OntheProtectionandDevelopmentofMarginalCultureThroughAnalysisofDeeandMaggie’sAttitudestowardQuiltsinEverydayUse

李雪純

【Abstract】Alice Walkers Everyday Use has been regarded as the best of Walkers short stories. In Everyday use， the conflict between Dee and Maggie that who deserves to have the quilts climaxes the story， which shows two different methods for marginal cultural protection and inheritance. Dee wants to hang the quilts， which means traditions should be introduced to museums and shown to the whole world. Maggie pursues the utilitarian value， which means popularizing traditions. In other words， there are two principles in flourishing marginal culture. One is “Going Out”， the other one is “Popularizing”.

【Key words】African-American culture； quilts； going out； popularizing； marginal culture

【摘要】艾麗斯·沃克的《外婆的日用家當》一直被認為是她最好的短篇小說。文中迪伊與瑪吉爭奪被子的情節把故事推向了高潮，兩人對被子的態度正展現了邊際文化繼承與保護的兩種方法。迪伊想把被子掛起來，這意味著邊際文化走進博物館，走向世界。而瑪吉則追求被子的實用價值，這意味著邊際文化的普及深入到人們的日常生活中。換言之，這兩個原則就是“走出去”和“大眾化”。

【關鍵詞】非裔美國文化 被子 走出去 大眾化 邊際文化

In their mothers narration， there are many pejorative words to describe Dee， such as her “ignorant voice”， “scalding humor”， “long pigtails that rope about like small lizards”， and so on， and Dee changes her name， haircut and dressing style to follow African style， and collects many traditional African-American daily necessities only for decoration. Thus， these characteristics and behaviors leave a bad impression to readers—Dee is a shallow person， only has a superficial understanding of African tradition. In contrast， considering Maggie being timid， plain and wooden and having good skill in quilting， readers and their mother are prone to show sympathy. Therefore， readers take it for granted that Maggie deserve to have the quilts.

1. The Justification for Dees Inheritance

However， does Dee really do not deserve to have the quilts？ Her mother in the story refers that once when she offered Dee a quilt in university， Dee told her they were old-fashioned， out of style， but now Dee wants to have and hang them.（張漢熙，外語教學與研究出版社2011年6月第3版，133頁） We can see the change from the two attitudes. If Dee really does not understand the meaning of quilts， she would still look down upon them， instead of hanging them. So， what change Dees attitude？

There are two main factors leading to the change. The first one is education. Dee is the only person receiving education and the only person whose thought is influenced by the American culture in her family. In Jacques Lacans critical reinterpretation of the work of Freud， he proposes that human infants pass through a stage—Mirror Stage in which an external image of the body produces a psychic response that give rise to the mental representation of an “I”. Similarly， a nations self-awareness and cultural identity are formed and developed by communicating， conflicting， and integrating with other cultures（張德明，《外國文學評論》2001年第3期，第12頁）. When Dee receives education in the big melting pot， the culture shock confuses her， so she begins to find some signs that symbolize African culture. She changes her haircut， dressing style， even her name. She wants to hang the quilts for showing people the African culture that is a necessary part of American culture and for reminding herself to be proud of her African-American identity.endprint

Another important factor that maybe changed Dees attitude is the civil rights movement. The author， Alice Walker was born in 1944， and experienced the political movement in 1950s and 1960s. Without that period， Alice Walker had no possibility to make such great achievement in American literature. In 1960s， the quilts related closely to the civil rights movement. The Freedom Quilting Bee appeared as an economic force in black community. Wilcox was one of two Alabama counties which did not have any registered black voters. The women who organized The Freedom Quilting Bee were activists in the local struggle for civil rights. They were involved in events， in particular， from January 1965 when Martin Luther King announced “a march on the ballot boxes” to the historic demonstrations from Selma to Montgomery in March the same year（Cash， The Journal of Negro History， 1995， 80（1）：30-41）. In such case， as a college student， Dee was involved in this movement， so comparing with her sister， Maggie， she has a higher degree of political consciousness and a deeper understanding of quilts， while Maggie and her mother only know the utilitarian value of the quilts. This is why Dee told them， “You ought to try to make something of yourself， too， Maggie. Its really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live youd never know it.”（張漢熙，外語教學與研究出版社2011年6月第3版，133頁） Therefore， the above two reasons justify Dees inheritance of quilts.

