive white religious doctrines,in addition,to rediscover and reaffirm the unique value and significance of their own existence in their traditional religion.Chapter Two focuses on the analysis of sisterhood,the important relationship characteristic of black sisters in black cultural heritage,and elaborates on its value in providing black women with motivation and value in their pursuit of freedom and independence.The sisterly bond among the black women overrides the traditional family relationship,including the marital relationship.Based on the description and study of the sisterly relationships among the black women,this thesis highlights the significance of the sisterhood in contributing to the reawakening and growth of Celie and other female characters.Chapter Three deals with the black singing,which is the unique cultural symbol of the black race and has a great significance for black women to achieve spiritual and financial independence.Singing acts as a symbol for the black women who have once lost their voice in the white patriarchal society for a long time but regain their voice through it.Singing helps typical black women like Shug and Mary achieve spiritual and material independence in a real sense.The concluding part of this thesis emphasizes once again the key role and historical significance that the unique African-American cultural heritage played on the liberation of black women and even on the reconstruction of the cultural identity of black groups.Furthermore,people today can draw inspiration from the black cultural heritage in The Color Purple in order to free themselves of the existing racial and cultural dilemmas as well.