『술라』: 외상적 경험의 접근을 통한 주인공 술라의 정체성 탐구

Abstract

This study is focused on the process of searching for Afro-American female identity and the reasons Afro-American Females fail to seek their identity in Toni Morrison’s novel. American black women had to build their identity, achieve self-realization and admit their uniqueness as black people to survive the pressures of white culture and values. Morrison’s second novel, Sula, two Afro-American Females, Sula and Nel, show the process of searching for identity in the Bottom community. In Sula, the main character Sula also fails to seek her identity because of two reasons. First, traumas which the main character Sula experienced in her childhood continuously prevent her from seeking her identity. Trauma studies has paid much attention to the temporal nature because trauma refers to an event which is assimilated or experienced through its repetition and the return of the repressed. Second, she acts independently of others in the black community and her own ways are not accepted by the community which does not want to change its own African values. Drawing on the traumatic experience, I argue that they overlook the significance of a strong connection which is made between the ill effects of social isolation on Afro-Americans and the effects of racism on the less- fortunate. To defeat these, Morrison emphasizes womanhood between black women and their community in her works. Toni Morrison’s status as a moral agent is noted. Using the combinations of modern literary criticism and historical reviews, Morrison offers truth and a possible reconciliation to those impacted by racism.