Representation of Violence in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in line with the New Historicism

Dilek Arslan

Makale detayları

Representation of Violence in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in line with the New Historicism

Yazarlar:

Dilek Arslan

Yayıncı:

Istanbul Aydin University

Ana Başlıklar:

İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü

Dergi:

International Journal of Media Culture and Literature Vol.10 Issue 2, pp.91-112

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001340964

pISSN:

2149-5475

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 Violence might be seen frequently among African Americans. In fact, violence among Afro-Americans dates back to old slavery times, and it is associated directly with racism, as well. Moreover, during the Jim Crow Era, Afro-Americans experienced unbearable inequalities and discrimination. During their fight against discrimination, they had a lot number of casualties in the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. In particular, being women in the Afro-American community was double jeopardy, as they were both women and black. Consequently, gender-based violence is apparent in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, as well. Women characters are severely exposed to violence in these books. In this group, the violence is seen as a common problem; people encounter several challenges and try to survive. Violence is common in both novels; however, the course of events affects the characters differently. The protagonist of The Bluest Eye, Pecola, as a child can only pray to God for the solution to the violence around her, cannot fight against violence, and goes mad at the end; on the other hand, the protagonist of The Color Purple, Celie, struggles against violence, becomes strong, and escapes from violence in the end. Alice Walkers concept of womanisms reflection can be seen at the end of The Color Purple in terms of the womens emancipation. As a matter of fact, with the intention of demonstrating the violence problems more effectively in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, the novels are investigated in their social, cultural, historical, or political context within the framework of the new historicism movement. Accordingly, in this study, the purpose is to investigate the gender-based representation of the physical, psychological, and sexual violence in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye and in Alice Walkers The Color Purple consistent with the new historicism.

 Violence might be seen frequently among African Americans. In fact, violence among Afro-Americans dates back to old slavery times, and it is associated directly with racism, as well. Moreover, during the Jim Crow Era, Afro-Americans experienced unbearable inequalities and discrimination. During their fight against discrimination, they had a lot number of casualties in the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. In particular, being women in the Afro-American community was double jeopardy, as they were both women and black. Consequently, gender-based violence is apparent in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, as well. Women characters are severely exposed to violence in these books. In this group, the violence is seen as a common problem; people encounter several challenges and try to survive. Violence is common in both novels; however, the course of events affects the characters differently. The protagonist of The Bluest Eye, Pecola, as a child can only pray to God for the solution to the violence around her, cannot fight against violence, and goes mad at the end; on the other hand, the protagonist of The Color Purple, Celie, struggles against violence, becomes strong, and escapes from violence in the end. Alice Walkers concept of womanisms reflection can be seen at the end of The Color Purple in terms of the womens emancipation. As a matter of fact, with the intention of demonstrating the violence problems more effectively in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, the novels are investigated in their social, cultural, historical, or political context within the framework of the new historicism movement. Accordingly, in this study, the purpose is to investigate the gender-based representation of the physical, psychological, and sexual violence in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye and in Alice Walkers The Color Purple consistent with the new historicism.

 Violence might be seen frequently among African Americans. In fact, violence among Afro-Americans dates back to old slavery times, and it is associated directly with racism, as well. Moreover, during the Jim Crow Era, Afro-Americans experienced unbearable inequalities and discrimination. During their fight against discrimination, they had a lot number of casualties in the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. In particular, being women in the Afro-American community was double jeopardy, as they were both women and black. Consequently, gender-based violence is apparent in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, as well. Women characters are severely exposed to violence in these books. In this group, the violence is seen as a common problem; people encounter several challenges and try to survive. Violence is common in both novels; however, the course of events affects the characters differently. The protagonist of The Bluest Eye, Pecola, as a child can only pray to God for the solution to the violence around her, cannot fight against violence, and goes mad at the end; on the other hand, the protagonist of The Color Purple, Celie, struggles against violence, becomes strong, and escapes from violence in the end. Alice Walkers concept of womanisms reflection can be seen at the end of The Color Purple in terms of the womens emancipation. As a matter of fact, with the intention of demonstrating the violence problems more effectively in The Bluest Eye and The Color Purple, the novels are investigated in their social, cultural, historical, or political context within the framework of the new historicism movement. Accordingly, in this study, the purpose is to investigate the gender-based representation of the physical, psychological, and sexual violence in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye and in Alice Walkers The Color Purple consistent with the new historicism.

