本文是一篇英语论文，本研究以斯拉沃热•齐泽克的暴力理论与帕尔的暴力冰山模型为理论依据，以后殖民主义、女性主义为批评方法，分析《地下铁道》与《黑男孩》中的主观暴力、体系暴力以及象征暴力，并进一步探索了三种暴力之间的内在关联以及黑人在暴力之下的成长选择。
Chapter One “Nowhere to Hide”: Subjective Violence From Plantation to Reformatory
1.1 “White Men Eating You Up”: Lynching, Abuse and Sexual Assault
During the periods of American slavery and racial segregation depicted in The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, African Americans were constantly oppressed by whites. In the era of slavery, African American slaves suffered beatings, abuse, and even lynching. After the abolition of slavery, forms of violence such as lynching gradually disappeared from the public view, but other forms of subjective violence still existed in American society. In addition to the subjective violence against the entire African American community, African American women also have to endure even more brutal oppression.
1.1.1 Spectacle Lynching and Castrated Body: Lynching at the Randall Plantation and the Freedom Trail
Lynching is one of the most prominent forms of physical violence depicted in The Underground Railroad. In American Lynching, Rushdy states that Cutler defined lynching as ―punishment executed by a mob or a group of individuals in an illegal and summary manner, with the perpetrators acting to some extent as the agents of public sentiment in their community‖ in 1905 (8). In 1940, after lengthy and intense debates and compromises, representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, and Tuskegee Institute provided what has been the most influential definition to date. In American Lynching, Rushdy explains ―according to this definition, the elements of lynching are: 1) There is a killing; 2) The killing is illegal; 3) No fewer than three individuals participate in the killing; 4) The perpetrators act in the name of justice or tradition‖ (ix.19 - 20).
1.2 “Colored Folk Also Eating You Up”: Internalization of Racial Violence
The violence within the black community represents the internalization and perpetuation of racial tensions, which is a significant issue faced by the black community. Therefore, Whitehead not only depicts the violence inflicted on black people by whites in The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, but also reveals the psychological distortions that some black individuals experience when confronted with harsh survival challenges and a hostile social environment. Influenced by white values and racial conflicts, extreme selfishness and the loss of moral principles lead some black people to commit atrocities against the vulnerable within their own community, effectively becoming accomplices to the white oppressors and further deepening the suffering of the African American community. Thus, in this section, the analysis will focus on the bullying of vulnerable groups within the black community, the sexual abuse of black women by black men and the deformed motherhood.
Chapter Two “The Only Lever to Move the World”: Systemic Violence in Judiciary, Education and Healthcare
2.1 “A Rigged Machine Suppressing the Blacks”: Systemic Violence in the Judiciary
The injustice of legal institutions is one manifestation of systemic violence. Generally speaking, judicial institutions, as organs of state power, can effectively suppress overt violent conflicts through coercive force. However, it is ironic that the American judicial system has not only failed to eliminate violence against African Americans but has actually become a driving force and facilitator of such violence. In The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead denounces the systemic violence within the white legal system from the perspectives of legislation, law enforcement, and the prison system.
2.1.1 “Bumptious Contact”: Discrimination Against the Blacks in the Law
From the standpoint of legislation and law enforcement, in order to protect white interests and maintain a racist regime, white people have regarded African Americans as an inferior group when formulating laws. The trajectory of the United States from slavery to segregation has imposed legal restrictions on black people, who are considered ―subhuman beings of an inferior order‖ (Higginbotham 45). Due to their distinct physical differences, the rift between whites and blacks is widened and reinforced by state laws, which grants whites immense power over blacks. In The Ghost of Jim Crow, Higginbotham traces the creation and evolution of this racial paradigm, which has been established with the arrival of black people in America. Black people are denied the right to vote, own property, or receive education. State laws imposed harsher punishments on black people than on whites for the same crimes (86).
