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Macau Periodical Index (澳門期刊論文索引)
- Author
- Cao, Leyi；Gao, Yajuan
- Title
- Are they friends? Cross-racial female relation in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy
- Journal Name
- 澳門科技大學學報
- Pub. Info
- Mar 2025, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 121-145
- Link
- https://www.mustjournal.com/CN/10.58664/mustjournal.2025.03.004
- Keyword
- A Mercy；Epistemic privilege；Cross-racial female relation；Solidarity；Identity construction
- Abstract
- From a black feminist perspective, especially Narayan’s theory on “epistemic privilege”, the paper examines the cross-racial female relation in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, focusing on two pairs of friends – Lina and Rebekka, and Florens and Daughter Jane. In each relation, the two women, who are in different racial and class backgrounds but are both outcasts of the hierarchic society in the colonial new land, make an attempt to form a bond with each other. However, the relations head to opposite directions and end differently. The friendliness between Lina and Rebekka does not turn into a political solidarity because they are outsiders of the knowledge of “epistemic privilege” they respectively own, and their relation is greatly influenced by patriarchy and supremacy. On the contrary, Florens and Daughter Jane develop an interdependent and reciprocal relation as they bear witness to each other’s untold misery, which leads to their denial of being defined by the dominators and assimilated by supremacist notions. Their friendship bridges the racial differences, functioning as the healing power to help them seek for subjectivity and political solidarity against the same social oppression upon them. Through these two pairs of friends, Morrison illustrates the difficulty as well as the possibility of forming cross-racial sisterhood in slavery. The openness to the women of other races and the willingness of building connection with the other may not only give birth to a female community on the basis of equality and mutual benefits but also contribute to their personal growth and identity construction. Paragraph Headings: 1. Introduction 2. Epistemic privilege and cross-racial female friendship 3. Lina and Rebekka 4. Florens and Daughter Jane 5. Cross-racial female friendship and identity construction 6. Conclusion