| Alice Walker is an important black woman writer in contemporary American literature in the 20 th century.Her works have aroused wide discussion.Meridian is one of them.In this novel,the heroine Meridian is freed from the stereotype of black women who can only tolerate racism and sexism numbly and successfully portrayed as an image of an awakened and independent black woman who constructs her own right of speech.Focusing on Meridian’s traumatic experience,this thesis studies her identity crisis caused by her trauma and explores her identity reconstruction after her identity crisis,and thereby reveals Alice Walker’s expectation of black women: only when they have self-awareness,and try to find their true black womanhood can black women resolve the trauma and identity crisis that they suffer.In addition to an introduction and a conclusion,the main part of this thesis consists of three chapters.The introduction mainly introduces Walker and her novel Meridian,literature review and the theoretical basis of the thesis.Chapter one analyses the traumatic experiences of Meridian and other women characters in the novel to show the universality of trauma in the black community.Chapter two explores the huge damage that incomplete identity brings to Meridian.Chapter three analyses Meridian’s strategies and results of identity reconstruction.During her struggle,Meridian gains enough strength to face all difficulties,finds her value in society,and becomes a black woman with a complete identity.The conclusion summarizes the main points of the paper,reiterates its argument,and points out the significance of Meridian’s experience for traumatic people. |
