孙矩老师作业.docx

孙矩老师作业.docx

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孙矩老师作业

Where“I”Belong-CallandResponse:

FromBluesSongtoCultureIdentityOrientationofAfro-AmericansinSongofSolomon

何处是归处-呼唤与应答：

《所罗门之歌》中从布鲁斯歌谣到非裔美国黑人文化身份定位

Abstract

“SongofSolomonbyToniMorrisonwasenthusiasticallyreceivedandwidelyreviewed.ItspublicationcatapultedMorrisonintotheranksofthemostreveredcontemporarywriters.Throughouttheearlytomid-1980s,SongofSolomonwasthesubjectofmuchcriticalattentionandrankedamongthemostfrequentlytaughtofMorrison’snovels.Itisaworkthatpowerfullyexploresthenatureoffamily,identity,andculturewithinasocietystillburdenedbythelegacyofslaveryanditsaftermathofracialviolence,andanticipatesboththematicallyandstylisticallyMorrison’slaterfiction.ThenovelrewardsscrutinyfromarangeoftheoreticalperspectivesandisdeeplyrootedinthetraditionsthathaveshapedandinflectedAfricanAmericanculture.”

（1）

OneimportantsubjectinSongofSolomonishowtopreserveanddeveloptheAf-ro-AmericantraditionalculturewiththeerosionofthemainstreamcultureinAmerica.Especially,ToniMorrisonpaysmuchmoreattentiontocultureidentityorientationofAfro-Americans.

Inthisthesis,fromanewperspective,byanalyzingtheoldbluessonginSongofSolomon,mydiscussionarguesforcultureidentityorientationofAfro-Americansintermsofresponsetothecalloftheoldbluessong.Thus,Milkman’sinitiationisnotmerelyamatterofacquiringthehistoryofhisownfamily;itisalsoaquestforhisowncultureidentity.

Includingintroductionandconclusion,thisthesisisdividedintosixparts.Thefirstpartisintroduction.Inthispart,Ibrieflyintroducethenovel,SongofSolomon,andpointoutthenecessitytoreinterpretthenovelfromtheperspectiveofculture.These-condpartischapterone;thischapteristheliteraturereviewoftheliteraturestudieso-nSongofSolomon.Thethirdpartischaptertwo;thischaptermainlyintroducestheAfro-Americancultureaphasiaandcultureidentitycrisis.Thefourthpartischaptert-hree;thischapterintroducestheimpactofAfro-AmericanmusiconSongofSolomon,atthesametime,thispartalsobrieflydescribesthesettingswhentheoldbluessongappearedinthenovel.Thefifthpartischapterfour;thischapterfocusesontherespo-nsetothecalloftheoldbluessong,andfurther,itintroduceshowMilkmanrealizeshisownculturalidentityorientation.Thesixthpartistheconclusionofthisthesis.Inthispart,bycitingToniMorrison’spointofviewitisprovedthattheproblemhowtopreserveanddevelopAfro-Americancultureshouldbepaidmuchmoreattention.

KeyWords:

SongofSolomon;oldbluessong;cultureidentityorientation;callandresponse

Introduction

“Throughoutthe1980s,SongofSolomonfrequentlyfeaturedprominentlyincriti-calstudiesofAfricanAmericanliterature.Itspopularityatthattimewasdue,atleastinpart,tothewaysthatitaddressedsomeoftheprevailingconcernsofthatperiodofAfricanAmericanliterarystudy:

thecritiqueofAmericanindividualismandnorthernmigration,theapparentcelebrationoffolkandoralculture,andthereclamationofAf-ricanAmericanhistory.”

（2）

Generallyspeaking,oneimportantsubjectinSongofSolomoniswhere“I”belongandhowtorealizethecultureidentityorientation.“Whenitwaspublishedin1977,So-ngofSolomonwasakindofliteracyinterventionintowhatMorrisonperceivedtobeaculturalcrisisintheblackcommunity.Forher,thiscrisiswasthedangerthatblackpeoplemightlosetherootednesstheoraltraditionhadhistoricallyprovidedwhentheAfricanAmericancommunitywaslessgeographicallydispersed.”（3）

Asamatteroffact,fromtheperspectiveofliterature,inSongofSolomon,aname,abirthmarkorafolksongallcontainsculturecluesornewculturesuspenses.Thefol-ksongMilkmanheardPilatesinginSongofSolomonencodeshisfamilyhistory,in-cludingthestoryofSolomon,hispaternalgreat-grandfather,who,accordingtothest-oryinthesong,flewawayfromslaverybacktoAfrica.Thus,wecansaythatwhenP-ilatewassingingtheoldbluessong,shewastellingafolktale.Inthisway,theAfro-Americanmythology,folktalesandoraltraditionarepreservedandhandeddownintheformofmusicfromgenerationtogeneration.Besides,theoldbluessongisthenarrativethreadofthenovelandthenarratorinthesongis,notone,butmany,thatitis,notonevoicethatsingsofthisflight,butachorus.

FromtheperspectiveofAfro-Americanoraltradition,“iwa”-callandrespond,rep-resentstherelationshipbetweenindividualandcollective.Itisintheprocessofrespo-ndingtothecallofthefolksongorthechorusthatMilkmanbeganhisjourneyofqu-est.Aftergoingthroughcultureidentitycrisis,finallywhenheunderstoodthoroughlytheSongofSolomonherealizedhisfamilyhistoryandhisowncultureidentity.

Fromtheperspectiveofmusic,Afro-Americansregardmusicasthecarrieroftheirdualculturelegacy.Afro-AmericanmusichasagreatimpactonAfro-Americanlitera-ture.ZoraNealeHurston,inher“FolktalesandMusic”,pointsoutthatliteratureandmusichavethesameroot.Therefore,whenitcomestothetitleofthenovel,SongofSolomonisapun.Ontheonehand,SongofSolomonisanoldbluessongaboutthestoryofSolomon;ontheotherhand,SongofSolomonisanodeofAfro-Americanhistoryandculture.

Currently,withthedevelopmentofglobalization,manypeoplearesufferingfromthesamepuzzle-where“I”belong.Thus,cultureidentitycrisishasbecomeaheatedtopicinacademicfieldovertheworld.Thisthesisarguesforcultureidentityorienta-tionofAfro-Americansintermsofcallandrespondtotheoldbluessong,whichcanhelptoanswerthequestionhowtopreserveanddevelopAfro-AmericanculturewiththeerosionofmainstreamcultureinAmerica.

ChapterOneLiteratureReview

Throughouttheearlytomid-1980s,SongofSolomonwasthesubjectofmuchcrit-icalattentionandrankedamongthemostfrequentlytaughtofMorrison’snovels.Ge-nerallyspeaking,studiesaboutSongofSolomonmainlyfocusonthefollowingaspe-cts:

thenatureoffamily,identity,andculturewithinasocietystillburdenedbythele-gacyofslaveryanditsaftermathofracialviolence.Inthefollowing,thereisabriefr-eviewofthestudiesonSongofSolomonfromthreeaspects:

theapplicationoflitera-turetheory,themainresearchsubjectsandthelatestresearchresults.

1.1TheApplicationofLiteratureTheory

AbouttheapplicationofliteraturetheorytointerpretthetextofSongofSolomon,inthefollowing,Iwillgiveabriefsummary.

Firstofall,theapplicationofsignifying.Intheessay“TheSignifyingMonkey:

ATheoryofAfro-AmericanLiteracyCriticism”,HenryLouisGatesJr.Statesexpla-insthemeaningofsignifyingthoroughlyandtriestoapplysignifyingtointerpretAf-ro-Americanliterature.

Actually,bymeansofsignifying,literatureimagination,symbolsandmythologycanbeextended.Thus,somearticleswiththeapplicationofsignifyingtoanalyzeSongofSolomoncomeoutconstantly.

Secondly,theapplicationoffeminism.Intheintroductiontohercollectionofblackfeministtheoreticalessays,ChangingOurOwnWords,CherylWallidentifies1970asamomentoforiginfor“acommunityofblackwomenwriting.”Novels,autobiog-raphicaltexts,essays,andpoemswhichappearedduringthatyearsharedthematicfo-calpoints:

“theexplorationoffamilyviolence,sexualoppressionandabuse,andthecorrosiveeffectsofracismandpoverty.”（4）What’smore,theyenvisionedblackfemalecharactersassurvivors-activeagentsinthestruggleforsocialchange.

AfricanAmericanwomen’sexperienceswithintheconstructoffamilyhavebeenburied,andonlynow,since1970,havewomen’ssubordinationandvictimizationwit-hinthefamilialplotbeguntoemergeintoview.InSongofSolomon,thesituationoffemalecharactershasattractedmuchattentionfromliteraturecritics.AndtherehasappearedsomeimportantarticlesonSongofSolomonfromtheperspectiveoffem-inism.

Thirdly,theapplicationofmythologicalarchetype.Asymbol,theme,setting,orch-aracter-typethatrecursindifferenttimesandplacesinmyth,literature,folklore,drea-ms,andritualssofrequentlyorprominentlyastosuggestthatitembodiessomeesse-ntialelementofuniversalhumanexperience.

InSongofSolomon,ifwetakethestoryofSolomonforexample,itsmythologicalarchetypeisAfricanfolktaleofflyingman.Withtheapplicationofmythologicalarc-hetypetoanalyzethetext,someimportantarticlesonSongofSolomonhavecomeo-ut.

Fourthly,theapplicationofmusicalaesthetics.Afro-Americanmusichasagreati-mpactonAfro-Americanliterature.Historically,Afro-Americanmusicisnotonlythebestwaytoexpresstheirfeelingsandexperiencesbutalsoanimportantmeanstores-ervetheirownidentityanddiscursivepower.

Inthesameway,Afro-AmericanmusichasgreatlyinfluencedToniMorrisonwhotakesmusicasakindofwritingskill.Essentially,thetitleofSongofSolomonisanoldbluessong.Therefore,fromtheperspectiveofmusicalaesthetics,onthestudiesofSongofSolomonthereremainsmuchmorespace.

Finally,theapplicationofpost-colonialismandpost-structuralism.Since1980s,post-colonialismandpost-structuralismhavebecomethefocusofstudiesonanthr-opologythatcurrentlypaymuchattentiontothecultureidentityconflictsbetweenmainstreamcultureandsubculture.Fromthisperspective,SongofSolomoncollect-ivelyreflectstheproblemhowtopreserveanddevelopAfro-Americanculture.

1.2TheMainResearchSubjec