 Afrikan Amerikalılarda şiddet yaygın olarak gözlemlenebilmektedir. Hatta öyle ki, Afro-Amerikanlılarda şiddet, doğrudan ırkçılıkla da bağlantılı olarak, eski kölelik zamanlarına dayanmaktadır. Daha da fazlası, Afrikan Amerikalılar Jim Crow döneminde, dayanılamaz eşitsizlik ve ayrımcılığa maruz kaldılar. Ayrımcılığa karşı mücadeleleri süresince Amerikan İç Savaşında ve Sivil Haklar Hareketinde çok sayıda ölü ve yaralı verdiler. Özellikle, Afro-Amerikan toplumunda kadın olmak, hem kadın oldukları hem de siyah oldukları için çifte tehlike yaratan bir durumdu. Dolayısıyla, toplumsal cinsiyete dayalı şiddet, En Mavi Göz ve Renklerden Moru romanlarında da tüm çıplaklığıyla gözlemlenebilmektedir. Bu kitaplarda kadınlar ciddi bir şekilde şiddete maruz kalmaktadır. Bu toplumlarda şiddet sıradan görülmektedir, insanlar pek çok zorlukla karşılaşmaktadırlar ve hayatta kalmaya çalışmaktadırlar. Şiddet her iki romanda da ortaktır ama olayların gidişatı buna rağmen karakterleri farklı şekillerde etkilemektedir. En Mavi Göz romanının ana karakteri Pecola bir çocuk olarak etrafındaki şiddetin çözümü için yalnızca Tanrıya yalvarabilir, şiddetle baş edemez ve sonunda aklını kaybeder, diğer yandan Renklerden Moru romanının ana karakteri Celie şiddete karşı savaşır, güçlenir ve sonunda şiddetten kurtulur. Renklerden Moru romanının sonundaki kadınların özgürleşmesi hususunda Alice Walkerın Kadıncılık kavramının etkili olduğu görülmektedir. Neticede, En Mavi Göz ve Renklerden Moru romanlarında incelenen şiddet sorunlarını sosyal, kültürel, tarihsel, ya da siyasi bağlamında daha iyi aktarabilmek adına romanlar yeni tarihselcilik akımı kapsamında incelenmiştir. Dolayısıyla, bu çalışmadaki amaç yeni tarihselcilik doğrultusunda Toni Morrisonun En Mavi Göz ve Alice Walkerın Renklerden Moru romanlarında görülen toplumsal cinsiyete dayalı fiziksel, psikolojik ve cinsel şiddet tasvirlerini incelemektir.

Makale detayları

Representation of Violence in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in line with the New Historicism

Yazarlar:

Dilek Arslan

Yayıncı:

Istanbul Aydin University

Ana Başlıklar:

İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü

Dergi:

International Journal of Media Culture and Literature Vol.10 Issue 2, pp.91-112

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001340964

pISSN:

2149-5475

Violence

The Bluest Eye

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

Toni Morrison

New HistoricismŞiddet

En Mavi Göz

Renklerden Moru

Alice Walker

Toni Morrison

Yeni Tarihselcilik

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Dilek Arslan

Yayıncı: Istanbul Aydin University

Ana Başlıklar: İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü

Dergi: International Journal of Media Culture and Literature Vol.10 Issue 2, pp.91-112

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 12/2025

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2001340964

pISSN: 2149-5475

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Dilek Arslan

Yayıncı:

Istanbul Aydin University

Ana Başlıklar:

İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili | Edebiyatı ve Kültürü

Dergi:

International Journal of Media Culture and Literature Vol.10 Issue 2, pp.91-112

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001340964

pISSN:

2149-5475