2. The Justification for Maggies Inheritance

Quits in a family also symbolize family history. As noted in Howard Universitys A Howard Reader： An Intellectual and Cultural Quilt of The African American Experience（1997）， scraps of fabric needed to make a quilt usually have special meaning because they are taken from garments of deceased relatives or given as tokens of friendship（Dobard Raymond， The New Crisis， 2001（Nov./Dec.）： 1-5）. Grandma Dees quilts in the story also record many precious memories. “Bits and pieces of Grandma Dee Jarrells Paisley shirts， and one teeny faded blue piece， about the size of a penny matchbox， that was from Great Grandpa Ezra s uniform that he wore in the Civil War.” Maggie said to her mother， “I can remember Grandma Dee without the quilts.”（張漢熙，外語教學與研究出版社2011年6月第3版，133頁）， so for Maggie and her mother without receiving education， they only know the family meaning of the quilts， regarding them as the visible and tangible link to the past. As we mentioned above， they preserve the quilts also for the utilitarian value. Usually black families living in poverty had a greater need to use their quilts continually until they were worn out， and a skilled quilter could make quilts and sell them to purchase freedom. A girl was sold at the age of 14 and later taken to St. Louis， Missouri. With her sewing she “kept bread in the mouths” of seventeen persons， including her master， for over two years. Using her elaborately embroidered quilts as collateral in obtaining her freedom， Lizzie borrowed $12 from her white patrons in St. Louis， which she needed to free herself and her son from slavery（Cash， The Journal of Negro History， 1995， 80（1）：30-41）.endprint

3. The Two Methods for Inheriting Marginal Culture

Nowadays， in the age of the hybrid culture， we need to give priority to the folk culture， sub-culture， and marginal culture， rather than the official culture， core culture， and mainstream culture. The memory of culture for a nation is just like individual memory， having conscious and unconscious memory. The official， core， and mainstream culture is the former， which is elaborately designed by the elite， accords with specific interest groups demand in a specific age， but this culture， as a small piece of the big iceberg， is unreal， incomplete， and illusory. While the more abundant， more dynamic culture is the unconscious culture that is under the surface. It has accumulated for thousands of years， and still keeps their unique symbols（張德明，《外國文學評論》2001年第3期，第12頁）.

The African-American culture is a marginal culture in the American， and their quilt， differing from the American mainstream quilt， is a significant cultural sign. We believe Dee and Maggies attitudes toward quilts show two different ways in inheriting them. Dee wants to hang the quilts， which means traditions should be introduced to museums and shown to the whole world. Maggie pursues the utilitarian value， which means popularizing traditions. In other words， there are two principles in flourishing marginal culture. One is “Going Out”， the other one is “Popularizing”.

The quilts， as an art collection has a long history. There are many museums in the eastern US collecting many kinds of quilts， which witnessed the white womens contribution to the young country， and recorded their happiness and suffering. For， example， the Shelburne Museum in the Vermont collects more than 400 quilts stitched by white women in 19th century. However， black peoples quilts were not as fortunate as whites， as their scraps are coarse and stitched irregularly， and the colors are not coordinating. In 1970s， people gradually recognized their aesthetic value and unique style until Yale Universitys gallery launched the special exhibitions for them. Eli Leon， another quilt researcher and author of Whod a Thought It： Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking （1987）， draws attention to the staggering of the rows of narrow strips， suggesting that there is a relationship in the design of the strip-pieced quilt to jazz in which improvisation is a compositional device（Dobard Raymond， The New Crisis， 2001（Nov./Dec.）： 1-5）. People know the quits can also be hung as decoration， not only for practical use， and they also recognize their historical value in recording African-American peoples history， and their contributions in the civil rights movement. From this we can see， the marginal culture needs to be introduced to a broaden stage； otherwise， their charm would be covered by the mainstream culture.endprint