The Beloved Writing Of "Beloved" And "Homeland"

Toni Morrison, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, is no doubt an outstanding black female writer in America. In her over forty-year literary careers, Morrison has created ten novels from 1970 till now. Her fifth novel Beloved, which brought her the Pulitzer Prize, is considered to be not only her best, but also a permanent classic in literature. Home, her tenth novel, published in 2012 made a hit as soon as its publication.Applying Jeffrey C. Alexander’s theory of cultural trauma as the framework combined with the analysis of Beloved and Home, this thesis explores the causes, the means and the solutions to the black trauma.In her two novels, Toni Morrison configures racial trauma and historical trauma respectively. These traumas are, in nature, constructed by Morrison as cultural trauma. Starting with an appraisal of Morrison’s achievements, the introduction conducts a critical literature review of Morrison’s Beloved and Home at home and abroad in this section. Chapter One postulates the definitions of two types of trauma, the development of trauma theory and Alexander’s theory of cultural trauma related to this thesis. Chapter Two, as the main body of this thesis analyzes racial trauma and historical trauma and its means experienced by the survivors due to their different causes. Chapter Three further investigates the process of healing of cultural trauma. Black people should revisit and reshape their traumatic experience and historical memories. Only with the help of other black people in the community can the survivors acquire self-esteem and self-respect, reconstruct their identity on the basis of having a warm home and be able to get over the trauma. The conclusion summarizes the main ideas of the thesis.