本文是一篇英语论文，笔者通过对《乐观者的女儿》中记忆书写的探析，可以窥见韦尔蒂作为美国新南方女性作家如何以细腻的笔触和独特的视角揭示腐朽且摇摇欲坠的旧南方社会，并为处于社会转型困境中的人们融入新南方提供出路。在对记忆的再现和重构中，韦尔蒂找到了个体摆脱旧的体系、制度、观念的新方式。
Chapter One Deconstruction of “Old South” Memory
1.1 The Disruption of Traditional Southern Cultural Memory
In The Optimist’s Daughter, elements such as Judge McKelva’s grand funeral ceremony, the elegant and sumptuous feast, and the carefully chosen clothing of the residents all represent Southern culture. Halbwachs puts forward that memory can be presented as a “physical object, a material reality […] and also a symbol, or something of spiritual significance” (201). Then, one of his theoretical successors, Jan Assmann, also pointed out that cultural memory plays a role in creating identity and social cohesion. It “fixes memories in a specific form to connect the norms that are commonly observed and the values that are collectively recognized” (Assmann 6-7). Embedded in a specific social framework, the cultural memory is imbued with spiritual meaning and can be preserved or reflected in rituals, clothing, and certain cultural symbols. A close reading of the text reveals that these cultural elements in the novel contain cultural memories of the Old South. They construct collective identities and continuously incorporate non-synchronic memory into the current social framework, thereby ensuring the historical continuity of memory. However, the memory framework of the old Southern society has long been shaken. The once stable and closed Southern town is now invaded by external cultures. After the impact and comparison, these cultural memories are fraught with falsehoods and deliberate constructions. Disruptions have emerged in the shared cultural memory, and the memory field of traditional Southern communities has long been shaken by the influx of other cultures, leading to a crisis in the collective identity of ethnic groups.
1.2 The Erosion of Traditional Southern Social Memory
The study of social memory has long centered on the concept of the “ethnic group”. Welty also focuses on the micro-society of the small town of Mount Salus and its carrier, the McKelva family, in The Optimist’s Daughter. “Clan is the kernel of Southern society” (King 256), and it is the smallest and most important social unit in the formation of Southern mythology. This kind of social community is based on myths or legends that create a strict hierarchy within and between groups and families. Moreover, the continuation of the clan gives rise to its social memory, an intangible reflection of the cultural customs and social patterns unique to a particular region. The term “social memory” is an important derivative of Halbwachs’ collective memory theory. According to his “social view”, one of the key significances of studying memory is its ability to reveal the underlying “society”, for example, through occupations, wealth, and tradition. This is demonstrated in a “spirit” that has been accumulated through ancient tradition. It is embodied in the name of the venerable and prominent McKelva family. The social memory of an ethnic group highlights the community’s inheritance of tradition, representing the collective dream of the small-town culture. It encompasses the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the Southern populace regarding the Southern region, Southern clans, and traditional Southern culture. Therefore, the residents take pride in their glorious history and esteemed status, and the collective memory of the McKelva is seen as impeccable.
Chapter Two Rewriting of Individual Memory by Collective Memory
2.1 Exposing “Pseudo Optimism” and Reconsidering Family Memory
The greatest change in Laurel’s personal memory is reflected in her memories of family. In On Collective Memory, Halbwachs elaborates on the relationship between family memory as individual memory and collective memory. “Family memories would be reduced to a series of successive pictures which would reflect above all the variations in feeling or thought of those who make up the domestic group” (54). In short, family memory is not a pure and simple reproduction of a series of individual impressions, but rather an expression of the attitudes of a certain group. At the same time, he also pointed out that “every family has its proper mentality, its memories which it alone commemorates, and its secrets that are revealed only to its members” (58).
Changes in Parental Relationship Memory
Within the framework of the old South, Laurel’s family memory has always been of loving parents and harmonious spouses. “Foremost in family memory are relations of kinship” (Halbwachs 62). This is not merely a reflection of Laurel’s personal family experience, but also representative of the familial relationships that were consistently created and revered by Southerners in that society:
Judge McKelva, the father, embodies the quintessential manners of a traditional Southern gentleman, while his wife, Becky, is the epitome of an elegant and refined Southern lady. Together, they form an ideal match, deeply in love and perfectly suited to one another. When Laurel was a little girl, she could often hear her mother reading stories to her father in the study. In return, her father would personally select exquisite gowns for her mother at parties, drawing envious glances from all the women in town. He doted on his daughter as well, and even during the war, when resources were scarce, he would go to great lengths to bring champagne and a black band to celebrate Laurel’s wedding. Her husband, Phil, was not only a partner but also a mentor and friend, often encouraging Laurel to live according to her own ideas. In the social context of the old South, everything in Laurel’s home seems so harmonious that she can’t stop indulging in fond memories of the past. For it is only in memories that her need for love and belonging can be truly satisfied.
