Breaking Away From The Dark Mire Of Slavery-an Interpretation Of Beloved From The Perspective Of New Historicism

Beloved is one of the most renowned works written by Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prizelaureate who has endeavored to retrieve the invisible history of the Afro-Americans.Since its publication, the novel has attracted the attention of a number of critics andscholars. The novel has been interpreted from various perspectives, such as feminism,postmodernism, post-colonialism, psychoanalytic perspectives, deconstruction, Marxistcriticism and so on. Nevertheless, few studies have been made from the perspective ofNew Historicism. This thesis purports to analyze Beloved from the perspective of NewHistoricism.This thesis is comprised of five chapters. Chapter one gives a brief intorudction toBeloved, presents the literature review and introduces New Historicism briefly. Chaptertwo focuses on the historicity of Beloved. Toni Morrison’s acute consciousness of historyenables her to create Beloved, which is historically productive. The novel represents thephysical and psychological trauma of the Afro-Americans and cultural loss suffered bythe Afro-Americans under the dehumanizing and cruel institution of slavery. Chapterthree elaborates on the textuality of history in Beloved by presenting the fictionalrepresentations in the novel and by analyzing Morrison’s strategies for constructing thefictional history. It is held that Beloved is the historical real under the disguise offictionality. Chapter four centers on subversion and containment in the novel. Morrisondenies white supremacy and questions Christianity. Nevertheless, Morrison’s effort tosubvert the dominant discourse proves to be contained. The reunion with white peopleand embrace of Christianity are significant in helping the African Americans retrievetheir history and break away from the bondage of slavery, as is indicated by the dialecticbetween subversion and containment. Chapter five is the conclusion. Beloved is a novelimbued with historical sense and truthfully reflects the predicament of the slaves.Although it is composed with manifest fictionality, it is in essence the historical realityunder the disguise of fictionality. The novel helps retrieve the almost invisible history ofthe African Americans and contributes to the healing of the African American trauma.Meanwhile, exploration of the dialectic between subversion and containment shows thatreunion with white people and embrace of Christianity prove to be significant in helpingthe African Americans retrieve their history and break away from the bondage of slavery.