An Interpretation Of Song Of Solomon From The Perspective Of Bakhtin's Carnival Theory

As the first black female writer awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, Toni Morrison has exerted profound influence upon the American and even the whole literary world with the profound themes and unique artistic excellence of her masterpieces. As the third novel written by Morrison, Song of Solomon is generally recognized as the third milestone in African American literature after Native Son and Invisible Man. Since there are abundant carnivalistic features in it, the carnival theory of the Russian thinker Mikhail Bakhtin is a useful tool to analyze the carnivalisic features reflected in this book.Morrison creates a carnivalized world in Song of Solomon by subverting the established social and cultural order and striving for equal participation of black culture and voice in the mainstream society. Through her efforts, African American characters gain temporary peace and equality in the carnivalistic world, which is of great significance in uniting all her fellow blacks to fight for freedom and justice. Under the guidance of Bakhtin's carnival theory, the main body of the thesis is divided into three chapters along with the introduction and conclusion.The first chapter discusses the paired images. According to Bakhtin, the paired images are either carnival doubles or carnival contrasts, chosen either for their similarities or for their contrasts. In Song of Solomon, Morrison successfully portrays several groups of paired images. The first two groups are carnival doubles: Ruth and Hagar, both of whom are poor victims of the patriarchal society; Lena and Corinthians, both of whom courageously fight against the patriarchal power and make their weak voice heard in the end. Through the portrayal of these two groups of paired images, Morrison displays black women's bewilderment, helplessness and their efforts in the process of winning women's equality. The other two groups of paired images are carnival contrasts: Macon and Pilate. The former is a black man with whitened soul and ideology, the latter is an ideal black woman who sticks to her own blackness and black traditions. Milkman and Guitar are another group of paired images, with Milkman as the inheritor and Guitar as the strayer of black culture. By the portrayal of these two groups of paired images, Morrison shows that only by sticking to “blackness” and black culture can black people gain recognition in the white-dominated world.The second chapter exclusively delves into the carnival acts in Song of Solomon. In carnivalized world, the rituals of crowning and decrowning are the most prominent carnival acts, which are imbued with carnival sense of shifts and changes. In this chapter, the decrowning of Macon Dead and the crowning of Henry Porter are discussed. Furthermore, this chapter also delves into the death of Robert Smith and Singing Dead, which is also imbued with carnivalistic color. Their death is no longer solemn, serious or tragic, but accompanied by carnival laughter and rebirth.Chapter Three mainly deals with carnival spirits of subversion and renewal. The carnival sense of the world is a spirit of subverting the authority of all hierarchical structures that cover social ranks, stereotypes and so on. At the same time, it also means change, renewal and invigoration. In terms of spirit of subversion, the thesis delves into the subversion of American Dream and the African flying mythology. Although American Dream promotes equality, freedom and democracy for every American citizen, the condition for blacks is far from being satisfactory. Morrison reveals the hypocritical essence of the so-called American Dream in her carnival. Besides, she also subverts the positive connotation of the African flying mythology and points out that the mythology, which is regarded as man's proud and glorious moment of escaping from social injustice, is indeed selfish and at the expense of women and children's happiness and hope. This subversion triggers readers to show more concern to the living condition of the vulnerable groups in the black community and conveys that the future of the whole black race cannot depend on the success of a small group of blacks. Only by fostering solidarity and sticking together can black people be recognized in the white-dominated world. The spirit of renewal is also embodied in the novel. On the one hand, Morrison makes great efforts to renew black women's images by creating a series of positive women images. On the other hand, Morrison breaks the hegemony of the white culture and renews black culture's status in her carnival. Through her efforts, the marginalized African culture acquires the equal status as the dominant white culture.In Morrison's works, the theme of deconstructing the white hegemony and reconstructing a world of pluralism corresponds with the idea of promoting multiplicity and equality in Bakhtin's carnival theory. Although it seems that these carnival ideas belong to the realm of Idealism and are difficult to be realized in the hierarchical world, they are still of great significance for people all over the world in the process of eradicating various kinds of hegemonies and inequalities. Therefore, it is meaningful to interpret Song of Solomon under the guidance of Bakhtin's carnival theory.