Power Benighted or Souls Uplifted: Mother-Daughter Relationships in The Bluest Eye, Corregidora, and The View from Here

matriarch;Brian Keith Jackson;matriline;Gayle Jones;Toni Morrison;power;Mothers;Daughers;African American

Sanders, LaRonda Meeshay ; Anne Baker, Committee Member,Deborah Hooker, Committee Member,Sheila Smith- McKoy, Committee Chair,Sanders, LaRonda Meeshay ; Anne Baker ; Committee Member ; Deborah Hooker ; Committee Member ; Sheila Smith- McKoy ; Committee Chair

University:North Carolina State University

关键词: matriarch;    Brian Keith Jackson;    matriline;    Gayle Jones;    Toni Morrison;    power;    Mothers;    Daughers;    African American;   

Others  :  https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.16/1946/etd.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: null

【 摘 要 】

This work examines the extent of African American maternal power and the effect of that power on mother-daughter relationships. The term Black matriarch, developed and perpetuated by white society, defines Black women as neglectful mothers and emasculating wives thereby ignoring the absence of actual power in the political, economic, and social realms that Black women have.Acceptance of this matriarchal fallacy leads mothers to embrace facades of power that negatively impact their own and their daughters' psychological development.Using Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Gayle Jones' Corregidora, and Brian Keith Jackson's The View From Here, this study examines how the presence or absence of maternal power can either foster or hinder feminine growth.Because of the dangers posed by patriarchal structure and white hegemony, Black mothers need to fortify their daughters through their matriline, which is a nurturing and supportive network of maternal figures. This thesis further explores the power that the matriline accords Black mothers.Morrison illustrates the repercussions of helplessness and false power, as a ruptured matriline leaves both mothers and daughters vulnerable to the white gaze.From a different perspective, Jones exposes the dangers of a matriline that allows traumatic history to deprive future generations of their individuality. Jackson reveals how the inadvertent internalization of patriarchy can overshadow actual economic, social, and matrilineal power. Each of these novels highlight the extent of matrilinial power, which suggest a degree of influence that justifies the term matriarch. If positive and flexible, the matriline is the most salient protection of Black womanhood and Black girlhood. This study determines that the matriline shaped by mothers, other-mothers, and the women who are imprinted by it—is the most significant legacy of matriarchal power.