Fragmentation And Fusion

Toni Morrison is the first black female writer to win Nobel Prize for Literature.Beloved, Morrison’s fifth work, which opens with American Reconstruction, revealsthe deep influence of slavery by an act of killing an infant. As the outstandingrepresentative of black female writers, there are many similarities and differencesbetween Toni Morrison’s literary creation and the process of quilt making. Therepresentational forms and aesthetic meaning of “quilting” have different expressionalforms in her works. In the analysis of literary text, the constructing features offragmentation, diversity, and no-central design are stressed. The modern metaphor ofquilting expresses the demands of seeking for fusion from fragmentation. Based onquilting aesthetics, the fragmentation and fusion in terms of content and structure inBeloved are analyzed in this thesis. At the same time, the central idea of seeking forfusion from fragmentation is mainly expressed.There are five parts in this thesis. In Introduction, Toni Morrison and Beloved areintroduced. After a general review of the critical responses to Toni Morrison’s novels,the definition and metaphorical function of quilting aesthetics will be concluded. InChapter One, the body fragments, family fragments, and community fragments arescattered everywhere in Beloved. Relying on textual fragments, Morrison displays thefragmentation of culture in contemporary America. In Chapter Two, Toni Morrisonsuccessfully employs multiple points of view and non-linear narration to analyze thenovel’s structure. It makes her works take on the artistic characteristic ofscraps-piecing. In Chapter Three, the fusion reflected in the content and structure isanalyzed. Morrison’s attention to fragments not only displays her expect for thehealthy individual, complete family, and harmonious community, but also displays herembracing of diversities of African American culture. Morrison’s employing differentnarrative strategies to project her dream for African American’s presence and future.In Conclusion, the main content of this thesis is concluded, the research worth and theshortcoming of this thesis are pointed in order to ensure my research subject in thefuture. This thesis aims to analyze the content and structure of Beloved systematicallybased on quilting aesthetics, and express its central idea of fragmentation and fusion.In Beloved, Morrison tries to construct a new pattern of multi-culture in order tosearch for a new space of existence and development for African American culture.Toni Morrison’s literary quilt makes an important suggestion for us: seeking fusionfrom fragmentation, keeping balance between cultural diversity and unity.