Discipline And Resistance: Black Female’s Spatial Writing In Margaret Walker’s Jubilee

Margaret Walker(1915-1998)is a famous African-American black female writer,poet,and literary critic in the 20 th century.Published in 1966,her only novel Jubilee was sold millions of copies and translated into languages of seven countries.It is a symbol of the neo-slave narrative created by African-American writer.From the perspective of black female,this novel depicts black people’s daily-life experience and culture in various spaces.The span of time in this novel covers slavery period before the war,the civil war period and the post-war reconstruction period.It presents a complete picture of the slavery history in America.At present,although scholars in abroad and domestic have discussed black female character,writing techniques and other aspects in this novel,the relationship between black women and space has not been discussed enough.Therefore,this thesis applies disciplinary space of Michel Foucault and marginal space of bell hooks to illustrate black female’s spatial writing in Jubilee.It analyzes how white people use disciplinary space as a place of oppression,and how black women take domestic space as a site of resistance.This thesis includes three parts.The first part mainly introduces Walker’s life experience and the main contents of Jubilee,the literature review of Jubilee at home and abroad,and the disciplinary space of Michel Foucault and marginal space of bell hooks.The second part is the main part of this thesis,including three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the disciplinary space in this novel.During the Civil War and post-war reconstruction period,white people oppress and limit black people in the visible plantation space and the invisible institutional space by means of space distribution,observation,and normalizing punishment.Enslaved women become the objects of disciplinary power and lose subjectivity.The second chapter interprets the domestic space in this novel.Black women take domestic space as a site of resistance.Firstly,through showing resistance and motherhood in kitchen space,they deconstruct the stereotypes of black women constructed by mainstream discourse.Secondly,through inheriting the black female folk culture in daily-life space,they deconstructthe cultural hegemony of white people.Thus,the subjectivity of black women is formed in the white-dominated public space.The third chapter discusses the spatial expansion and mobility of black female.During the civil war period and post-war reconstruction period,black female realizes the spatial movement from the domestic space to white community,which enables black female to form double visions and achieve self-growth.Meanwhile,due to the essential role played by black women in the intergenerational inheritance of black culture,black women realize spatial expansion from domestic space to black community.Finally,black American’s ethnic subjectivity is formed based on the formation of individual subjectivity,the intergenerational inheritance of black culture,and harmonious racial relationship.The last part is the conclusion part.Space is not only the space of oppression,but also the space of resistance.White people oppress black people through space while black women resist through domestic space.Thus the subjectivity of black women and black American’s ethnic subjectivity are formed.