On The Historical Writing In Toni Morrison’s Jazz

As a prolific African American writer, Toni Morrison won Nobel Prize forLiterature in1993. Jazz, which is the second book of Morrison’s trilogy on AfricanAmericans’100-year-history, tells a love story between Violet, Joe and Dorcas, andreveals the psychological changes of black people. The novel depicts the hardship thatblack people have experienced during the process of immigration from south to thenorth. The story takes place during the Harlem Renaissance, and vividly reflects thehistorical events at that time. The thesis intends to analyze the historical writing inJazz based on new historicism.This thesis is divided into five parts, including Introduction, three chapters andConclusion:The Introduction presents an overview of Toni Morrison’s life and works. At thesame time, a brief summary of new historicism and literature review on Morrison’sworks are covered. Chapter One mainly discusses the content of historical writing,including the racial discrimination after the abolishment of slavery system, the greatimmigration of black people and the collective violence of the white. Chapter Twoexamines the form of historical writing, involving the indefinite narrator, thedisconnected narration and the fragmentary structure. Chapter Three investigates ToniMorrison’s views on history. Though history brings lots of harm to black peoplephysically and spiritually, hope still exists. At the end of this novel, the characters’self-consciousness begins to awaken, the interpersonal relationships improveprominently and the traditional culture returns. The Conclusion part gives a summaryof the whole thesis. The historical writing of Toni Morrison discloses Morrison’sviews on history. According to Morrison, black people must never forget theirtraditional culture, and unite as a community to overcome various obstacles.