Abstract:
The concept of identity and its formation is one of the most basic notions in the field of social psychology. Many psychologist and sociologists have presented their theories based on this concept and the psychosocial progress of its formation in social contexts. Henry Tajfel, a prominent social psychologist, in his Social Identity Theory has divided an individual’s identity into two parts: “personal identity” and “social identity”. He believes that social interactions and bonds affect identity and accentuate our membership in different groups, playing a role in shaping and reshaping our personality. Toni Morrison’s novel titled Sula (1973) is among the books depicting the process of identity formation in suppressive social contexts in a white dominated society. The novel traces the life and death of a young girl in a racist and sexist community and depicts the process of her individuation and the forms of her personal and social identity construction under the influence of her life events and experiences as an African American female. The present paper attempts to probe into the identity formation of Sula, the protagonist who bears the title of the novel and lives in a repressive social and cultural context.
Machine summary:
"Toni Morrison’s novel titled Sula (1973) is among the books depicting the process of identity formation in suppressive social contexts in a white dominated society.
The novel traces the life and death of a young girl in a racist and sexist community and depicts the process of her individuation and the forms of her personal and social identity construction under the influence of her life events and experiences as an African American female.
In the next few pages, focusing on Sula in Toni Morrison’s novel, we will outline the progress of theories and researches about the subject of self-concept and the way it is formed in social contexts in relation to other individuals and groups in the society.
He claims that this collective unconscious lies beneath our personal unconscious and is inherited as a group memory in all people: I have chosen the term "collective" because this part of the unconscious is not individual but universal; in contrast to the personal psyche, it has contents and modes of behavior that are Social Identity Theory in Toni Morrison’s Sula more or less the same everywhere and in all individuals (1959, p.
Conclusion As an anti- racist novel, Sula explores the life of black characters who go through their process of identity formation in hard suppressive social contexts.
As outlined in this paper, different characters in the novel are highly affected Social Identity Theory in Toni Morrison’s Sula by this context and also by the events in their life due to their skin color."