Abstract
AbstractRecent scholarship on Alice Walker’s The Color Purple(1982) and Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle StopCafe (1987) has focused on the similar issues of female-bonding in search for and development of a mature female self-identity, sexist oppression, the comparison between the novel and its film version, and the lesbian relationship. Discussions of lesbianism in the two novels, however, concentrate mainly on genre and lesbian stereotypes. In The Color Purple, lesbianism (mother-daughter bond) is defined by the way of physically sexual experiences with women (like Celie and Shug), failing to explore the diverse facets of female “erotic”___an emotional, psychic, and intellectual level___to subvert heterosexuality. This thesis aims to re-interpret and re-analyze the subversive female “erotic” elements___including not just physical sexuality (Celie and Shug) but also diverse, spiritual facets and forms of female-bonding (Celie and Shug in The Color Purple and Idgie and Ruth in Fried Green Tomatoes) in terms of lesbian feminism; moreover, I shall examine how they transgress the law of heterosexuality and examine how the two novels reconstruct social union which hopes to dissolve racism, sexism, and homophobia. Through the analyses of lesbianism in the two novels, I would like to argue that the relationship with men is not the only acceptable option for women and that the code of compulsory heterosexuality is questionable.This thesis includes six chapters. In Chapter One, I shall survey the recent scholarship on the two novels and explain the purpose of my thesis and its structure. In Chapter Two, I shall first define lesbianism as well as lesbians and then elaborate their lesbian erotic elements in the two novels. For Celie and Shug, I shall analyze their “erotic” from the physical and spiritual level. As for Idgie and Ruth, I shalll focus on two forms___voiced outbursts of emotions and voiceless female gaze of lesbians, involving desexualized emotional intensity and the fluidity of female desire.In Chapter Three, I shall first define heterosexuality and then analyze the transgression of the law of heterosexuality in the two novels. According to Monique Wittig's and Judith Butler's viewpoints, the issues of how “homosexual family versus heterosexual family,” “the fluidity of femininity and masculinity,” and “the concept of God” transgress the law of heterosexuality will be dealt with in this chapter. In Chapter Four, I shall examine how the two novels reach social integration in which racism, sexism, and homophobia are erased. “Folkspants Unlimited”in The Color Purple and“The Whistle Stop Cafe” in Fried Green Tomatoes are symbolic of a significant and an effective “Unified Universe” for the subversion of patriarchy. The patriarchal society and its multiple sins of sexism, racism, and homophobia will thereby be dissolved into the concept of wholeness.In Chapter Five, I shall compare the representation of lesbianism in the two novels and then argue whether they are male-bashing novels or not. Finally, in Chapter Six, I shall discuss the social status of the lesbians as well as their deprived rights and summarize the achievement of the two authors in their creation of a new and positive notion of lesbianism so as to challenge the oppressive stereotypes. In so doing, the readers can fairly and broadly understand lesbianism and overcome the homophobic attitude.