2.2 “Getting That Uppity Black”: Systemic Violence in Education
Violence in educational institutions primarily refers to violent acts committed by individuals with specific identities within schools. Corporal punishment of students by teachers and administrators is one of the most common forms of violence‖ (Iadicola and Shupe 35). Other forms of violence mainly include ―standardized systems, exclusive teaching practices, and the use of punitive measures‖ (Epp and Watkinson xi), whose Victims are often marginalized groups outside the mainstream of ―white, heterosexual, Christian, physically and mentally able-bodied, and English-speaking middle-class male students‖ (Epp and Watkinson 2-3). It is evident that corporal punishment only reflects the tip of the iceberg of violence in educational institutions. Hierarchies and unequal treatment based on race, gender, religious beliefs, and other factors form the basis of multiple discriminatory behaviors within educational institutions. This type of violence is more covert and has a more profound negative impact on students‘ identity formation. Meanwhile, educational institutions are widely perceived as fair and just, highly authoritative and important institutions for disseminating knowledge and nurturing talent, which easily masks the negative effects generated in their operations.
Chapter Three ―American Imperative‖ and ―Indiscriminate Spite‖: Symbolic Violence in Discourse and Religion .......................... 59
3.1 ―Indiscriminate Spite‖: Symbolic Violence in Discourse ....................... 59
3.1.1 Objectification and Animalization: Stigmatization of the Blacks .......................... 60
3.1.2 The Museum of Natural Wonders: Subversion of African American History ....... 62
Chapter Four ―Do the Blacks Have a Future?‖: Growth of the Blacks Under Violence............... 71
4.1 ―Black Boys Having No Future‖: Anti-Growth Under Violence ..................................... 71
4.1.1 Anti-Growth Under Identity Loss: the Blacks With the White Mask .................... 72
4.1.2 Anti-Growth Under Trauma: Loss and Compliance of Nickel Boys ..................... 75
Conclusion ...................................... 89
Chapter Four “Do the Blacks Have a Future?”: Growth of the Blacks Under Violence
4.1 “Black Boys Having No Future”: Anti-Growth Under Violence
In the works of African American writers, it is common for them to use the growth experiences of the protagonists in foreign countries as a theme. However, due to the complex social environment and the discrimination against the African American community in the United States, the growth of these adolescents becomes extremely difficult. In order to reflect the real situation of the African American community in the United States, many protagonists fail to complete their growth. The problem of ―arrested development‖ (Esty, 2012: 6), ―stunted youth‖ (Esty, 2012: 3) or ―suspended state‖ (Harrison 95) becomes even more conspicuous in these novels. Therefore, anti-growth also becomes one of the common themes in the novels of African American writers. ―The central proposition of anti-growth novels is that the protagonist‘s growth process is fatally disrupted by themselves or the environment. There is basically no possibility of personal integration into society or changing their destiny. The growth is aborted midway or even regresses‖ (Wu Yueming 101).
Conclusion
The issue of violence has been deeply embedded in the historical context, social structure, and cultural traditions of the United States. Racial violence, in particular, has been a persistent feature of American society. Whitehead argues that ―racial violence only becomes more vicious in its expression‖ (Whitehead, 2016: 315). Racial violence in the United States has continuously evolved; it has never disappeared but has simply transformed and hidden in more covert ways within people‘s lives. From the slavery for African Americans and the massacre of Native Americans, to the present day, while subjective violence may have decreased, deeply entrenched systemic and symbolic violence remain. These forms of systemic violence are manifested in the psychological oppression, social exclusion, and economic exploitation of minority groups. Despite progress made in American society through movements like the Civil Rights Movement, the shadow of racial violence still looms over the land. In recent years, the resurgence of extreme racist ideologies and the frequent occurrence of violent racist incidents have made many African American writers acutely aware of the severity of this issue.
Whitehead uses his works to demonstrate that the prejudices of race have sown seeds in people‘s minds, and discrimination and violence against different races remain pervasive. Whether in The Underground Railroad, which represents the period of slavery, or in The Nickel Boys, which depicts the era of racial segregation, violence continues to impact the growth and development of African Americans. Whitehead not only boldly describes the subjective violence suffered by African Americans during the slavery period but also keenly perceives the hidden systemic and symbolic violence.
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