An Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee from the Perspective of Cultural Hegemonism 从文化霸权主义角度分析哈珀·李的《杀死一只知更鸟》开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

introduction1.1 research background1.1.1 author introductionharper lee(1926-2016), an american writer who won the pulitzer prize. she was born in 1926 in a small town in southern alabama. her father was a lawyer who was a former state legislator. after graduating from a local public school, harper lee entered the university of alabama to study law and once studied at oxford university in the uk as an exchange student for one year. when she was about to graduate in six months, she left school and moved to new york to pursue her writing dream. she kept writing while working as an airline booking clerk in new york. encouraged by her friends and editors, she returned to her hometown town in alabama, and she wrote novels based on experiences of her childhood life. her masterpiece is to kill a mockingbird, which was published in 1960. she had a neighbor whom she became lifelong friends with, and it is said that one of the archetypes in the novel was based on that neighbor. the book still sells very well now, and the novel has become a classic of american literature. after the novel became a hit, she lived a quiet life in her small town, refusing interviews. for 40 years, although the paparazzi found her residence - she lived in monroeville, alabama, with her sister alice, she had never been interviewed. she has always been single and has no children. the ups and downs experienced by truman capote, her childhood playmate who wrote the book cold blood with her may become lee's unforgettable nightmare. she once wrote a letter to oprah magazine, in which she wrote: "in a prosperous society which is rich in laptops, ipods and empty ideas, i still walk slowly with my books."1.1.2 work introductionin a small town in the southern united states during the great depression of the 1930s, an orphan boy came to a small town to find his aunt for the summer vacation. jem and scout became friends with him. the three children are very interested in their reclusive neighbors. the neighbor's name is arthur radley. he's frightening. people in the town didn't want to talk about radley, and no one saw him many years later. the children used rumors to make up stories, speculate on the mystery behind it, and design a plan to lead him out. in the next two summer vacations, the three children found that someone often left them small gifts in the tree outside radley's house. sometimes, the mysterious man showed kindness to the children, but unfortunately, the man never appeared in person. atticus was appointed by the court to defend tom robinson. tom is a black man. he was charged with raping a white girl, mayela ewell. although many people in the town objected, atticus agreed to defend tom. some children laughed at jem and scout for atticus and called their father a "nigger loving guy". scout was even provoked to fight for her father's honor, and his father told her not to do so. atticus faced a group of people who wanted to lynch tom, but due to the sudden emergence of scout, jem and deere, the thugs were forced to consider the problem from the perspective of atticus and tom. therefore, they felt ashamed and dispersed, and the crisis was resolved. atticus didn't want the children to attend tom robinson's trial, so scout, jem and deere had to sit in quietly from the people of color auditorium. atticus assumes that the plaintiff mayela lied to her alcoholic father, bob ewell. the unfriendly mayela offered to seduce tom, and her father fought against her. although tom's innocence was obvious, the jury still found him guilty. when the desperate tom escaped from prison and was killed, jem and atticus suffered a great blow to their faith in judicial justice. although bob ewell won the lawsuit, his reputation was ruined and he vowed revenge in a hurry. bob spat at atticus in the street and tried to break into the trial judge's house to harass tom robinson's widow. finally, one night, when jem and scout came home from the school halloween party, bob suddenly hurt them. jem's arm was broken in the fight, but in the chaos, a stranger rescued the children. the mysterious man carried jem home. scout recognized him as arthur radley. the sheriff of the town came and found bob ewell dead in a tangle. the sheriff debated with atticus, trying to determine who was responsible for jem and bob. atticus finally accepted the sheriff's view that ewell fell on his knife. radley asked scout to take him home. after saying goodbye, he disappeared again. standing outside radley's door, scout was deeply sorry that they couldn't repay their previous gifts. 