董妍

【Abstract】Toni Morrison is a dazzling star in American literature. She was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993 and became the first American black female writer laurelled. In her amazing novel Beloved， Beloved symbolizes the history of American black women， while three generations of womens attitudes toward Beloved represent three kinds of typical American black feminist conceptions of history forming gradually in their life experiences. In tragic Beloved， Morrisons narrating the authentic predicament of black women from unique angle not only lets people feel misery they suffer mightily and deeply， but also shows the strength of black women and their self-growth. Although the path of development is overgrown with brambles， black women have grown up after efforts of many generations， just like the moment torturous black butterflies getting out from the shell， they performs prismatic dance.

【Key Words】 Beloved; American black feminist conception of history; black butterflies getting out from the shell

Black Feminist Conception of History in Beloved

Symbolism of “Beloved”

In order to comprehend the American black feminist conception of history， it is necessary for us to understand the background of this literary image Beloved. There is a pair of contradictory sources; one concludes African stories about ghosts and gods， which are worshipped by the African black in their traditional religion. A ghost is a disembodied soul， having its own life and desire similar to human beings. If the living didnt fulfill their obligation to the dead， the ghost would turn into a vicious specter， doing evil to tormenting the living people. The other source refers to the Bible doctrines， Mose Exodus in particular， accepted by the African black， reflecting their reluctance of bearing the dilemma and eagerness of returning hometown. We can clearly feel that Beloved is an epitome of a mass of black slaves dreaming of going back home.

Because of filling up with symbols， for the reading public， Beloved is more an allegory insinuating reality than a Gothic novel which it often is categorized into. Not adding article to Beloved， a quoted name from the Bible， the author aims at turning an adjective into a noun directly so as to symbolize black womens humiliating history， which contains oppression and destruction form the white society as well as indifference and contempt from the black men. The objection of this description should be the bitter past that is unwilling to recall other than Beloved in the novel; apart from the identity of a vengeful ghost， Beloved symbolizes the haunted shadow shrouding American black womens hearts to a larger extent. With a delicate emotion of a female， Toni Morrison adopts multidimensional narrative， making the fiction like leaves from the mental portfolio of a person who forgets his past desperately instead of writing in accordance with the sequence of events， which innuendoes contemporary American black womens subtle attitude towards wishing to speak out their own miserable history， but stop on a second thought.

Interpretations of three types of American black feminist conception of history in Beloved

In the novel， three generations of black women have different attitudes towards Beloved. After having comprehended Beloveds symbolizing the humiliating and miserable history of American black women， we can find that three different attitudes are representing three types of American black feminist conception of history.

Baby Suggs

The American black feminist conception which Baby Suggs stands for consists of two aspects： one is her obsessed with historical source of the African black， for example， she holds religious gatherings at a place called the Clearing， where she teaches her followers to love their voices， bodies and minds. This behavior is not only originated from her cognition and plaint about tenacious vitality， but also from her paying homage to the black identity. The fresh is what a person cannot choose， but a thing will be accompanied by a lifetime. As a factor that defines people living in a certain society， history also has the same characteristic. In fact， the love for the black body is the recognition and perseverance of their identity as well as an answer to a question “Where are we from？” asked by lots of the confused black people. After praising her own identity and the body of a black person， Baby Suggs calls for all of black womens love for their hearts. From Baby Suggss emphasis on love for the minds of the black men， we can apparently learn that her summon is especially for the black women， while the black man are excluded. Her shouting to the black women who have the responsibility of creating birth focuses their attention on stressing on their own historical roots， listening to their inner voices anew and finding lost selves.

The other aspect is the powerlessness of tragic fate. She doesnt have her own name; over-fatigue makes her walk like a three-legged dog; she doesnt know what her children looks like and where they are buried. The only experience gained from the history of American black women is that not believing and grating the white. Although her summon is regarded as the way of countless black womens emotional catharsis， it is merely an illusory spiritual ballast. Whats worse， they dont realize that it is slavery being the root of evils that causes all of misery; therefore， American black female history isnt a good medicine to cure their psychic trauma. Unfortunately， those women have never thought about using self-consciousness as weapon to fight against the reality to achieve the complete mental and physical liberation. On the contrary， seen from her attachment to colors in extremis， the cognition of a black womans identity and imagination of their historical source are just viewed as refuge and anesthetic for escaping painful reality.

