An Interpretation Of Song Of Solomon From Perspective Of Magic Realism

Toni Morrison is the first prominent female Afro-American writer who has won Nobel Prizefor Literature in 1993. Song of Solomon (1977) is the third novel of Toni Morrison. The publicationof this book has established and consolidated her status as an important contemporary writer inAmerican literary world. Her contemporaries also choose to write about the black’s quest forself-identity and freedom of mind in white-dominated society. Why has Morrison’s Song ofSolomon achieved such a brilliant success and captured worldwide attention alone? The emotionalwallop of this novel in some way is due to the application of Magic Realism which turns reality intofantasy without ruining its authenticity so as to reflect the reality more profoundly in a unique way.And this feature, which few people set foot in China and abroad, is very absorbing and worthreseaching. Moreover, this is one of the most attractive points deserving a detailed and focusedresearch and also a field extremely needing both attention and research up till now.Magic Realism, which has its own distinctive characteristics, belongs to the modern literaturegenre. The most typical feature of this novel is that all the plots are based on the reality andrepresented by means of“magic”or“fantancy”, but the final purpose is to reveal the reality that isnot easy to solve in real life and reflect the reality which focuses on the mental predicament of blackpeople at the present time, specifically in 1930s. Thus，this dissertation would be accomplishedunder the guidence of Magic Realism and the author wants to present a detailed discussion aboutthe demonstration of Magic Realism in Song of Solomon in the themes, characters, techniques. Byresearching on the magic elements in the novel, the dissertation would reflect the problems thatexist in black people’s reality. And that Morrison’s choice of Magic Realism in Song of Solomonhas a close connection with her personal experiences as an Afro-American. The discussion of herfamily and education background helps understand the significance of the combination of MagicRealism and Song of Solomon.The limited analysis of Magic Realism in this novel cannot exhaust Song of Solomon’s charm.However, the life and position of black people in modern society are fully shown and the neglectedhistory and culture find their places, through which Morrison warns the American blacks that if theywant to achieve both physical and psychological freedom. Afro-American should envisage thehistory and draw a lesson from it. They also should root in African traditional culture and thenpreserve their own identities and redeem the future. The dissertation draws a conclusion: Theunique artistic charm of Magic Realism is fully demonstrated in Song of Solomon and the themes,characters, techniques of the novel are displayed on the basis of Magic Realism, which sufficiently proves that Magic Realism has a considerable position in the creation of Song of Solomon.