الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 139 |  |  |
| | | from | 139 | | |
Abstract
This thesis attempts an ecofeminist study of two contemporary novels, Housekeeping (1980) by Marilynne Robinson and The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker. Ecofeminist readings explore and analyze a relationship between women and nature in literary texts. Ecofeminism strongly holds that the ideology that allows the domination of women (sexism) is the same that allows the degradation of the natural environment (speciesism). It, therefore, intersects with several theoretical disciplines; feminism, ecocriticism, and post-colonialism.
The thesis will explore, on the one hand, how both narratives provide a critique of the oppression of women in contemporary white American and African-American societies and the parallel abuse of nature. It attempts to explore how the chosen novels are not only examples of feminist speculations, but also address wider issues of discrimination based on race, class or species. On the other, the thesis seeks to reveal that Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple are both feminist utopias with some elements of dystopias within them. In addition to that, it seeks to explore the meaning of utopian thought and eco-utopian elements in the texts (utopia being an aspect of eco-feminism) and the means of female empowerment for the female characters through the creation of a new feminist eco-utopian space. The authors of the two works are contemporary American and Afro-American women writers of best-selling novels, non-fiction and poetry. They are also winners of notable awards and political activists.
Ecofeminism as an emerging field asserts the connections between women’s rights and environment. It finds in the abuse of the environment and the subjugation of women a similar patriarchal and hierarchical paradigm. Thus, this thesis aims to draw parallels between the way Marilynne Robinson and Alice Walker regard the state of women and nature. By providing a critical reading of the two primary texts, Housekeeping and The Color Purple, this thesis focuses on their feminist and ecological aspects with special reference to the utopian context.
The methodology that is employed in the thesis attempts to study the relationship between women’s subjugation and the abuse of nature in the two works by applying a feminist reading (ecofeminist in particular) and a postcolonial reading (postcolonial ecocriticism in particular). The thesis notes that both texts depict white American and Afro-American female protagonists and other female characters through their journey of self-realization and liberation. Thus, a close examination of feminist utopian and dystopian elements in both novels is also applied.
Key words: Ecofeminism, Ecology, Feminism, Feminist Utopia, Dystopia, Journey, Postcolonial, Afro-American and White American, Liberation, Self-realization, Empowerment
2. Aim of the study:
The aim of this thesis is to prove the hypothesis that there is a relationship which can be traced between the texts of Marilynne Robinson and Alice Walker. The two contemporary writers seem to criticize the patriarchy of the American and Afro-American societies. Moreover, they shed light on several forms of discrimination such as racism, the double oppression of women and the parallel oppression and degradation of nature. The thesis also explores aspects of women’s utopian literature and how ecofeminism and women liberation are featured in both Housekeeping (1980) and The Color Purple (1982). It also seeks to find an answer to the question of whether Robinson and Walker believe in or oppose the basic dualism in the Western thought. Moreover, it investigates the similarities and differences between the two authors’ beliefs and visions.
3. Significance of the study:
The value of the study is that it studies both Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping (1980) and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (1982) from an ecofeminist perspective, especially that not much work have been done on these two works. The thesis help appreciate the two works of art and their authors from an ecofeminist point of view. It also examines the similarities and differences between the techniques of both writers being representatives of white and African American societies.
4. Research questions:
The purpose of this research is to answer the following questions:
1. How do the texts under study explore the relationship between women’s subjugation and that of nature?
2. How do Marilynne Robinson and Alice Walker portray the liberation and empowerment of women?
3. How do the two texts create a new feminist eco-utopian space?
5. The chapterization of the thesis:
This study is divided into three chapters. Chapter One acts as an introductory chapter that gives literary and theoretical backgrounds to the works under study and their writers. It hints at some biographical information in both Marilynne Robinson and Alice Walker’s Lives and capitalizes upon the circumstances that spurred them to write eco-feminist works. It sheds light on the definition of ecology in its broad sense and ecofeminism in particular putting the thesis in its framework. The chapter also includes an explanation for the feminist utopian and dystopian literature. It elaborates on some biographical incidents in the lives of the authors of the works under study that triggered their ecological feminist writings.
The following chapters discuss in more detail the framework of the thesis and offers application to the novels. Chapter Two is an illustration of the way Patriarchal societies in both white American and African-American communities abuse nature and women. It uses both novels under study to show the link drawn between nature abuse and women subjugation. It examines in detail the different forms of patriarchal domination and discrimination of nature, woman and even non-western nations present at some points in the works under study.
Chapter Three tackles how female characters in both Robinson’s Housekeeping and Walker’s The Color Purple resist patriarchal domination placed upon them. It unveils the authors’ reactions to the patriarchal domination of each society and shows whether they have different or similar attitudes towards the same issue. The chapter also sheds light on the idea of travelling and changing landscape as peculiar to women liberation and developing a sense of self-awareness and realization. The chapter also tackles how both texts reflect towards their ends tendencies of feminist utopias.
6. Findings and Results:
The Conclusion comes as an evaluation of the questions raised in the thesis. It summarizes the arguments and it concludes that both Robinson and Walker in the works under study show that the women characters in the narratives tend to draw strength from their natural surroundings gaining self-realization and liberation. It assesses the findings of the study and shows the similarities and differences in the authors’ visions, reactions and resolutions