Blues As Its Soul And Jazz As Its Narrative Approach

As Morrison has on many occasions referred to music as an ideal art form and expressed her wish to create literary works that can parallel the black music in its beauty and function, this dissertation aims to approach Morrison's work with a new set of assumptions, which is based on themes and forms arising from the black music, in which song and story intertwine and are often inseparable.Based mainly on Morrison's three novels Song of Solomon, Jazz and Beloved, this dissertation tries to explore the similarities between black music and Morrison's works in terms of themes and forms. Chapter One discusses the characteristics of black music, especially blues and jazz, and the relationship between music and words in black culture as well as in Morrison's works. Chapter Two takes a close look at the"near-tragic, near-comic"blues theme of Morrison's works: lamenting the absence of love (spousal love, parental love or communal love), mourning the cultural loss and suggesting the possibility of recovery. This chapter has shown Morrison's dedication to playing the role of a"blues singer"for the African Americans: to voice the internal group problems, the personal difficulties and experiences; to call their attention to black culture and history; to inspire them to soar. Chapter Three mainly deals with Morrison's jazzthetic narratives in her works. She purposely borrows some musical elements to construct her fictions, so as to present the charm and beauty of the art forms she views as ideal: the call and response pattern, which is the most important feature in black music; the improvisation which seems"loose"but is actually"intricate"; the repetition of motifs, themes and stories, which resembles the theme-and-variation in jazz; the open-ended narratives which require the reader to take an active part in the process of creation. The final chapter is the conclusion of the whole thesis.