This article investigates the role of shame in shaping the epistolary form and aesthetic structure of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. I argue that the epistolary framing presents a crisis in the development of Celie's shamed self‐consciousness. To explain the connection between shame and Celie's self‐consciousness, I build on Jean Paul Sartre's theory of existentialism and explore three phases of Celie's evolution as it is represented in three phrases that I identify as significant transitions in the text: “I am,” “But I'm here,” and “It mine.” The first section examines how shame fractures Celie's self‐consciousness; the second focuses on how Celie positions and locates herself in the world; and the third explains how Celie mobilizes shame by connecting her self‐consciousness to a past that is shameful but also generative. I conclude by considering the novel's emergence in the Cosby/Reagan era in order to illuminate the mutual constitution of black familial pride and black racial shame.

中文翻译：

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太羞耻了：学会信任镜子并治愈艾丽斯·沃克的《紫色》中的耻辱生活

本文研究羞辱在塑造爱丽丝·沃克（Alice Walker）的《紫色》中的书信形式和美学结构中的作用。我认为，书信框架给塞莉蒙羞的自我意识的发展带来了危机。为了解释羞耻与西莉的自我意识之间的联系，我基于让·保罗·萨特（Jean Paul Sartre）的存在主义理论，探讨了西莉的演变的三个阶段，因为这三个词代表了文本中的三个重要转变：“我是” “但是我在这里，”和“它是我的。” 第一部分研究羞辱如何破坏西莉的自我意识。第二个重点是西莉如何在世界上定位和定位自己；第三部分解释了西莉（Celie）如何通过将自己的自我意识与过去的可耻但又有创造力的过去联系起来，从而动员耻辱。最后，我考虑了小说在Cosby / Reagan时代的出现，以阐明黑人家族的自尊心与黑人种族耻辱的共同构成。