Power and Resistance in Toni Morrison's Sula and Paradise: A Foucauldian Study

Abstract

<p>Michel Foucault's notions of power and resistance are evocative as one attempt to explain the hitherto unexplained meaning of women's subjugation and resistance as represented in the patriarchal society in Toni Morrison's <em>Sula</em> and <em>Paradise</em>. The patriarchal agents in these novels enforce white beauty standards, dictate women's roles and behaviors, emphasize marriage and motherhood, and use sexual exploitation to control women. Research has shown that both novels have received widespread critical attention, exploring themes including the politics of maternal violence, counter-memory, biopower, internal racism, and colonialism. However, a comparative study of <em>Sula</em> and <em>Paradise</em> through Foucault's concepts of disciplinary power and constant surveillance may reveal the subtle ways power operates in patriarchal societies, and by analyzing the female characters' resistance strategies, the study may uncover how women challenge and resist patriarchal norms. Employing the textual analysis method and Foucault's ideas of power and resistance, this research aims to determine how the women of Morrison's <em>Sula</em> and <em>Paradise</em> suffer oppression due to patriarchal disciplinary power and constant surveillance in their community, which ultimately triggers their resistance.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0026/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>