الفهرس | يوجد فقط 14 صفحة متاحة للعرض العام |
المستخلص Postcolonial theory generally deals with issues of otherness, mimicry, and identity. The characters in both novels deal with issues of identity that are often triggered by the white, Eurocentric ideals they are expected to conform to. This thesis focuses on these identity crises, with particular focus on the concept of beauty and how the characters are affected by Eurocentric beauty standards. The researcher also examines how the characters navigate and negotiate these beauty standards and determine whether or not they redefine and reclaim beauty for themselves or if they succumb to the definitions imposed on them. Chapter one discusses Chimamanda Adichie’s novel Americanah. It examines beauty and race in the novel as seen through a postcolonial lens. Some of the points explored are the politics of “kinky” or tightly-coiled hair, exoticism, the idea of the “other”, and resistance within Ifemelu’s spatial and temporal context. Chapter two tackles Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in a similar fashion. Some of the points discussed are colorism, internalized racism, mimicry, the “gaze” and looking relations, and how oppressive beauty standards are both imposed on and propagated by some of the characters in the novel. The theme of resistance will also be explored in the same manner as in chapter one. In the conclusion, contemporary American pop culture is used to summarize the main points explored in both chapters. |