Patriarchy and a Disciplined Woman
Perspective from Sula and Foucault’s Disciplinary Power
These authors contributed equally.
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.220706.063How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Sula; Disciplinary power; Patriarchy
- Abstract
A considerable quantity of feminist investigations of Toni Morrison’s Sula has appeared in previous studies, most of which focus on the image of Sula’s rebellion against patriarchal society, which in most cases is perceived as a triumph. However, Sula’s fate turns out to be tragic, suggesting that her resistance may have been ineffective. This essay analyses the essence of Sula’s rebellion and the discipline she suffers in the context of the theory on disciplinary power proposed by Michel Foucault in his work Discipline and Punish. The study finds that, in a pragmatic sense, Sula is a representative black woman who is disciplined. In spite of her brave attempt, the ultimate goal of getting rid of patriarchal oppression is still not realized. Based on the above analysis, this research provides an insightful perspective for understanding Sula’s resistance and contributes to comprehending the power relations between two genders, and how oppressed women in a patriarchal society can seek independence and freedom.
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Yuxi Liao AU - Xiaowen Liu AU - Wentao Wang AU - Yuting Zhu PY - 2022 DA - 2022/07/14 TI - Patriarchy and a Disciplined Woman BT - Proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange(ICLACE 2022) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 311 EP - 314 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220706.063 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.220706.063 ID - Liao2022 ER -