The Cultural Memory In Toni Morrison’s Song Of Solomon

Song of Solomon is Toni Morrison’s third and representative novel and a breakthrough in African-American literature. Through the depiction of the three generations of the Dead family, the novel exposes the severe destruction of both the physical and mental life of African-Americans by slavery and racism, the erosion and disintegration of the values and culture of African-Americans, the hesitation, the dilemma, and the search between the belief of the black and that of the white. Although scholars have made extensive research on Song of Solomon, a scientific and systematic research on cultural memory is seldom done.Cultural memory, which is often written in names, songs, and rituals, frequently relates to the establishment of one’s identity, especially the cultural and ethical identity. The time-horizon of cultural memory spans the past, the present and the future. This thesis employs the theory of cultural memory to explore how to transform history into cultural memory and how to fuse cultural memory into present.This thesis is divided into three parts. The first part contains a brief introduction to the author and her writings, literature review about Song of Solomon, and methodology used in this thesis.The second part is divided into three chapters. Chapter one represents a world without cultural memory. Through the depiction of the Dead family, Chapter one explores how the three generations of the Dead family lose their name, cultural memory and identity step by step. Chapter two discusses how Milkman Dead manages to transform past into cultural memory. With the help of Pilate, Milkman Dead embarks his journey to the south. After conquering a series of tests and trials, he finally restores his cultural memory and finds out his ancestry. Chapter three demonstrates how Milkman Dead fuses cultural memory into actions and fuses past into present. The ultimate goal is not to restore the cultural memory, but to use it as living stories to instruct the present actions.The conclusion part sums up the whole thesis. In addition, it reaffirms the significance of interpreting Song of Solomon from the perspective of cultural memory. Only by restoring their cultural memory and fusing cultural memory into present, can the black make it possible for themselves to be both a Negro and an American.