a study of the narrative of the color purple【畢業(yè)論文】

1、<p><b>　　本科畢業(yè)論文</b></p><p><b>　?。?0 屆）</b></p><p><b>　　英語</b></p><p>　　A Study of the Narrative of The Color Purple</p><p>　　外

2、語學(xué)院學(xué)生畢業(yè)論文獨(dú)創(chuàng)性申明</p><p>　　本人鄭重聲明：所呈交的畢業(yè)論文是本人在導(dǎo)師的認(rèn)真指導(dǎo)下，獨(dú)立進(jìn)行研究工作所取得的研究成果。除文中已經(jīng)注明引用的內(nèi)容之外，本論文不包含其他個(gè)人或集體已經(jīng)發(fā)表的學(xué)術(shù)成果，也不包含為獲得浙江萬里學(xué)院或其它教育機(jī)構(gòu)的學(xué)位證書而使用過的材料。對(duì)本文的研究作出重要貢獻(xiàn)的個(gè)人和集體，均已在文中以明確方式表明。如本文涉及上述聲明及任何知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)糾紛，本人將承擔(dān)一切責(zé)任。</p

3、><p>　　學(xué)生簽名： 日期：</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　Alice Walker is one of the most influential African American writers of the contemporary period. Walker is a

4、novelist, a critic and a poet as well. Her works is about the life and experience of the black people especially the black women under patriarchal and racial oppression. She is the first black woman novelist to win the P

5、ulitzer Prize for her most famous novel The Color Purple (1982) which was also awarded the American Book Award in 1983. Even though The Color Purple revolves the lesbian r</p><p>　　This thesis explores the n

6、arrative features of The Color Purple by revealing the narrative devices, which includes the epistolary, languages and polyphony. By analyzing these narrative features, this thesis penetrates the African American female’

7、s life situation and the chance for them to change. In addition, it reminds people of the inequality, the darkness and misery caused by the discrimination and makes people perceive the considerable importance of equality

8、 between black and white.</p><p>　　Key words: The Color Purple narrative features epistolary novel language features</p><p><b>　　摘 要</b></p><p>　　在現(xiàn)

9、代，沃克是最有影響力的美國非裔作家之一。她是小說家、評(píng)論家和詩人。她的作品大都關(guān)于黑人的生活和經(jīng)歷，特別是處于性別歧視和種族歧視之下的黑人女性。發(fā)表于1982年的《紫顏色》使得沃克作為第一位黑人女作家獲得普利策獎(jiǎng)和國家圖書獎(jiǎng)。雖然這本書涉及到同性戀、粗話和家庭暴力，遭受一部人的批判，但依然被看作是黑人女性覺醒的經(jīng)典之作。</p><p>　　這篇論文將通過揭示《紫顏色》的敘述方式，研究這本書的敘述特點(diǎn)，研究內(nèi)容包

10、括書信體，語言和復(fù)調(diào)技巧。通過分析小說的敘述特色，論文深入美國非裔女性的生活狀況和她們改變命運(yùn)的機(jī)會(huì)。此外，本文將提醒人們：因?yàn)槠缫?，黑人女性遭受到不公正的待遇，不得不面?duì)生活的灰暗和悲哀。并且，使人們感受到種族平等的重要性。</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：紫顏色 敘述特點(diǎn) 書信體小說 語言特色 </p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p>

11、<p>　　1 Introduction.................................................................................................................1</p><p>　　2 Epistolary............................................

12、.........................................................................2</p><p>　　2.1Different Addressee...............................................................................................2</

13、p><p>　　2.1.1The Initial God.............................................................................................3</p><p>　　2.1.2 Natty......................................................

14、......................................................4</p><p>　　2.1.3 The New God..............................................................................................4</p><p>　　2.2 Dif

15、ferent Signature...............................................................................................5</p><p>　　2.3 Different Address................................................................

16、.................................6</p><p>　　3 Languages....................................................................................................................7</p><p>　　3.1 The Blan

17、kness of Names......................................................................................7</p><p>　　3.2 Direct Speech...............................................................................

18、........................8</p><p>　　4 Polyphony....................................................................................................................9</p><p>　　4.1 From Celie's

19、Narration.............................................................................................................10</p><p>　　4.2 From Natty’s Narration..................... .............................

