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【Abstract】On the perspective of post-colonialism， which is indeed a kind of cultural colonialism， this study mainly probes the tragic root of protagonist Pecola Breedlov’s and the black people’s spiritual bewilderment. This paper claims that the strong impact of the white culture and the loss of black national identity contribute to Pecola Breedlov’s tragedy. National cultural identity approval， inheritance of the ethnic cultures and the absorption of the alien culture are the hopes of the national survival.
【Key words】 Frantz Fanon; Post-colonialism; The Bluest Eye
【作者簡介】丁美，西北大学。
1. The Brief Introduction to Post-colonialism and Frantz Fanon
Post-colonialism was developed in the late 1970s， pioneered by Frantz Fanon， who critically analyzed the colonized people’s cultural and psychological trauma caused by the ideology of colonialism. The heydays were in the middle and late 1980s and early 1990s and representatives included Said， Spivak and Baba. Post-colonialists focus on two fields. The first is focusing on the post-colony， studying the post-colonial localization culture， that is， how cultural practice is colonized. The second is focusing on the mother countries， diachronically analyzing the culture and hegemony of the imperialist countries in order to study their attitudes and approaches to colonial culture， and to criticize the cultural logic that is full of superiority. Another focus of post-colonialist criticism theory is the “other” created by colonialism. In postcolonial theory， Westerners are often referred to as subjective “self”， while colonial people are referred to as “colonial other”， or directly called “other”.
Most of Fanon’s researches started from the perspective of sociology， philosophy， and psychiatry， and his work inspired many anti-imperialist liberation movements. Fanon is also one of the most important black cultural critics in modern times. He explored black Africa from the perspective of black people and made the African study truly subject to the attention of Western scholars. Compared with today’s post-colonial studies， Fanon’s discourse was a little bit superficial. But the issues he raised at the time， the methods discussed， as well as a set of assumptions and terminology all lay a solid foundation to the latter post-colonial studies.
2. The Analysis of The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye is based on spiritual slavery suffered by African Americans around 1941. At that time， African Americans suffered the “spiritual enslavement” of white Americans who tried hard to use culture to wipe out the ancient and primitive traditions of black people. Although the dehumanized manual labour of African American and the action of American whites selling blacks to the Americas as slave blacks are over， black people in the south America are still suffered the poverty and racism everywhere. The evil consequence of “spiritual enslavement” is that some black people are relishing a material life that they are happy to improve. Pecola is unable to speak of the suffering she suffered and is unable to rebel against this widespread racist feeling of inferiority. Throughout the history， the sense of inferiority of the black race was deliberately tempered and consolidated by the white mainstream society. Lies are woven into truth， and the black race has long lived in a political context where prejudice is rationally institutionalized. Science has become a tool to explain the rationality of slavery and racism. The philosopher demonized the dark race. The black man’s body is used， defiled， destroyed， and defined according to the white man. After a long period of dark period of slavery， the racist ideology of white supremacy continued to spread indiscriminately， continuing to influence and dominate the spirit and flesh of the black people.In this novel， Morrison answered how the feeling of inferiority can be rooted in the child’s heart and answered the most fundamental reason for the inferiority of the race.
Not only does Pecola suffer pressure of the racist environment， it is even more tragic that her parents does not give her any power to against white values and aesthetics. Pecola’s parents （Breedlove family） are poor blacks who have moved from the South to the northern towns in pursuit of their aspirations. Because of the impact of the glamorous Hollywood films， Pauline， her mother， could no longer face her own home. Soon she found a job as a maid in a white home. The white couple is well-to-do， well-behaved and has a lovely doll-like child. She loyally commits herself to the duties as a servant. The full meaning of her life lies in the job. However， Pauline kept this order and beauty only for herself， and never brought them home and brought to her child. Growing in such a family， Pecola is afraid of growing up， afraid of others， and afraid of life.
In The Bluest Eyes， by telling Pecola’s tragic life， Morrison showed readers a black community developed with the internalized white cultural values. They are negated because of their different races， and therefore they lose their awareness of themselves. This idea is just like the issue of “ethnicity” and “identity” referred by Fanon. Fanon once said that ethnic classification belongs to the social category and it is a prejudice from a group against another group of people. The concept of “race” can limit people’s thinking. While “Identity” is self-consciousness that is the product of imagination. It produced by the interaction between self and non-self. And he once said， “The colonists had to incorporate their images in the colonists’ eyes into their self-images and imitate their differences in the eyes of the colonists according to the requirements of the colonists.” Fanon revealed the mutual effect between psychological factors and political factors， and clarifies that colonialism not only affects society， but also affects individuals， leading to the alienation of blacks and self. Like the protagonist Pecola， she has always hinted that once she has a pair of blue eyes， she would be happier. And she eventually lost herself in the desire to chase blue eyes.
3.Conclusion
In conclusion， post-colonialism is the study of cultural-colonialism. And post-colonialists put their focuses on the study of colonized people’s culture. Just like The Bluest Eye， the African American people’s culture are dominated and changed by the so-called white “developed culture”， and the reason why black people have this trend is that they worship the white people’s value. In the process of pursuing white world， they gradually lost their identity. And that is why “race” and “identity” are the main topic of post-colonialists.
References：
[1]胡麗英，张传彪.最蓝的眼睛能给黑人带来什么——重读莫里森的最蓝的眼睛[J].西南农业大学学报2009，（2）：155-158.
[2]王守仁，吴新云.白人文化冲击之下黑人心灵——评莫里森的小说最蓝的眼睛[J].河南师范大学学报，2000，（27）：124-129.
