On Space In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison (1931-) is the first black woman writer to be awarded the Noble Prize for literature. She profoundly affected the American literature and even the world literature. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), pays close attention to the living space and culture space of the black and reveals the black suffering the discrimination, dissimilation and distortion from the dominant white culture. Through the novel, Morrison authentically represents the suppressed voice, the buried experience and the distorted culture of the black, which have attracted scholars and readers around the world.Approaching from the space perspective, this thesis discusses the living space and culture space of the black under the oppression of the racism and colonialism culture in America. This paper is divided into four parts. Chapter One involves an introduction of literary review on The Bluest Eye. an introduction of the space theory and its application on Morrison’s other works, such as Sula (1973). The second part discusses the living space of the black. The residential space is the most basic condition of the black’s life and the symbolization of the black’s socio-economic status. The abominable living environment and marginalized identity display the narrow living space of the black. The third part analyzes conflicts of culture space between the black and the white. The mainstream white culture coexists with the black traditional culture in the American society, which is the origin of the culture conflicts. In the novel, the black women’s different choices of aesthetic standards exhibit the distorting effect of the dominant white culture and the resistance of the black to clinging to their traditional culture under the conflicts of culture space between the black and the white. The fourth part is the conclusion expressing Morrison’s space consciousness and her concern for the living space and culture space of the black.