This thesis examines Toni Morrison's exploration of African-America's past, specifically the manner in which she employs the African-American body as a tool in the construction of alternative versions of American experience. Morrison attempts to release her novels from the burdens of symbols, connotations and language that have so long obfuscated the African- American subject and their history, this thesis considering the methods which she employs in this endeavour. Specifically this book explores Morrison's interrogation of typical representations of African- American physicality, language and behaviour, and the way in which she reconfigures those identity functions in order to create narratives that are able to symbolically negotiate and articulate African-American experience. The book is divided into four chapters, the first of which considers African-America's reinvention as a fabricated presence within white narratives of control, focusing predominantly on Morrison's consideration of this process within Playing in the Dark. Subsequent to this first chapter this book focuses on Morrison's examination of the body, language and behaviour, considering in particular her novels The Bluest Eye, Jazz, Beloved and Paradise.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:573735 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Bailey, Elizabeth |
| Publisher | University of Essex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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