20、....................................................11</p><p>　　5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................12</p><

21、p>　　Works Cited..................................................................................................................13</p><p>　　Acknowledgements</p><p>　　A Study of the Narrative

22、 of The Color Purple</p><p>　　1 Introduction</p><p>　　The Color Purple is the master piece of Alice Walker, which was published in 1982 and made into film later. This fiction not only won walker

23、 the fame and success, but also brought the controversy to her. As a womenist, walker's work exposes the double suppressions the black women suffered. One is the sex-discrimination from the patriarchal society, and t

24、he other is the racial discrimination from American history. This fiction focuses on the heroine Celie’s development from a silent girl to a ind</p><p>　　For its supreme artistry and distinctive narrative, T

25、he Color Purple is considered Walker's best novel and attracts attentions of many critics and reviewers. For instance, Bell (2007) points out that its unrelenting, severe attack on male hegemony, especially on the vi

26、olent abuse of black women by black men, is a revolutionary jump into a new social order based on sexual egalitarianism.(p.157) However, this fiction also brings criticism on the author. The portrayal of the male charact

27、ers annoys </p><p>　　2 Epistolary</p><p>　　As a epistolary form of novel, The Color Purple is made up of letters, which can be divided into six parts. They are addressee, address, content, endin

28、g, beginning, and signature. Each of them can be seen as a textual sign or narrative unit. According to the changes of each part, celie’s inner world is changing as reflected on the narrative units. Elliott (1989) argues

29、 that Celie’s personal letters serve precisely as a “textual strategy by which the larger African-American history, focused on ra</p><p>　　2.1 Different Addressee</p><p>　　When a letter is being

30、 read, it is the addressee that readers will pay attention to firstly. As part of a letter, addressee is the one that Celie can confide to. In The Color Purple, Celie experience three addressees. It is a wheel of Celie&#

31、39;s life. With the changes of addressees, the author uses a mild way to indicate readers that Celie are changing continuously. From the beginning God, Natty and the new God, Celie finally finds the meaning of life and l

32、eads a better life than she can image. Dif</p><p>　　2.1.1 The Initial God</p><p>　　This section focuses on celie's state. When she writes letters with “dear God”, the initial God is the addr

33、essee in two thirds of these letters. During this period, Celie has changed from a little girl to “Mr.__’s wife”. In the beginning of the story, she raped by a man who she thinks is her father.“You better not tell nobody

34、 but God. It'd kill your mammy”(Walker, 2003, P.1). She is so scared that she couldn't tell anyone. Her stepfather forced her to marry Mr.__, who has 3children. After marrie</p><p>　　At that time, wr

35、iting is the only way to express Celie's thoughts. Just like what her father said, she could only write to God. She is so timid and scared that she is afraid to confide what she want to say. Celie also trys to treat

36、herself as a tree, which is numb to any pain and dumb. If it is the only way to survive at that time, Celie really makes herself a tree and writes to God. With the arrival of Shug, Celie and Shug become intimate. It is u

37、nder shug's help that celie finds those hidden l</p><p>　　2.1.2 Natty</p><p>　　In this period, Natty has been Celie’s major addressee. She begins to think about what God really does to her a

38、nd begins to write to Natty, who is celie’s sister. Like good friends, they always unload to each other. As a pastor, Natty is traveling abroad and lives with the Samuals who have adopted Celie's son and daughter. To

39、 some extent, Natty is a mentor or a guide to Celie. As a idol for black women, not only can she read, she but also knows things that Celie has any idea about. At the same t</p><p>　　At the same time, Netty&

40、#39;s letters are like a depot of knowledge. From these letters, celie finds that her ancestors came from Africa. Besides, celie’s children didn't die. They live with Netty and they can read. During this period, celi

41、e’s mental world turns to be a copious one. She leaves to Tennessee and sets up a company. Celie said “I am so happy, I got love, I got work, I got money, friends and time”(Walker, 2003, p.215). Even though she led a har

42、d life in the past, now, her life begins che</p><p>　　2.1.3 The New God</p><p>　　The new God appears in the last letter. Celie begins this letter with a long addressee, which includes the new Go

43、d, stars, trees, sky, people and everything. Although the new god appears just once in The Color Purple, it is meaningful and cheerful for Celie to find the new God. Before then, she experienced a long time to identify h

44、erself in such a patriarchal society. Hankinson(1997) vows that from early adolescence into adulthood Celie associates the biblical God with the men she knows man who </p><p>　　If God is an abstract concept

45、in the primary stage, at that time, God becomes concrete. That addressee’s change from the traditional God to the new God reflects her life’s conversion from a housewife that has to restrain others temper to a woman that

46、 utters her thoughts smoothly. Hankinson (1997) also concludes that “the pantheism alternative propounded in The Color Purple presents then a newfound optimism and spiritual furtherance in the ideological framework of wa

47、lker’s characters.”(P.327) The</p><p>　　2.2 Different Signature</p><p>　　Celie's signature appears in 7 of her letters. However, signature is bound to accentuate the growth of Celie. For it

48、is this that makes signature in letters connotative and, more directly, makes the change of celie more vivid. On her arrival to Memphis another life just begins. The life in Memphis differs greatly from her past life. Sh

