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, to expand the mind with action did not exist” (Walker, 1973: 232). Walker soon found the answer to this question. The creativity, imagination, creative spirit and artistic talent of African American women can only be reflected in trivial activities as sewing quilts, planting and telling stories, which was seen as commonplace. This insight is undoubtedly one of Walker’s major contributions to the establishment of a African American women’s literary tradition, and this inspiration comes from Walker’s own mother. Walker writes fondly of her mother who is an “artist” in growing plants. Speaking of her mother’s artistic talent for growing plants, Walker describes,

Because of her creativity with her flowers, even my memories of poverty are seen through a screen of blooms —sunflowers, petunias, roses, dahlias, forsythia, spirea, delphiniums, verbena ... A garden so brilliant with colors, so original in its design, so magnificent with life and creativity... Her face, as she prepares the Art that is her gift, is a legacy of respect she leaves to me, for all that illuminates and cherishes life. For her, so hindered and intruded upon in so many ways, being an artist has still been a daily part of her life. (Walker, 1983: 240)

Chapter Two  Plant as Symbols in Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

2.1 Plant Symbols in Hoodoo Tradition

Hoodoo is a form of traditional African-American religion, whose religious activities incorporate conjure, witchcraft and magic. It is developed from “a combination of beliefs of a number of separate African cultures after they came to the United States during the slave trade”(Hazzard-Donald, 2013: 15). Hoodoo consists mainly of African folkloric practices and beliefs with a significant blend of African botanical knowledge and American folklore. It is an “ancient mystical faith presented in an African manner, a religion of creation and life” (Hurston, 1931: 137). Hoodoo tradition invokes magical powers through the application of particular tools, spells, formulas, methods and techniques. Hoodoo beliefs are absolutely naturalistic, attaching magical characteristics and medicinal function to supplies like herbs, roots, minerals, animal parts, and personal belongings, which can be obtained naturally. Taking “chewing the root” as an example, it is done to release the sap of a plant to conjure spiritual power. Through analyzing a wide range varieties of African American women writers’ work, Barbara Smith brings up the notion that “African American women writers’ works often coincide with thematic imagery such as digging up plant roots, digging for herbs, reciting incantations and prayers” (Zhu Liyuan, 1998: 357). Plants as an aid in hoodoo tradition are commonly seen in the texts of African American women writers. Hurston has covered the terrain of hoodoo tradition in Their Eyes Were Watching the God, in which Tea Cake resorts to the mustard seed to ward off the spell casted on him by the witch. Gloria Naylor likewise portrays “Mama Day” to be a black woman who inherits her ancestors’ superior hoodoo powers. “Mama Day”’s folk practices and mystical powers, evoked by plants and herbs, pull at the strength of African American women and bring about unforeseen miracles. When Bernice was in pain after taking drugs indiscriminately in her desperate attempt to conceive, “Mama Day” uses agueweed for her rescue and says, “this agueweed will clean you out an本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。