On African Americans' Double Culture Choices In Toni Morrison's Tar Baby

Toni Morrison, as a spokesperson of African American literature, has published eight novels to date. With her unique narrative structure, poetic language, ingenious use of myth and folklore, each of her novels has gained success and had influence in the black literature world. This thesis takes Toni Morrison's Tar Baby as its object of study and concentrates on the modern African Americans' culture choices in the white mainstream society. Tar Baby is Morrison's fourth novel, in which, Morrison reveals the confrontation between white culture and black culture by telling the love story of two young African Americans, Jadine and Son. Their different attitudes towards life reflect their different choices between black culture and white culture.Many scholars have done massive research on Morrison and her novels, and have achieved success. However, their researches mainly focus on the conflicts between black culture and white culture, the alienation and restoration of blacks' cultural identity in the white culture dominant society, the recovery of the African cultural tradition, building ideal black cultural community, awakening black consciousness and so on. There are not many studies on the ferment and coexistence of the two cultures. But on the basis of maintaining black cultural tradition, the fact shouldn't be ignored for the world today is a multi-communicating and multicultural world; one nation or community can not exist and develop without communicating with other nations and communities. The development of American history has proved that African Americans and African culture are indispensable parts of America. African Americans can really rebuild and develop their African culture by making their double culture choices: insisting on African culture, and at the same time accepting the advanced western civilization and system.From culture perspective, this thesis analyzes the complex relationship between white culture and black culture, compares the two extreme culture choices made by African Americans in the white mainstream society, analyzes the dilemma and danger of their culture choices. It finally draws the conclusion that the black need to stick to their African cultural tradition on one hand, but on the other hand it is desirable for them to absorb the beneficial things from white culture to realize the modernization of black culture; meanwhile, in the process of globalization white culture and black culture may establish a new relationship of dialogue and communication.Many scholars' studies on Tar Baby cut off the connection between these two cultures and mainly focus on the conflicts between black culture and white culture, or merely insist on the recovery of black culture. Aiming at improving those limitations, this thesis analyzes Tar Baby with the idea of culture pluralism and culture communication, and points out that in the multicultural society, mono-culture choice cannot keep pace with the development of the world; the better outlet for African American culture is to make their double culture choices, not only inheriting but also assimilating. Only by doing so can black culture and white culture assimilate from each other and coexist and develop harmoniously. It is hoped that this thesis will enrich the studies of this novel, and offer some insight on African Americans' culture development in the modern society.