49、e has time, love and own space. She has an unusual talent of making pants. Her pants are very popular among her friends and are good enough to be commodity. Though</p><p>　　But signature disappears in the th

50、ird and fourth letters, which she wrote when she was in her home. When faced with Celie, Mr. __ had had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Celie, allaying for his abuse. This disappearance means she has to recall

51、 the days of children and Mr.__’s abuse on her. Knowing the good life never comes easily, celie set herself to enjoy as best as she could. As a result, the disappearance is fleeting and closely followed by the reappearan

52、ce of signature. Each had </p><p>　　2.3 Different Address</p><p>　　Even though Natty omit address in the forward letters, we can still get the information of address in the content of letters. D

53、ifferent to the other letters, it is in the letter to Natty that Celie notes her new address: Folks pants, Unlimited. Sugar Avery Drive Memphis, Tennessee, which never referred in the preceding letters and represents a t

54、otally different state. Although in The Color Purple, the address is just noted once only. It is still very important. The address represents woman’s ind</p><p>　　3 Languages </p><p>　　In this s

55、ection, the blanks of names and the direct quotations are to be studied. In The Color Purple, Walker uses narrative skills and vernacular creates a circumstance of direct and free So that readers can obtain immediate sen

56、sitivity from the text. Jue (1993) said that “For women of color, language is a powerful means for defining their identity and experiences as persons of color and as women” (p.451).</p><p>　　3.1 The Blanknes

57、s of Names</p><p>　　The manifestation of blank is the erasure or withhold of the surname, which is discussed by many writers. Brogan (2000) exposes the blank name of “Mister__” in The Color Purple initially

58、has the potential for representing any abusive male(P,193). Besides, Heglar (2000) points out that “namelessness and naming become a significant pattern as the novel unfolds” (p.38). It is apparent that the erasure or wi

59、thhold of surname exercise a great influence on the male in The Color Purple. The study of th</p><p>　　Hites (1989) indicates that because the male figures are comparatively more powerful and maltreat female

60、 as theirs wishes, the unarticulated names in The Color Purple represents the danger to horror to reveal. That is to say, by erasing or withholding the surname of the male, the male, as the superior one in the male-autho

61、rity society, has been weaken and lost its advantage in The Color Purple. For instance, the husband of Celie is named as Mr.__, which shows that Celie is too afraid to reveal i</p><p>　　3.2 Direct Speech <

62、;/p><p>　　In addition to the blanks of names, the direct quotation is also carrying the distinguish use of language by Alice Walker. The direct speech is the narrative that conveys one’s thoughts without polish

63、es. Quotation embeds a character’s words in a narrative, making text lively, memorable, and often colorful (Weber, 2008, p. 558). In The Color Purple, considering that Celie is a girl has poor knowledge about English, Wa

64、lker made the utterance of Celie sketchy and brief, In contrast, Natty can utter</p><p>　　Many stories have at their core the ongoing relationships of the characters as revealed by what they say to one anoth

65、er, such as the friendship of a frog and a toad (Lobel, 1979). Other stories have at their core action and accomplishment, yet the attitudes and feelings of the character are shown through their direct quotations, such a

66、s a boy’s indignation over a new sister (Keats, 1967). What had said above is just reflected in The Color purple.“ Don't nobody come see us. She got sicker an sick</p><p>　　Owe to the epistolary form of

67、the fiction, what “she”said is as told by Celie. “She” is Celie's mother, and this dialogue happened when her mother was ill and beyond cure and Celie had given birth to a baby after being raped by her stepfather. Be

68、cause of the use of the direct quotation, readers can directly perceive Celie’s helplessness. Zuo Yaqing (2005) argues that “the direct quotation in fiction combines the narrative of consciousness with narrative of act,

69、which makes the consciousness betw</p><p>　　4 Polyphony</p><p>　　Alice Walker structured the fiction with multiple voices, which makes the use of polyphony to get rid of the unitary of narrative

70、. By leading in the other narrator, Celie’s narrative appears to be more genuine. Parts of the fiction devoted to Natty are telling the stories and the experience in Africa while the portions narrated by Celie are record

71、ing her life. The differing voices of Celie and Natty is the most important manifestation of polyphony in The Color Purple, also evoke the experience o</p><p>　　Mikhail (1981) discussed the polyphony and poi

72、nted out that a novel that contains more than one voice leads to the appearence of new problems, just like the new problems in a song with two voices. It is a analogy or a metaphor between the song and the novel. Bakhtin

73、 transformed the metaphor into polyphony, which should not be forgotten. Lawrence (1995) exposed that “As a communicative act, metaphor opens the possibility of two-way transfers of meaning between its constituent terms,

74、 each of which</p><p>　　As Alice Walker employs polyphony in the novel, readers will have to follow these two narrative lines. One is the narrative line of Celie, which is the main thread among the two lines

