Colonialism And Morrison Novel. Black Identity

Toni Morrison is the most prominent African-American woman author of the 20th century and the brightest star in contemporary African-American literary arena. In 1993, Toni Morrison won the Nobel prize for literature. As the first African-American author to win the Nobel prize for literature, Toni Morrison has published eight novels to date: The Bluest Eye(1970), Sula(1973), Song of Solomon(1977), Tar Baby(1981), Beloved(1987), Jazz(1992), Paradise(1998) and Love(2003). Her works have been getting more and more widespread attention from literary critics of the world since the 1980s. Critics have approached these novels from several perspectives, such as Sartre's Existentialism, Lacan's Theory of Mirror Image, Dubois's Double Consciousness, Feminism, Lewin's Group Dynamics Theory, Magic Realism, Psychoanalysis and Structuralism, etc..The cultural identity has been the focus of African-American literature. Based on the postcolonial perspective, this thesis is intended to analyze Morrison's four novels, including Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Tar Baby. From the perspective of postcolonialism, this thesis is an attempt of exploring the predicament of the African-Americans in trying to establish their own cultural identity. The causes of the dilemma of their cultural identity are also expounded, including Colonialism, racial oppression and cultural hegemony implemented by the mainstream society. Through her novels, Morrison reveals that if African-Americans intend bringing themselves out of the predicament and reconstruct their cultural identity, they must eliminate racialism, struggle for equal rights and freedom, dissolve the white's cultural hegemony and renovate and spread the culture and the tradition of African-Americans.