Construction of female identity in Toni Morrison's fiction : doctoral dissertation
This thesis explores the questions of the female identity construction and female characters’ crises of self-definition in Toni Morrison’s fiction. The study incorporates a transdisciplinary and intersectional approach to the analysis of various perspectives that impact female characters’ journey to self-discovery, encompassing political and historical, social, black feminist, narratological, and psychoanalytical perspectives, including literary trauma studies. In this thesis, identity is understood as an ever-changing concept that is influenced by many interconnected factors, including the impact of family, community, and social relationships.The central subject of critical inquiry is the analysis of four novels written by Morrison: The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), Tar Baby (1981), and Beloved (1987). The selected novels tackle diverse historical periods, social and racial circumstances, and themes, which enables a comprehensive study of the identity construction of female characters. The thesis analyzes the important topics that undermine female characters’ identity, such as beauty standards established by dominant tradition, the social judgment of women who defy gender roles and patriarchal traditions, the perception of black women through the “white gaze” and “male gaze” which causes the development of an inferiority complex, internalized racism and racial self-loathing, female characters’ coping mechanisms when experiencing traumas, and the impacts of individual, collective and transgenerational traumas. Furthermore, the exploration of identity construction and identity crises incorporates the narratological analysis that explores the narrative techniques that reflect female characters’ struggles on the road to self-discovery, their traumas, and repressed memory.
Rad se bavi pitanjima konstrukcije ženskog identiteta i nastanka krize identita u prozi Toni Morison. Istraživanje koristi transdisciplinarni i intersekcionalni pristup pri analizi različitih perspektiva koje utiču na problematiku ženskog identiteta, koje uključuju političke i istorijske, sociološke i naratološke perspektive, crnu feminističku kritiku, i psihoanalizu i studije traume. Pojam identiteta se u radu posmatra kao koncept koji se stalno menja pod uticajem međusobno povezanih faktora, koji uključuju uticaj porodice, zajednice i društvenih odnosa.Okosnicu kritičkog istraživanja čine analiza i tumačenje četiri romana Toni Morison: Najplavlje oko (1970), Sula (1973), Katreno luče (1981) i Voljena (1987). Odabrana dela se bave različitim istorijskim periodima, društvenim i rasnim okolnostima i drugačijom tematikom, što omogućava sveobuhvatnu studiju o konstrukciji identiteta ženskih likova. Rad analizira značajne faktore koji dovode do krize ženskog identiteta, poput opšteprihvaćenih standarda lepote, društvene osude žena koje prkose patrijarhalnim tradicijama i rodnim stereotipima, uticaj takozvanog „belog pogleda“ i „muškog pogleda“ koji prouzrokuju kompleks niže vrednosti, internalizovani rasizam i samoprezir, odbrambene mehanizme kojima se ženski likovi služe u pokušajima da prevaziđu traumatična iskustva, i uticaj individualnih, kolektivnih i transgeneracijskih trauma. Tumačenje razvoja i krize ženskog identita podrazumeva i naratološku analizu narativnih tehnika kojima se predstavljaju potraga za identitetom, doživljene traume i potisnuta sećanja.
Social Sciences and Humanities - American literature / Društveno-humanističke nauke - Američka književnost Datum odbrane: 29.09.2023.
engleski
2023
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Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 AT - Creative Commons Autorstvo - Nekomercijalno - Bez prerada 3.0 Austria License.
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OSNO - Opšta sistematizacija naučnih oblasti, Američka književnost
OSNO - Opšta sistematizacija naučnih oblasti, Američka književnost
black feminist criticism, class, female identity, racism, sexism, slavery, Toni Morrison, trauma