2.2 Subverting Lady Image and Revising Intergenerational Memory
It is widely acknowledged that Southern family life is the main content of Welty’s novels, and intergenerational relationships are also an important part of family depiction. Therefore, Welty often takes the intergenerational conflict among family members to present the old and new conflicts in the process of Southern modernization. Intergenerational conflict “refers to the social phenomenon of differences, divisions, and conflicts that arise between different generations in terms of social ownership, values, and behavioral choices due to rapid changes in time and environmental conditions” (Zhou 67). In The Optimist’s Daughter, Laurel’s parents have long resided in the American South, while Laurel, despite growing up in Mississippi, lives and works in the northern city of Chicago. As a result, she has gradually distanced herself from the collective memory of Mount Salus, her hometown. Therefore, as the social background and historical culture are changed, and as the collective memory within the old Southern framework is deconstructed, her intergenerational memory is also subject to change.
Intergenerational Memory under Lady Culture
Lady culture is a product of the region’s idealization, with specific historical and cultural connotations. Southern men in the United States, known for their chivalry, have shaped the distinctive image of the "Southern lady" according to their ideals. As an idealized construct of collective historical memory, the Southern lady embodies the traditional gender norms of the South. As a result, gentleness and obedience, elegance and reserve have become defining characteristics of Southern women. Becky, the Judge’s first wife, is loyal to her husband and family, and even to her memories of the past. She makes herself a typical Southern lady.
Chapter Three Reconstruction of “New South” Memory ...................................... 58
3.1 Rethinking Ethnic Culture and Liberating from Memory Shackles .......... 59
3.2 Awakening Self-consciousness and Reshaping Memory Images .............. 64
3.3 Relieving Existential Anxiety and Taking Memory Responsibilities ........ 69
Conclusion .................................. 76
Chapter Three Reconstruction of “New South” Memory
3.1 Rethinking Ethnic Culture and Liberating from Memory Shackles
Welty sets up strongly colored memory symbols, which do not possess their own memories but can function as symbolic reminders that trigger one’s memory. The transmission of memory mainly depends on the physical memory carrier, and when the carrier disappears, it means the end of this memory. With the help of the always-remembered sign, “it suffices to look around ourselves, to think about others, and to locate ourselves within the social framework in order to retrieve them” (Halbwachs 173). They allow Laurel’s consciousness to travel back and forth between reality, memories, and the characters’ mental activities on an inner journey of discovery. People “recall particular images, each of which corresponds to a single fact or circumstance” (Halbwachs 70). The birds in the sewing room on a rainy night, the grandmother’s letter given to her, and Phil’s carefully crafted breadboard are all Laurel’s “memory triggers” of the past. The rejection of these shackles implies Laurel’s active giving up on the past, freeing herself from the constraints of the Southern community’s culture.
Releasing the Bird
Welty takes various memory symbols in her works to depict Laurel’s psychological changes, among which the image of the “bird” is fully added. It plays different memory functions in different parts of the novel, more directly and clearly pointing to Welty’s focus on memory than other symbols in her works.
Conclusion
Reconciling with the past through repetition, recollection, and effort, memory plays a significant role in the works of the Southern Renaissance. Memory is the only way for writers to take their readers back and build an understanding of the past during this period. As a rising star of the Southern Renaissance, Welty has a special preference for writing about memories. For her, memory makes life into art, and time returns everything it takes away from people. Standing on the threshold of the new era of the “Southern Renaissance”, Welty gives deeper meaning to memory. Though autobiographical, The Optimist’s Daughter is not merely personal recollections of Welty’s deceased loved ones, but is set deeply in the socio-cultural context of America in the 1950s and 1960s. The novel reflects the author’s contemplation on the post-World War II crisis of memory in the South and its resolution, which is intertwined with themes of history, family, and family relationships.
This study analyzes Southerners’ memory transformation from deconstruction to reconstruction. With the social changes in socio-politics and culture, the traditional memory framework of the old South disintegrates, leading to significant transformations in memories and the inner world of Southerners. In essence, this process of memory change reflects the characters’ journey of self-analysis, self-reflection, and awakening of self-awareness as they reacquaint themselves with their region and people.
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