Interpretations of three types of American black feminist conception of history in Beloved

In the novel， three generations of black women have different attitudes towards Beloved. After having comprehended Beloveds symbolizing the humiliating and miserable history of American black women， we can find that three different attitudes are representing three types of American black feminist conception of history.

Baby Suggs

The American black feminist conception which Baby Suggs stands for consists of two aspects： one is her obsessed with historical source of the African black， for example， she holds religious gatherings at a place called the Clearing， where she teaches her followers to love their voices， bodies and minds. This behavior is not only originated from her cognition and plaint about tenacious vitality， but also from her paying homage to the black identity. The fresh is what a person cannot choose， but a thing will be accompanied by a lifetime. As a factor that defines people living in a certain society， history also has the same characteristic. In fact， the love for the black body is the recognition and perseverance of their identity as well as an answer to a question “Where are we from？” asked by lots of the confused black people. After praising her own identity and the body of a black person， Baby Suggs calls for all of black womens love for their hearts. From Baby Suggss emphasis on love for the minds of the black men， we can apparently learn that her summon is especially for the black women， while the black man are excluded. Her shouting to the black women who have the responsibility of creating birth focuses their attention on stressing on their own historical roots， listening to their inner voices anew and finding lost selves.

The other aspect is the powerlessness of tragic fate. She doesnt have her own name; over-fatigue makes her walk like a three-legged dog; she doesnt know what her children looks like and where they are buried. The only experience gained from the history of American black women is that not believing and grating the white. Although her summon is regarded as the way of countless black womens emotional catharsis， it is merely an illusory spiritual ballast. Whats worse， they dont realize that it is slavery being the root of evils that causes all of misery; therefore， American black female history isnt a good medicine to cure their psychic trauma. Unfortunately， those women have never thought about using self-consciousness as weapon to fight against the reality to achieve the complete mental and physical liberation. On the contrary， seen from her attachment to colors in extremis， the cognition of a black womans identity and imagination of their historical source are just viewed as refuge and anesthetic for escaping painful reality.

Interpretations of three types of American black feminist conception of history in Beloved

In the novel， three generations of black women have different attitudes towards Beloved. After having comprehended Beloveds symbolizing the humiliating and miserable history of American black women， we can find that three different attitudes are representing three types of American black feminist conception of history.

Baby Suggs

The American black feminist conception which Baby Suggs stands for consists of two aspects： one is her obsessed with historical source of the African black， for example， she holds religious gatherings at a place called the Clearing， where she teaches her followers to love their voices， bodies and minds. This behavior is not only originated from her cognition and plaint about tenacious vitality， but also from her paying homage to the black identity. The fresh is what a person cannot choose， but a thing will be accompanied by a lifetime. As a factor that defines people living in a certain society， history also has the same characteristic. In fact， the love for the black body is the recognition and perseverance of their identity as well as an answer to a question “Where are we from？” asked by lots of the confused black people. After praising her own identity and the body of a black person， Baby Suggs calls for all of black womens love for their hearts. From Baby Suggss emphasis on love for the minds of the black men， we can apparently learn that her summon is especially for the black women， while the black man are excluded. Her shouting to the black women who have the responsibility of creating birth focuses their attention on stressing on their own historical roots， listening to their inner voices anew and finding lost selves.

The other aspect is the powerlessness of tragic fate. She doesnt have her own name; over-fatigue makes her walk like a three-legged dog; she doesnt know what her children looks like and where they are buried. The only experience gained from the history of American black women is that not believing and grating the white. Although her summon is regarded as the way of countless black womens emotional catharsis， it is merely an illusory spiritual ballast. Whats worse， they dont realize that it is slavery being the root of evils that causes all of misery; therefore， American black female history isnt a good medicine to cure their psychic trauma. Unfortunately， those women have never thought about using self-consciousness as weapon to fight against the reality to achieve the complete mental and physical liberation. On the contrary， seen from her attachment to colors in extremis， the cognition of a black womans identity and imagination of their historical source are just viewed as refuge and anesthetic for escaping painful reality.