An Analysis Of Marguerite’s Self-redemption In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings From The Perspective Of Disciplinary Power Theory

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical novel by Maya Angelou,an African-American woman writer.This thesis uses a series of ideas such as discipline,punishment and surveillance of Foucault’s discipline power theory to analyze the unique and universal growth story of the protagonist Marguerite from the age of four to adulthood,reproducing the difficult growth process of black women in the face of the double oppression of gender and racial discrimination: The heroine Marguerite is from the social environment and family environment caused by her strict discipline,thus forming the discipline of self.She tries to revolt against discipline through disobedience,and finally reinvents herself by understanding and retelling the world and others.This process reflects the suppression of discipline on human subjectivity and the significance of anti-discipline on the construction of human identity,and reveals the significance of Foucault’s survival aesthetics to Marguerite’s reconstruction of the building of life on the ruins of life.The thesis is divided into three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion.The introduction briefly introduces the life of Maya Angelou,I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the research overview of her works at home and abroad,and also points out the innovation points of this thesis.The main body is divided into three chapters,which interprets the black girl Marguerite in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings with Foucault style.The first chapter starts from the performance of discipline encountered by the protagonist.Racial discrimination from the white society and gender discrimination from the patriarchal society in the social environment,as well as Marguerite’s lack of parental care in the family environment,the combination of the three left an inconsolable trauma to the young black girl,thus forming the discipline on her,and profoundly reflecting her loneliness and helplessness after the discipline.The second chapter discusses that the black girl responds positively to the influence of discipline on her and fights against discipline,which is reflected in the awakening and establishment of Marguerite’s female self-consciousness.The black women around Marguerite lit the flame of hope for her when she was confused in the face of the discipline.Meanwhile,the cultural power given by the black ethnic group also laid the foundation for the establishment of Marguerite’s female self-consciousness,so that she got out of the confusion of identity and successfully reshaped herself.Chapter three discusses the new identity of a black woman shaped by Marguerite after her successful anti-discipline struggle.The female writer who created the classic of contemporary American autobiographical literature and the female poet who carried forward the spirit of nationalism both show the success of Maya Angelou’s self-redemption.After encountering discipline,Marguerite successfully fought against discipline,and finally established the character of self-respect,self-love and self-reliance.The conclusion part summarizes the research results and points out the significance of this thesis.By using Foucault’s discipline power theory to analyze Marguerite in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,this thesis points out the process of Marguerite’s selfredemption.In terms of herself black identity,she successfully reshapes herself and finds a way to survive,and finally realizes her self-worth and life meaning.In terms of the black ethnic group,as a member of the American black women,Angelou tries her best to break the cultural dilemma,carry forward the charm of the black traditional culture,and actively fight for and defend the rights of black women.This is a spiritual innovation and destiny reconstruction for the black group,especially for the black women group,which has extremely profound and extraordinary significance.