75、. The other narrative line comes from Celie’s sister—Natty, who are traveling abroad and possessing knowledge. The voice of Celie is quite different from that of Natty, devoting to the polyphony of voices that both conve

76、y the experience of life in different nations. These two narrative lines do not exist individuall</p><p>　　4.1 From Celie's Narration </p><p>　　Celie is the first one to narrate what happen

77、ed to her. In the beginning of the fiction, Celie confides the fear and the bad action of her father to God, who she considers cares about her. Her passive manner leaves the readers an impression of weakness. From Celie&

78、#39;s point of view, in order to survive, making herself invisible and silent is the only way she can adopt. No matter who and how these men abuse her, she reacts in a dejected manner. To the readers’ surprise, Celie bec

79、omes intimate with </p><p>　　If we pay attention to the tragic life of Celie, we will find that she is a woman suffers from abuse and discrimination. In such a low state, it is hard for the heroine to long f

80、or the independence and respect. She needs the helps from others; the letters from Netty just solve the problem of the monologue, which merely unfold the evolvement of Celie instead of showing the development of Celie fr

81、om more levels. </p><p>　　4.2 From Natty's Narration </p><p>　　As the second narrator in The Color Purple, Natty appears in the latter of the fiction in the manner of epistolary. She is an e

82、ducated girl with a better grammar and expression than Celie. Her letters are hidden in Mr.__’s trunk firstly, and then found by Celie and Shug. </p><p>　　The finding of letter greatly deepens Celie’s longin

83、g for independence. It does not mean that the second narrator weigh less than the first. As a matter of fact, owe to the Narrative of Natty. The Color Purple is no longer a monologue of Celie. It empowered more narrative

84、 voice to sound. Thus, theirs sisterhood is amplified and the setting of the fiction can be looked into in the section of Natty. </p><p>　　5 Conclusion</p><p>　　The epistolary form of the n

85、ovel is the most prominent narrative feature of The Color Purple. It is better to illuminate the characteristics of the heroine, especially when it comes with polyphony, there being more than one voice to tell readers th

86、e grief story of Celie. Like a song with two voice parts, each part differs from the other and gives off its own tune. Parallel to Celie’s narration, Natty’s letters also carry out a model of new women free from discrimi

87、nation and abuse, who can go aro</p><p>　　The use of narrative also exposes men’s actions to women explicitly in The Color purple. Corresponding to patriarchal, women attempt to find the way to escape from t

88、he devastation. Mr.___ silences Natty’s voice by hiding the letters, Celie and Shug open the trunk where the letters are hidden and the voice from Natty can be heard. The reappearance of Natty’s letters spurs Celie to ch

89、ange and to run away from the dead life.</p><p>　　From the epistolary form to the languages, a grief story becomes inspiring and gratifing gradually. That is a wonderful journey to the essence of the novel.

90、When we see that Celie smiles through tears and the male choose a better way to treat the females, it is the real satisfaction that we can enjoy. The author of The Color Purple also make a name for herself in literature

91、area. Like the reunion of the family in the end of the story, Alice Walker met with her success and made her name been hear</p><p>　　Works cited</p><p>　　[1]Bell, B. The Contemporary African Ame

92、rican Novel [M]. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching And Reseach Press, 2007.</p><p>　　[2]Brogan, J.V. The Hurston/Walker/Vaughn Connection: Feminiat Strategies in American Fiction[J]. Women's Studies. 199

93、9(28): 185-200.</p><p>　　[3]Evans, E.A.B. Race, Gander, and Desire: Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker[M]. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1989.</p><

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95、namelessness: Alice Walker's Pattern of Surnames in The Color Purple[J]. University of South Florida, 2000, 13(1): 38-41. </p><p>　　[6]Hites, M. The Other Sides of the Story: structures and strategies of

96、 Contemporary Feminist Narrative[M]. Ithaca: Cornell University press,1989. </p><p>　　[7]Jue, J. Breaking the Silence: Women of Color and Issues of Voice and Cultural Identity[J]. Religious Education:1993.88

97、(3): 451-463.</p><p>　　[8]Keats, E.J. Peter's Chair[M].New York: Puffin,1967.</p><p>　　[9]Lawrence, K . Classical music and Postmodern Knowledge[J]. Berkeley: Univ. Of California Press, 1995

98、.</p><p>　　[10]Lobel, A. Days With Frog and Toad [M]. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.</p><p>　　[11]Mikhail, B. The Dialogica Imagination: Four Essays[M]. Edited by Michael Holquist. Translated

99、 by Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: Univ. Of Texas Press,1981. </p><p>　　[12] Millard, K. Comtemporary American Fiction [M]. Peking: Peking: Foreign Language Teaching And Research Press, 2006.&l