摘 要

托妮•莫里森是第一个获得诺贝尔文学奖的美国非裔女性作家。《柏油孩子》是莫里森的第四部作品，她也因此成为第一位荣登《时代周刊》封面的美国非裔女性，这是莫里森创作生涯中的一个里程碑。本文借用镜像理论和文化创伤理论，以《柏油孩子》为蓝本，分析当遭遇白人主流文化时，非裔美国人追寻自我认同感的过程。本文主要为三个部分。第一部分介绍托妮•莫里森的《柏油孩子》和两个理论；第二部分包括三章， 第一章根据镜像理论分析男女主人公的自我认同感及其形成，第二章根据小说分析男女主人公认同感混乱造成的创伤，第三章根据文化创伤理论分析抚平创伤、重建自我认同感的可能出路；第三部分总结了全文，指出了本文存在的缺陷，并提出了进一步研究的可行方向。这启示我们，偏激地拒绝或全盘地接受某一文化都是不合理的，都易造成对自身认同感的混乱。人类应该对各民族文化遗产保持正确的态度和价值观，以形成统一和谐的人格。

关键词：柏油孩子；黑人；自我认同感

Abstract

Toni Morrison is a prominent African-American woman writer who first gets the Nobel Prize in literature. Tar Baby is her fourth novel, and she becomes the first African-American woman who is selected as the cover person of Time magazine, which is a milestone in the career of Morrison. This paper uses Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage theory and Jeffrey C. Alexander’s cultural trauma theory to discuss the phenomenon that, confronting white-dominated culture, black people’s search for self-identity. This paper is divided into three parts—introduction, main body and conclusion. Introduction mainly includes the introduction to Tar Baby, and the description of mirror stage theory and cultural trauma theory. Main body includes three chapters. The first chapter mainly discusses the extreme self-identity choices of these two protagonists, and analyzes the formation according to mirror stage theory. The second chapter mainly discusses the trauma caused by self-identity confusion based on this novel. And the third chapter mainly discusses the possible ways of healing trauma and reconstructing self-identity according to cultural trauma theory. Conclusion summarizes this paper, points out the defects, and puts out the feasible direction of further research. This enlightens us that extremely rejecting or totally accepting a particular culture are both unreasonable, for they will cause confusion of self-identity. Therefore, we should hold correct attitudes and values towards ethnic cultural heritage to form a unified personality.

Key Words: Tar Baby; the black; self-identity

Contents

1. Introduction 1
   1. Literature Review 1
      1. Toni Morrison and Tar baby 1
      2. Current Research 2
      3. Research Significance 3
   2. Theoretical Perspectives 3
      1. Mirror Stage Theory 3
      2. Cultural Trauma Theory 4
2. Self-identity and the Formation 5
   1. Son’s Self-identity 5
   2. Jadine’s Self-identity 5
   3. Conflicts between the Protagonists 6
3. Manifestations of Self-identity Trauma 9
   1. Re-experience 9
   2. Avoidance Behaviors 10
   3. Increased Arousal 10
4. Solutions to Reconstructing Self-identity 11
   1. The Possibility of Reconciliation 11
   2. Inheritance of Black Culture’s Fine Tradition 12

4.2 Absorption of White Culture’s Quintessence 12

1. Conclusion 14
   1. Summary 14

5.1 Limitations and Further Research 14

References 15