The Melancholic Subject : Exploring Loss and Relationships in African American and Asian American Fiction

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to closely examine the psychological effects of oppression for both African Americans and Asian Americans. The fiction created by writers of these ethnic groups and the characters they create that are of these ethnic groups are the subject of my inquiry. Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Alice Walker's The Third Life of Grange Copeland, and Fae Myenne Ng's Bone are the selected novels under investigation. This thesis asks readers to consider the following questions: How do minority groups escape repression? How do African American men and women feel about themselves and their communities, when they are taught by US society to hate themselves? How does the noncitizen define him/herself? How do children of immigrants end up feeling about themselves? A common thread linking all of these questions together is the psychological response of the individual to a dominant, racist society. Through a psychoanalytic lens, the following chapters use Freud's classic theory of mourning and melancholia, as well Eng and Han's modern revision of his theories, to explore the thoughts, words, and actions of each writer's melancholic characters.