『태양속의 건포도』에 나타난 흑인 여성의 정체성 탐구

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the lives of three colored subaltern women in a predominantly white society based on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. This study will also reveal the hardships given by whites towards these women and the ways these women overcome the challenges and difficulties presented. Subaltern is a racial, social and political term used by Gayatri Spivak to refer to sexually marginalized, colored, or third-world women. In A Raisin in the Sun we can see three colored women, Ruth, Beneatha and Mama who have different dreams and desires. Although their dreams vary from each other, all these three women refuse to limit their roles that society has placed on them. Ruth is a typical 1950s housewife who devotes herself to her family so she shows the difficulties of being a working-class mother in poverty. When it comes to seeking dreams, Ruth acts passively compared to Mama and Beneatha because she has to struggle for physical needs in her life. Beneatha is an intellectual woman in her twenties who wants to find out her own identity which is rooted in Africa. Beneatha is very assertive to people who are against her ideas and she is more active in the pursuit of her dreams than Ruth. Lastly, Mama is an old lady who has wit and generosity. This helps her family overcome the hard times they have together. Mama also plays an important role as a leader. She makes a big decision to move her family out of the ghetto to try and obtain freedom and equality for her family with white people in their society. Rather than passively living their lives, these three women show positive participation to actively solve their problems. It is Hansberry's tremendous contribution to enlighten subaltern women's ideas by permitting them to express their voices positively and giving them a chance to get out of the ghetto so that they can have better lives.