1.1.3 cultural backgroundin 1931, when the author was five years old, nine young blacks were accused of raping two white women near scotsboro, alabama. after a long, well publicized and often painful series of trials, four of the nine suspects were sentenced to long-term imprisonment. many excellent lawyers and american citizens regard this judgment as wrong. it is the result of racial prejudice. it is also suspected that the two white women who accused black youth are lying, and their statements have become more suspicious in repeated complaints. the case is called the scotsboro case, and the book is based on this case.the setting is depression-era america, where thousands of americans saw their life savings vanish in a matter of days. at that time, the north and south had launched a war, and lincoln had signed the emancipation proclamation. but at that time, in the united states, especially in the south, the concept of racial discrimination was still very serious, so black status was still low. despite the lessons of the civil war, most americans had to temporarily put down their discrimination against black people, there are still some stubborn americans who insist on calling black people "niggers" and refuse to give up their inherent prejudice. the content of this novel is generated under such background and environment.1.2 literature review to kill a mockingbird aroused the attention and studies of academic circles since its publication. the research of to kill a mockingbird mainly concentrates on the hypocrisy of racial and social prejudice, moral, feminism symbolism, gothic features and so on. fred erisman, for example, in his journal the romantic regionalism of harper lee, pointed out that the novel reflected the southern regional color and the writer was looking forward to the change of the southern racism conditions. and r.a.dave analyzed from the angle of human nature of moral subject, and pointed out the novel conveyed the authors hope for human nature to be good.however, the research in china began only after the 21st century, and these researchers mainly concentrated on growth subject and the moral theme. just like gao yang(2008) wrote in from lenorance to mature, he pointed out that the novel was a classial novel about growth. others wrote this novel from the angel of narrative or symbolism. yang xi saw the novel exposing the dark side of human nature to promote moral values-to tell good from evil through the spiritual growth of scout. others' studies centers on narrative skills, symbolism and feminism. however, there are few studies on this novel from the perspective of cultural hegemonism theory. cultural hegemonism is a theory of ideological power, which is used to reveal a form of governance of a society or a country. its essence is ideological leadership. hegemony, also known as "cultural leadership", was first proposed by the italian marxist theorist gramsci in his prison notes in the 1930s. it refers to the process of legitimizing the governance of the whole civil society by a certain class alliance in order to obtain the political recognition and compliance of the people. it also refers to the dominant economic and ruling class in moral, cultural and other fields of mutual negotiation and consultation, which controls the cultural content and important custom build consensus to achieve dominance. transnational media group are spread powers to dominate other ethnic culture, and in the mandatory spread of a global movement, they reject the absolute ideological theory that prevailed. therefore, this thesis will analyze the plot and character image of this novel from the theory of cultural hegemonism.1.3 ideological connotationin the 1930s, the united states was hit by the great depression, and people at the bottom were struggling. racial discrimination was still rampant in the south. judicial institutions controlled by white people often make unfair decisions against black people, resulting in a frequent occurrence of wrongful convictions. what the book reflects is the injustice suffered by black people at that time. it's understandable why the town was so shocked when atticus decided to defend tom. cunningham and his gang even went to the prison and lynched, but atticus and scooter and his gang stopped them. without them, tom might not have made it to court the next day. in fact, under normal procedure, tom's case is unlikely to go to court because there is so little evidence. but the jury convicted tom based only on the word of the white accuser. this reflects the fact that racial discrimination is still deeply rooted in the minds of many americans, who are still accustomed to racial persecution. this morbid and distorted concept was frankly exposed by the author in the book, which shocked the whole american society.in addition to reflecting racial discrimination, the book also contains a variety of insistence on fairness and justice, courage and kindness. plots such as atticus came to tom's defense demonstrate the power of humanity in this prejudicist society. they shine like stars, reflecting the inner space of people and illuminating the society. in addition, the book not only shows these good qualities, but also teaches people how to pass them on to the next generation. when scooter didn't want to go to school, atticus would listen to her and tell her to think about others. when mrs. dubois died, he told her story to his children. he told them that courage was not in holding a gun, but in doing what they had to do. when the children asked him why he defended black people, he told them to follow their conscience. these educational concepts are deeply inspiring to both parents and children.1.4 need of the studyas a common phenomenon of cultural discrimination in human life, cultural hegemonism is a social oppression of human individuals, provides a broad space for literary creation, and has become an eternal theme in literature. cultural hegemonism novels pay attention to the invisible