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Being Seen and Seeing through Blue or Brown Eyes: A Phenomenology of Whiteness in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
Mälardalen University, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Social Sciences and Humanities.
2026 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The aim of this study is to study the non-white characters’ experience in a world that caters towards whiteness and to do so through phenomenology. I will be doing this through the lens of phenomenology with Rimmon-Kennan’ s narratological apparatus as a method to help me figure out the character’s experiences. The study argues that there are several different aspirations out of reach for the non-white character due to the norm of whiteness and other intersecting problems such as poverty. Some of those unattainable ideals are: a carefree childhood, the ideal beauty according to society, and adoration from adults. The black children in the novel are treated and seen differently than lighter skinned and white children and experience a lot of unjust treatment in result. Some of the characters then depict a desire to be seen through blue eyes, with blue eyes and also to see others through that blue gaze. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. , p. 38
Keywords [en]
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, Intersectionality, Phenomenology, Whiteness
National Category
General Literature Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-77464OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-77464DiVA, id: diva2:2069774
Subject / course
Comparative Literature
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2026-07-08 Created: 2026-06-11 Last updated: 2026-07-08Bibliographically approved

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Being Seen and Seeing through Blue or Brown Eyes(480 kB)250 downloads
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Berglund, Evelynn
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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf