摘要
从踏上美洲土地开始,黑人就无法逃脱种族问题。美国内战后,即使黑人已经开始拥有庆祝解放的六月庆典,他们依然没有获得真正的自由与解放。在现代美国社会,对于生活在其中的黑人种族,这种情况更加恶化。
生活在后殖民主义时期,黑人被强加除劳动力和生产资料掠夺之外的另外一种形式的侵略,那就是文化侵略。处于统治地位的文化压迫黑人民族,强迫其放弃对黑人民族文化的认同。在这种情况下,黑人民族面临着一个严重的问题,那就是身份认同问题。对于美国社会中一个特殊的群体,黑白混血儿,这个问题更加严峻。面对着被从民族文化认同的意识基础中压抑出、排挤出的危险,黑人民族如何完成自我身份的找寻与认同,以及生活在美国社会中的黑人怎样才能成为真正的美国人,已经成为至关重要的问题。
作为一名对非裔美国文学及美国文学界都做出重要贡献的非裔美国作家,拉尔夫.埃里森通过在其第二部小说《六月庆典》中讲述一个黑白混学儿布里斯,之后变成白人种族主义者桑瑞德,如何寻找自我身份的故事,剖析了在现代社会中黑人自我身份的找寻问题。此外,与其第一部小说《无形人》不同,埃里森在《六月庆典》中着重强调了黑人文化已经融入美国主流文化,并强调只有完成在民族文化认同的基础上的身份认同,黑人才会成为真正的美国人。美国社会中的任何一个人,也多多少少都是黑人。
从后殖民主义视角出发,本论文旨在分析小说《六月庆典》主人公桑瑞德如何在后殖民主义时代寻找到真正的自我。
首先,显而易见,小说《六月庆典》围绕着两个主要人物,一个是黑人牧师希克曼,另外一个是种族主义政客桑瑞德。桑瑞德宣称自己是白人,然而事实上,他是一个由希克曼和他的黑人教友们倾注全部的爱抚养长大的黑人。需要注意的是在桑瑞德童年时,希克曼给他取名为布里斯。在这部小说中,希克曼和桑瑞德构成了两个对立的关系体。希克曼象征着黑人性,认同黑人身份。他充满智慧,语言机智,并且充满了对别人的爱。参议员桑瑞德则是反对压迫黑人的白人代表。他是希克曼的爱的目标,然而他却选择将爱变成背叛和侮辱。我们必须注意的是二人并不是完全的对立,二者的联结者正是布里斯,一个由希克曼收养并抚养长大的黑白混血儿,也是桑瑞德儿时的名字。布里斯象征着黑人民族和白人民族结合的希望。
其次,论文追踪着布里斯背叛民族文化,放弃真正的自我身份,迷失在否定民族文化认同基础上的错误的身份找寻的旋涡中。从被奴役伊始直至今日,黑人都被陷在种族主义的困境中。后殖民主义时期,黑人面临着失去民族文化的危险。在这种情况下,黑人面临着失去真正的自我的危险。布里斯开始正面这个危险是在六月庆典那一天。那天他亲眼见证了强势文化的入侵和黑人种族的弱势。在意识中布里斯形成了认同强势文化以成为一名真正的美国人的思想。在这种思想的引导下,布里斯踏上了一条通过否认自我民族文化寻找自我身份的迷途,最终成为白人参议员桑瑞德。
最后,布里斯被从民族文化认同的意识基础中压抑出、排挤出,丧失了作为黑人的自我性,成为种族主义者桑瑞德。然而,人必须正视自我真正的民族文化,寻找到真正的自我,才能成为自我的主人,才能在人类社会中成为一个具有人性的真正的人。病床上的桑瑞德,在希克曼爱的召唤下,过去的记忆使他从错误的自我寻找中清醒过来,使他找到真正的自我,从而获得真正的自由。这样,桑瑞德得到了救赎和重生。
通过小说《六月庆典》,埃里森展示了一条希望之路,黑人完全可以完成在民族文化认同中寻找到真正的自我,并且构建以爱和同情联结的“我”与“他”的人际关系。只有这样,他才是真正的美国人,也才是真正的人。放置于广义,在后殖民主义时期,整个人类都面临着同黑人一样的问题。但是人类最终可以完成自我的寻找,并建立一个充满爱和同情的人类社会。
Since their first step on American land, the black people can not evade the racial problem. After the Civil War, even though the black people have obtained the celebration on Juneteenth Day, they do not gain real freedom in society. Even in contemporary America, the condition is worse with blacks who live as Diaspora.
Living in post-colonial period, the black people are inflicted with another form of exploitation which is cultural aggression besides the plunder of materials and of labor. The dominant culture oppresses and forces the black race to run out of the conscious foundation of the recognition of its national culture. Under this condition, the black race faces a serious issue of identity. The condition gets worse with hybridists, who form a special group in the black community as well as in society. It is crucial for the black people to search for the true identity, and meanwhile to be real Americans and masters of themselves.
As a famous African-American writer who has made great contribution to both African-American and even American literary world as a whole, Ralph Ellison analyzes the importance of identity searching in modern times by telling a story about how a hybridist Bliss, and later Sunraider loses himself in his search for identity to be an American as well as a human being in his second novel Juneteenth. Moreover, different from what has stated in his first novel Invisible Man, Ellison takes a further step in Juneteenth to illuminate the importance of the fact that the black culture has melted into mainstream American culture. It means that the people in society, no matter what color they have, are somehow black, and are Americans.
From the perspective of Post-colonialism, this thesis deals with how the character Sunraider searches for his true identity in society in post-colonial period.
First, it is obvious that the mysterious story develops around two characters, Hickman, an old black priest, and Sunraider, who claims to be a white racist but as a matter of fact, who is a black, brought up by Hickman and his black people with love. It should be noticed that Sunraider is named Bliss by Hickman in his childhood. In the novel Hickman stands for the true black identity, who is intelligent, skilled at words, and who is filled with love. He is a man of many talents. Senator Sunraider is the symbol of the whites who oppose and hate blacks. He is the target of Hickman's love, but he chooses to return the love with betrayal and humiliation. We can not ignore little Bliss, who could be considered to be the most important figure in the novel, for he is the link between Hickman and Sunraider. Bliss is the hope of the unity of the two races and of the two cultures.
Second, the thesis traces Bliss' betrayal and running away from his true identity because of the loss of cultural basis. From the beginning of slavery till today, blacks have been caught in the plight of racism. Under the condition of post-colonialism, blacks face the danger of losing their national cultural foundation. In this way, blacks are confronted with the danger of losing identity in the complicated society. Bliss starts to face the danger on the day of Juneteenth when he sees the aggressive power of the white culture and the weakness of the black people. Under the wrong leadership of being an American by way of recognizing with the aggressive power, Bliss steps on a road to search for identity by denying his national culture and by denying his people to become Senator Sunraider.
Last, Bliss is squeezed out of the identification of black national culture to evade his true identity, who has turned into white Sunraider to deny his people. However, man has to face his national culture to find a true ego in order to be a true self who owns humanity in the complex world. On the deathbed of Sunraider, under the call of Hickman's love, memory summons the past to tell him the essence of being an American and of being a human being. In the end, Sunraider wakes up from his wrong searching for identity and thus gains the real freedom, who is redeemed to be reborn as blissful Bliss.
Through the novel Juneteenth, Ellison shows a hopeful way for blacks to search for true identity on the basis of recognition of black national culture. Only in that way can they be real Americans and human beings. To be universal, in post-colonial time, human beings face the same problem as that of blacks. Humankind can search for identity in the complicated world, and build a new world of love and compassion.
引文
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