Fragmented Memory Of Slave History

Since the Second World War, with the development of the women's liberation movement, woman literature in the U.S.A. has also made considerable progress, African American female writers have made the indelible contribution to the development of American woman literature. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of black female writers gained a foothold in American literature. Among them are Maya Angelou who is famous for I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Alice Walker who gains international fame for The Corlor Purple and the poet laureate Rita Dove. Toni Morrison is the representative of all. In 1977 she was awarded National Book Critics Circle Award, in 1988 she won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and in 1993 she received the Nobel Prize for Literature, which makes her the first African American to be selected for the award. Taking the experience and achievements of the forerunners as foundation, Morrison's works are deeply rooted in African Americans'unique culture, history and life experience, and they have achieved a new peak both in thought and artistic aspects. The fifth novel Beloved, published in 1987, is the most shocking representative work, for which Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988. In 2006 the"magic and splendid"novel is ranked by The New York Times Book Review as the best work of fiction in the past 25 years.In 1987, the publication of Beloved shocked the American literary circle. It generated a great deal of criticism from different perspectives. Most critics attributed Morrison's success to the special black rhythmic language, or to her thematic subject which criticizes the slavery. Indeed, all these factors can not be ignored, however, the author of this thesis believes that the employment of postmodern techniques plays an important role both in thought and artistic aspects. Morrison's writing techniques are deeply influenced by the Euro-American modern masters. In Beloved, the employment of postmodern writing techniques results in the high degree of proficiency. It exposes the cruelty, violence and degeneration of the slavery, and the physical sufferings, the psychological pains and mental humiliation of the slaves. As a milestone in the chronicling of the black experience in America, if Morrison follows the literary tradition, narrates this story in realist technique, Beloved may be only one of the novels about the miserable life of the blacks, but not to be a masterpiece. So the author of this thesis believes that it is her employment of the postmodern writing techniques that plays an extremely important role in conveying the theme and producing the shocking effects.This thesis first makes a brief introduction of postmodernism and its development, and points out some leading features of postmodernism: (1) Postmodern writers oppose the logic, continuity and closeness of the plot. They break traditional linear narration, but use some techniques such as displacement of time and space, multiple points of view, collage, repetition to make the story fragmentary. (2) Indeterminacy is widespread in postmodern works, like indeterminate characters, plot and denouement, because postmodern writers feel suspicious of the language and the world. They believe that life pattern is changing unpredictably, all in the world may become other things at any time. (3) Postmodern works also show the absurdity in the plot and characterization, because postmodern writers believe that if they want to show the chaotic world and tragic life, the expression of absurdity is adequate.Greatly influenced by Faulkner and Woolf, in her creation, Morrison has naturally accepted the above postmodern thought and the techniques which are manifested in the representative work Beloved. In this novel, Morrison elaborates her postmodern thought through the following ways: (1) In narration, the techniques such as displacement of time and space, multiple points of view, fragmented narrative and stream of consciousness are freely used. (2) Indeterminacy is manifested in the novel, such as indeterminate identity, ambiguous characters and open ending. (3) Absurdity is used to portray the characters and subject, at the same time, the novel abounds with grotesque images.Beloved is a great novel, not only for its consummate employment of postmodern writing techniques, but also for its strong social significance which presents the theme of critique on subjectivity and interrogation of received history. Toni Morrison reconstructs African American history moving African Americans from objects to subjects in American history. In Beloved, the utilization of postmodern writing techniques and the condemnation against slavery and racial discrimination reflect Morison's high sense of social responsibility and her unceasing creativeness in her works, which combines the social significance and the esthetic value perfectly.