[3]孟庆梅，姚玉杰.莫里森最蓝的眼睛民族文化身份缺失之悲剧与思考[J].西北大学学报，2010，（4）：174-176.
【Key words】 Frantz Fanon; Post-colonialism; The Bluest Eye
【作者簡介】丁美，西北大学。
1. The Brief Introduction to Post-colonialism and Frantz Fanon
Post-colonialism was developed in the late 1970s， pioneered by Frantz Fanon， who critically analyzed the colonized people’s cultural and psychological trauma caused by the ideology of colonialism. The heydays were in the middle and late 1980s and early 1990s and representatives included Said， Spivak and Baba. Post-colonialists focus on two fields. The first is focusing on the post-colony， studying the post-colonial localization culture， that is， how cultural practice is colonized. The second is focusing on the mother countries， diachronically analyzing the culture and hegemony of the imperialist countries in order to study their attitudes and approaches to colonial culture， and to criticize the cultural logic that is full of superiority. Another focus of post-colonialist criticism theory is the “other” created by colonialism. In postcolonial theory， Westerners are often referred to as subjective “self”， while colonial people are referred to as “colonial other”， or directly called “other”.
Most of Fanon’s researches started from the perspective of sociology， philosophy， and psychiatry， and his work inspired many anti-imperialist liberation movements. Fanon is also one of the most important black cultural critics in modern times. He explored black Africa from the perspective of black people and made the African study truly subject to the attention of Western scholars. Compared with today’s post-colonial studies， Fanon’s discourse was a little bit superficial. But the issues he raised at the time， the methods discussed， as well as a set of assumptions and terminology all lay a solid foundation to the latter post-colonial studies.
2. The Analysis of The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye is based on spiritual slavery suffered by African Americans around 1941. At that time， African Americans suffered the “spiritual enslavement” of white Americans who tried hard to use culture to wipe out the ancient and primitive traditions of black people. Although the dehumanized manual labour of African American and the action of American whites selling blacks to the Americas as slave blacks are over， black people in the south America are still suffered the poverty and racism everywhere. The evil consequence of “spiritual enslavement” is that some black people are relishing a material life that they are happy to improve. Pecola is unable to speak of the suffering she suffered and is unable to rebel against this widespread racist feeling of inferiority. Throughout the history， the sense of inferiority of the black race was deliberately tempered and consolidated by the white mainstream society. Lies are woven into truth， and the black race has long lived in a political context where prejudice is rationally institutionalized. Science has become a tool to explain the rationality of slavery and racism. The philosopher demonized the dark race. The black man’s body is used， defiled， destroyed， and defined according to the white man. After a long period of dark period of slavery， the racist ideology of white supremacy continued to spread indiscriminately， continuing to influence and dominate the spirit and flesh of the black people.In this novel， Morrison answered how the feeling of inferiority can be rooted in the child’s heart and answered the most fundamental reason for the inferiority of the race.
Not only does Pecola suffer pressure of the racist environment， it is even more tragic that her parents does not give her any power to against white values and aesthetics. Pecola’s parents （Breedlove family） are poor blacks who have moved from the South to the northern towns in pursuit of their aspirations. Because of the impact of the glamorous Hollywood films， Pauline， her mother， could no longer face her own home. Soon she found a job as a maid in a white home. The white couple is well-to-do， well-behaved and has a lovely doll-like child. She loyally commits herself to the duties as a servant. The full meaning of her life lies in the job. However， Pauline kept this order and beauty only for herself， and never brought them home and brought to her child. Growing in such a family， Pecola is afraid of growing up， afraid of others， and afraid of life.
In The Bluest Eyes， by telling Pecola’s tragic life， Morrison showed readers a black community developed with the internalized white cultural values. They are negated because of their different races， and therefore they lose their awareness of themselves. This idea is just like the issue of “ethnicity” and “identity” referred by Fanon. Fanon once said that ethnic classification belongs to the social category and it is a prejudice from a group against another group of people. The concept of “race” can limit people’s thinking. While “Identity” is self-consciousness that is the product of imagination. It produced by the interaction between self and non-self. And he once said， “The colonists had to incorporate their images in the colonists’ eyes into their self-images and imitate their differences in the eyes of the colonists according to the requirements of the colonists.” Fanon revealed the mutual effect between psychological factors and political factors， and clarifies that colonialism not only affects society， but also affects individuals， leading to the alienation of blacks and self. Like the protagonist Pecola， she has always hinted that once she has a pair of blue eyes， she would be happier. And she eventually lost herself in the desire to chase blue eyes.
3.Conclusion
In conclusion， post-colonialism is the study of cultural-colonialism. And post-colonialists put their focuses on the study of colonized people’s culture. Just like The Bluest Eye， the African American people’s culture are dominated and changed by the so-called white “developed culture”， and the reason why black people have this trend is that they worship the white people’s value. In the process of pursuing white world， they gradually lost their identity. And that is why “race” and “identity” are the main topic of post-colonialists.
References：
[1]胡麗英，张传彪.最蓝的眼睛能给黑人带来什么——重读莫里森的最蓝的眼睛[J].西南农业大学学报2009，（2）：155-158.
[2]王守仁，吴新云.白人文化冲击之下黑人心灵——评莫里森的小说最蓝的眼睛[J].河南师范大学学报，2000，（27）：124-129.
[3]孟庆梅，姚玉杰.莫里森最蓝的眼睛民族文化身份缺失之悲剧与思考[J].西北大学学报，2010，（4）：174-176.