In diesem kurzen Essay geht es um Afro-Amerikaner, deren Herkunft und Traditionen. Es geht darum, wie die Herkunft Gefühle, Materielles, Traditionen und vieles mehr über Generationen hinweg beeinflusst. Zudem geht es um die Afro-Amerikanische Kultur im generellen und wie unterschiedlich Menschen diese in Alice Walkers Kurzgeschichte "Everyday Use" wahrnehmen bzw. wahrgenommen haben.
Diese Hausarbeit stellt dar, wie unterschiedlich die Charaktere in der Kurzgeschichte Ihre Herkunft und die damit einhergehenden Traditionen verstehen und leben, indem dessen Afro-Amerikanische Kultur von der familiären Kultur getrennt wird. Es zeigt auch den Konflikt verschiedener Generationen und deren Ansichten.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. PERSONALITIES SHOWN THROUGH
2.1. Coming from the Civil Rights Movement
2.2. Valuing Traditions: The Independent Character
3. DEVELOPED CONFLICTS
3.1. Generation differences on lifestyle
3.2. Identity conflict
4. CONCLUSION
5. WORKS CITED
Objectives and Themes
This paper examines Alice Walker’s short story "Everyday Use" to analyze the contrasting understandings of cultural heritage and tradition among the characters. By exploring the perspectives of Mama, Maggie, and Dee, the work highlights how personal identity is shaped by African-American history and the specific socio-political context of the Civil Rights era.
- Analysis of African-American heritage versus materialist appropriation.
- Examination of character archetypes within the context of the Civil Rights movement.
- Evaluation of generational differences and lifestyle conflicts.
- Investigation of how familial identity is constructed and reconstructed.
Excerpt from the Book
2.2 Valuing Traditions: The independent character
Dee is one of the main characters of the story acting as a contrast to her mum and her sister with her different more superficial idea of heritage (White 1). In actuality to the expectations of her mother and sister, Dee does not appreciate her family’s heritage. Moreover, Dee does not take care of “the people themselves: her mother and her sister, her father, her grandmother or the aunt after whom she is named” (Donnelly 128). In fact, there are examples that show Dee is not interested in her family’s heritage until it becomes stylish. An example is that she calls the quilts provided by her mother before she left home for college “old-fashioned [and] out of style” (Walker 6).
It becomes more obvious when Dee tries to take them away from her home using them as art, by telling her mother that “[She] can use the chute top as a centrepiece for alcove table . . . and . . . think of something artistic to do with the dasher” (Walker 5). This highlights that she does not care about personal recognition of her ancestors (Donnelly 128) and only has an interest in material objects. When Maggie told her to whittle[d] the dash Dee ridicules her by saying and laughing that “[Maggie’s] brain is like an elephant’s” (Walker 5) which reveals her disinterest in the history of the things again. Dee also confronts her mother with the predication that “[Maggie] would probably be backward enough to put [the quilts] to everyday use” (Walker 6). The mother supposes that Maggie would put them to everyday use and is glad about it due to that fact that “. . . [she has] been saving [them] for long enough with nobody using [them]” (Walker 6).
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: This chapter sets the stage by introducing Alice Walker’s "Everyday Use" and defining the core tension regarding the definition and appreciation of African-American cultural heritage.
2. PERSONALITIES SHOWN THROUGH: This section provides a character analysis, mapping individual traits to the historical backdrop of the Civil Rights movement and distinct attitudes toward tradition.
2.1. Coming from the Civil Rights Movement: This subsection contextualizes the characters within the historical shifts of the Black Power Movement and the conflicting ideologies of the time.
2.2. Valuing Traditions: The independent character: This subsection focuses on Dee’s superficial connection to her roots, contrasting her materialistic view of heritage with her family’s lived experience.
3. DEVELOPED CONFLICTS: This chapter explores the central tensions in the narrative, specifically how disparate life experiences drive rifts between family members.
3.1. Generation differences on lifestyle: This subsection analyzes how the gap between an older generation and a younger, more modern generation manifests in the characters' views on their upbringing.
3.2. Identity conflict: This subsection details the clashing identities among the characters, focusing on how names and past experiences shape their divergent self-perceptions.
4. CONCLUSION: This chapter synthesizes the main findings, reasserting that Dee’s estrangement from her family stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what heritage truly entails.
5. WORKS CITED: A comprehensive list of the academic sources and secondary literature utilized throughout the paper.
Keywords
Alice Walker, Everyday Use, African-American heritage, cultural identity, Civil Rights, Black Power, generational conflict, tradition, material culture, family dynamics, literary analysis, narrative perspective, social discourse, identity formation, cultural history.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this literary study?
The study focuses on Alice Walker’s short story "Everyday Use" and explores the dichotomy between lived heritage and the superficial appropriation of cultural status symbols.
Which historical themes are central to the analysis?
The analysis centers on the impact of the Civil Rights movement, the Black Power ideology, and how these broader social movements influence the individual identities of the story's characters.
What is the primary research objective of this paper?
The objective is to examine how the characters' different understandings of heritage create personal and familial conflict, specifically focusing on the character of Dee.
Which research methodology is employed?
The work uses a textual analysis approach, supported by secondary literary criticism and historical context, to interpret the characters and their motivations.
What is discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body breaks down the characters’ personalities, the generational differences in their lifestyles, and the underlying conflicts that define their relationships.
How would you summarize the paper's key terminology?
The paper is defined by terms such as heritage, African-American identity, generational conflict, and symbolic representation.
Why does Dee change her name in the story?
Dee changes her name to signify her desire to distance herself from her family’s rural past and to align herself with a more fashionable, perceived African identity.
How does the author distinguish between "heritage" and "materialism" in the text?
The author argues that while Mama and Maggie value objects as vessels of lived family experience and memory, Dee views them merely as aesthetic, materialistic markers of culture.
What role does the "everyday use" of objects play in the story's conflict?
The "everyday use" of items like quilts and the dasher serves as a litmus test for the characters: for Mama, using these items keeps the connection to the past alive; for Dee, using them signifies a lack of appreciation for their value as art.
What is the conclusion regarding Mama and Dee's relationship?
The conclusion suggests that the relationship is strained by a fundamental divide where Dee fails to honor her mother’s reality, preferring an abstract, commodified version of her heritage instead.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Anna-Katharina Kestel (Autor:in), 2017, Misunderstanding about traditions. How everyday use becomes an element of differentiation, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1374130
