An Analysis Of Agnes Smedley's Self-Construction In Daughter Of Earth

Agnes Smedley was an important writer in the American left-wing movement and Daughter of Earth,her first major novel and semi-autobiography,has been considered one of her best works.Scholars both abroad and at home highlight the autobiographical elements of the work,and thus link it to its author.In the work,Smedley lays emphasis on the combination of theme and narrative strategies.Her consciousness of self-construction is well embodied in her attachment to an autobiographical narrative,mainly represented in the selection of a first-person retrospective narration in which,tense switches and comments are utilized.In consideration of the writing background,the mental condition,and her life experiences in the early 1920 s,the thesis holds that Daughter of Earth,to Smedley,is not only a therapy,but her search for a way out.Based on the distinct advantage that narrative,and autobiographical narrative in particular has in self-identity construction,the thesis intends to conduct a close textual analysis and mainly adopts the autobiography theory of Philippe Lejeune and the theories of narratology to illustrate the process of Smedley's identity construction.There are three research questions in this thesis:(1)why does Smedley desire to construct herself through autobiographical writing?(2)what kind of identity does she endeavor to construct?(3)how does she construct her identity? The main body of the thesis is arranged in terms of the research questions.It starts with interpreting the consciousness of the author's self-construction by reference to two biographies of her,her memoir Battle Hymn of China,and the corresponding representations in the target text.Then it makes an analysis of the constructed triple identities of the author's persona Marie,the character-narrator.It ends in examining how the author utilizes narrative strategies to construct her identity.Through the autobiographical writing,Smedley successfully constructs her triple identities—a working-class woman,a sister of the colored,and a feminist,which,as the result of her quest for the identity,contributes to an accurate self-positioning and a finding of her way out.This study is a tentative complement to the rather inadequate study of Smedley as a writer.Furthermore,in view of the autobiographical nature of Daughter of Earth,this thesis is an attempt to reveal Smedley's earlier life experiences,her self-recognition and self-positioning.What's more,this thesis,as a study of the author's self-construction,also reveals the prominent role of narrative strategies in highlighting the theme.