oppression of social culture, so the difference of social class is particularly important. the change of the protagonist in the novel is the author's expectation of social change. people's cognition of society changes with the change of cognition. young people are our future. we have hope and fear for them, and we care about them for ourselves and the world. a child centered novel about cultural hegemonism must reflect the writer's feelings and attitudes towards them and society, reflect some of the deepest flows of social life, use them to insight into social changes, pay attention to human development, reproduce the relationship between man and society in an artistic way, and bring people a lot of enlightenment. to kill a mockingbird is a typical novel focusing on cultural hegemonism. studying it from the perspective of cultural hegemonism reflects the author's call and sustenance for human nature, highlights the reflection of the society at that time and the virtues of young people. by reading and analyzing the characters in to kill a mockingbird, we can understand the social background, social class and social norms of young people at that time, as well as the changing expectations written by the author. therefore, it is necessary and meaningful to study to kill a mockingbird from the perspective of cultural hegemonism, not only from its importance to young people, but also from its artistic and social value.2.gramsci's thought of cultural hegemonism2.1 ideological connotation2.1.1 gramsci's definition of cultural hegemonismcultural hegemonism is a theory of ideological power, which is used to reveal a form of governance of a society or a country. its essence is ideological leadership. hegemony, also known as "cultural leadership", was first proposed by the italian marxist theorist gramsci in his prison notes in the 1930s. it refers to the process of legitimizing the governance of the whole civil society by a certain class alliance in order to obtain the political recognition and compliance of the people. it also refers to the dominant economic and ruling class in moral, cultural and other fields of mutual negotiation and consultation, which controls the cultural content and important custom build consensus to achieve dominance. transnational media group are spread powers to dominate other ethnic culture, and in the mandatory spread of a global movement, they reject the absolute ideological theory that prevailed.2.1.2 connotation of cultural hegemonismin terms of political society and civil society, gramsci divided society into two partsthe state and civil society. marxist philosophy thinks the political superstructure, which is formed by the parliament, courts, police and authorities, etc, is refers to the aggregation of civil society organizations of civil society. it is the sum of complex ideological and cultural relations, and it is the crystallization of hegel and marx's idea of "civil society". in terms of domination and leadership, gramsci believed that the hegemonic position of a social group was manifested in "political domination" and "cultural leadership", and cultural leadership played a more fundamental role than political domination. in capitalist societies, the struggle between different rulings does not simply manifest itself as resistance and oppression. in addition to relying on violence to maintain social order, the ruling class must strive for the voluntary consent and support of the governed through ideological leadership, so as to legitimize the rule.in terms of intellectuals, gramsci believes that intellectuals have class nature and social interference, and are the power to realize ideological and cultural leadership, that is, cultural hegemonism. gramsci believes that intellectuals play a key role in the exercise of cultural leadership. he looked at intellectuals from a broader perspective, and asked them to complete the leadership or guiding work in various fields of society, such as production and ideological field.2.2 ideological characteristicsi think the characteristics of cultural hegemonism can be divided into two aspects. on the one hand, it refers to authority and obedience. the formation of hegemony is not the unilateral will of the ruler, but the negotiation between the ruler and the ruled, which is a kind of "voluntary approval" of the ruled. in other words, cultural hegemonism is sustained not by suppressing its opposite, but by embracing its own interests. another feature is legitimacy, which is a kind of rationality and legitimacy existing in the relations between the ruling class and the ruled class. in the process of ruling, whether any form of rule or order can be implemented depends on whether the ruled are willing to accept this kind of rule. from the perspective of the ruled, they will obey only when they think that the rule has the goal they expect, and then the ruling of the ruling class has its legitimacy. just like the feudal system in ancient china, the idea of cultural hegemonism was legitimate only when the ruler and the ruled reached an agreement.3. the idea of cultural hegemonism in novels3.1 the status of black people under cultural hegemonismin the real life of the united states, the issue of race and human rights has always been one of the sharpest social problems. in the american society, the western ideology and cultural model has always