‘우머니즘’ 재조명: 엘리스 워커의 주요 등장인물들의 연구를 통해
A Re-examination of ‘Womanism’: Through Alice Walker’s Main Characters
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This paper aims to re-think and demonstrate black women based on the philosophy of ‘womanism’ in Alice Walker’s third novel, The Color Purple, which helped her to be one of the most popular comtemporary American writers. This novel is composed of a form of a letter in which the heroine, Celie, writes the letter to God. Alice Walker’s ‘womanism’ and the word of ‘womanish’ are originated from the traditional spoken language of Black South Community. It has the concept of universal and humanistic vision, excluding all the categories like race, gender and class. It also pursues to eradicate the distinctions and oppressions from the society. The black woman, Celie lose her identity by mental and physical discrimination within white and male-centered society. This novel shows a constant oppression and persecution of the general black women in the framework of inequality. It suggests the progress of black women’s struggles for their right as a human being against the visible and invisible pressures from the society. In the last part of the novel, Celie finally builds up her own identity through the true friendship with the other black women like Shug, Sofia, and her sister Netti who’ve resisted to the old and traditional concept in white and male-centered society. Walker even presents us with the gradual change of the male heros, Albert and Harpo, who’ve been changed to be out of the typical stereotype as a dominator. In the long run, through these womanish characters’ steady change and growth, Walker strongly claims the significant value of her ‘womanism’ philosophy embracing universality and multinational integration.
Abstract
This paper aims to re-think and demonstrate black women based on the philosophy of ‘womanism’ in Alice Walker’s third novel, The Color Purple, which helped her to be one of the most popular comtemporary American writers. This novel is composed of a form of a letter in which the heroine, Celie, writes the letter to God. Alice Walker’s ‘womanism’ and the word of ‘womanish’ are originated from the traditional spoken language of Black South Community. It has the concept of universal and humanistic vision, excluding all the categories like race, gender and class. It also pursues to eradicate the distinctions and oppressions from the society. The black woman, Celie lose her identity by mental and physical discrimination within white and male-centered society. This novel shows a constant oppression and persecution of the general black women in the framework of inequality. It suggests the progress of black women’s struggles for their right as a human being against the visible and invisible pressures from the society. In the last part of the novel, Celie finally builds up her own identity through the true friendship with the other black women like Shug, Sofia, and her sister Netti who’ve resisted to the old and traditional concept in white and male-centered society. Walker even presents us with the gradual change of the male heros, Albert and Harpo, who’ve been changed to be out of the typical stereotype as a dominator. In the long run, through these womanish characters’ steady change and growth, Walker strongly claims the significant value of her ‘womanism’ philosophy embracing universality and multinational integration.
참고문헌 (16)
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