A Journey To Liberation

Race issues and feminist claims are two major issues in today’s society and the focus of criticism by black feminists.Since its introduction in the 1970 s,black feminism has provided a unique perspective and perspective for literary criticism.Although the theory of black feminism started late,critics represented by Bell Hooks and Barbara Smith proposed deconstructing traditions and constructing the awareness of black female discourse,which promoted the rapid development of black feminism.This study uses African-American writer Colson Whitehead’s novel “The Underground Railroad” as the analysis text,and analyzes the oppression and self-realization of black women from the perspective of black feminism.It analyzes the racial discrimination and gender oppression suffered by black women.Especially through the discussion of the self-realization process of the heroines of the novel from four aspects,namely: the pursuit of self-identity,the bond of sisterhood,the male comrades who oppose the oppression,and the support of black families and communities,the thesis discloses the black females’ arduous process of pursuing freedom and achieving liberation.All in all,this study is aimed to enrich the theoretical research of black feminism as well as make an attempt to offer a fresh research perspective to the study of the novels of Colson Whitehead.