been permeated with a sense of ethnic superiority, especially when white people leadingthe main dominant party. the group represented by the black culture is in a subordinate position, and their freedom of speech is also greatly restricted, leading to the result that their value needs to be judged and evaluated by the mainstream culture. up to now, due to the differences in family environment, education, life experience and economic background, and even the difference in the shade of skin color, black people have different attitudes towards the hegemony of mainstream culture. even though some people are elite members of the black race, they identify with the mainstream culture due to their own cultural characteristics and national consciousness being suppressed for a long time. they consciously or unconsciously use the vision and judgment criteria of the mainstream culture when viewing the cultural phenomenon of their own nation. from such a social phenomenon, we can see that under the hegemony of mainstream culture, racial discrimination, class division and other problems within the black race are very harmful to the black people. so in this novel, the author focuses on the injustice suffered by black people during the great depression. most americans are timely emphasized to respect the black people, but once something happens, the black people will be absolutely marginalized, just like tom who was falsely accused.3.2 the restraint of hegemonic thoughts on characters' thoughtsin this novel, each character is different and has its own characteristics. as a child, scout was always biased against blacks at first, but her father was a lawyer who adhered to moral standards and had a full understanding of equality. therefore, her father was able to set a style suitable for her education, which also improved the children's cognitive status of blacks. but ewell was indignant that her daughter fell in love with a black man, and encouraged her daughter to frame tom, which made tom treated unfairly. although this is not the case, whites still believe in whites and believe that blacks are born to represent lies. even under the objection of atticus, the judge of the court still sentenced tom. from this story, we can see the severity of the influence of black culture and prejudice, which also let us see the thoughts and positions represented by each role, and let us have a new thinking on racial relations.5.conclusionin this novel, we can see the author's ingenious idea - the story of a rich man, three children from different families, and the seriousness of racial discrimination in the united states. black americans have long been regarded as unlucky and deceptive lies, but even during the civil war, people have to recognize the status and rights of blacks. however, deep-rooted racial discrimination is difficult to eliminate. in fact, the supreme court, which is famous for fairness and justice, still made unequal judgments on blacks. it can be seen that cultural hegemonism has a great impact on national and social life. we must correctly understand this thought.6. referenceslee,h.（1960）.to kill a mockingbird.warner books.brielle, edwin. keen scalpel on racial ills. english journal 35(1964): 11-13.felty, d. an overview of to kill a mockingbird. exploring novels 12(2009): 21-25.edger, h schuster. discovering theme and structure in the novel. english journal 52(1963): 506-11.dare, tim. lawyers, ethics, and to kill a mockingbird. critical insights: to kill a mockingbird. ed. don noble. massachusetts: salem press, 2010. 94-111.ernst, l. julia. women in litigation literature: the exoneration of mayella ewell in to kill a mockingbird. akron law review. 47(2015): 1019-1054.chin, gabriel j. randy wagner. the tyranny of the minority: jem crow and the counter-majoritarian difficulty. harvard civil rights-civil liberties law review. 65(2008): 65-125.bloom, harold, ed. blooms guides: to kill a mockingbirdnew eidition. new york: infobase publishing, 2010.李小玺（2012），《杀死一只知更鸟》中知更鸟的象征意义探析，《名作欣赏》，10: 85-90。

王颖慧，歧视还是接受析《杀死一只知更鸟》中aunt alexandra 和scout 体现出来的种族文化冲突，《语文学刊外语教育教学》，2011: 46-48，100。

叶英，不体面的种族歧视与得体的艺术表现析美国电影《杀死一只知更鸟》，四川大学学报（哲学社会科学版），2009，（5）：105-112。

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

Research Topic and methods This thesis is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the author's life and the brief introduction of To kill a Mockingbird, and summarizes the theoretical and practical background and significance of this paper. The second part introduces the definition and origin of Cultural Hegemonism, analyzes and summarizes the general theory of Cultural Hegemonism. The third part focuses on how to embody Cultural Hegemonism in the works from the two aspects of the oppressed social status of blacks in the works and the inherent hierarchical thought of characters in the works, and discusses the role of these two aspects in the author's call for human nature. The fourth part summarizes the research purpose of this paper and points out the research gap of this paper. Through the analysis of theory and work content, we can see that To Kill a Mockingbird is a typical novel reflecting Cultural Hegemonism. The significance of this paper is to enrich the study of this novel, so as to broaden the study of Cultural Hegemonism novels of great significance to the development of contemporary youth.