| Toni Morrison,a famous African American woman writer,was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993.Song of Solomon is her third novel and the only one in which Morrison uses a black male as the protagonist.The novel is based on the myth of “black can fly”.Through the experience of Milkman's seeking gold,occasionally finding the root of family,the origin of culture,the novel shows the black men's plights of existence and different kinds of clashes.Morrison has the cultural and political imagination of African diaspora.She can be called the writer of diaspora.This thesis analyzes Song of Solomon from the view of diaspora literature in order to enrich and expand the studies of the novel,and also enhance and energize Morrison studies.The term “Diaspora” in Ancient Greek means a scattering or sowing of seeds.It originally refers to the experiences of dispersion of Jews outside of Israel in the sixth century B.C..Later,the meaning widens,describing people in the condition of diaspora.Diaspora might be a plight of a nation,of a family,of a person.In the creation and practice of contemporary literature,diaspora becomes a new conception,a new view.Its spirit lies in the strong ability of regeneration.It is the form of life reproduction.Exile,displacement and return are the important conceptions of Diaspora literature.The thesis has five parts.Introduction includes Toni Morrison's life and literature achievements,a brief introduction to Song of Solomon,literature review,and relevant theories.The first chapter concentrates on the exile in solitude.The African blacks are exiled to the United States.Several generations of American blacks face the plights of existence and kinds of clashes.The whites oppress the blacks.The middle-class blacks oppress the poor blacks.Men oppress women.In order to keep the wholeness of self,one must stay away from the world and become a solitary individual achieving the truthfulness of existence,through self-exile.Solomon is lonely.Jake is lonely.Macon is lonely.Pilate is lonely.Milkman is lonely.They are lonely exiles.Loneliness is their state of existence.The second chapter focuses on the displacement of identity.At first,experiences of displacement are demonstrated on the fact that the American blacks have duel identity: American and black,causing identity dilemma;they experience unusual growth(for example,Milkman has no real childhood);they experience displacement of thoughts and actions.Because of negligence of the whites,the family of Milkman has the name of “dead”,resulting in several generations' struggle between “life” and “death”.The sense of alienation lies in the estrangement from the society,from people around and even from oneself.The displacement of identity causes blacks much awkwardness,much anxiety,to fall into a predicament of agony.The third chapter deals with return in hope after exile and displacement.The music is the spiritual power of the American black.Black music can cure wounds and is a kind of practical ability of existence.Folk songs help Milkman find the origin of his family and the lost cultural identity.Morrison says that soaring is a natural gift and exists everywhere,and soaring is one of the most outstanding characteristics of black males.Black men in diaspora return in soaring.Black women return singing songs of soaring.People in Diaspora seek to achieve the wholeness of body and spirit.In soaring and singing Milkman and Pilate get body and soul united in the air,being a true self.The process of looking for home is the course of searching oneself.The home is on the way and people in Diaspora are always on the way.In the mode of Morrison's myth,there are the experiences of prototypes of human being on the way from plights to hopes and the course of human ever-searching.Conclusion: Diaspora is a state of existence of human being.As a writer of Diaspora,Morrison depicts the diaspora experiences of American blacks in her novels.But the deep meanings surpass the border of sex,race and class,covering all the human being aspects. |
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