A Study Of Negro Intergenerational Relations In Toni Morrison's Novels

Toni Morrison is an outstanding authoress in the history of American black literature.The black people has always been the focus from the very beginning of her writing.And she depicts nearly every aspects of black people’s life.As the representative of the American black elites,she has deep feelings towards African traditional culture,and is very interested in the black living conditions.The author keenly digs up the intergenerational relationship in diverse black relationships to produce her profound and distinctive works.In this thesis,Morrison’s intergenerational relationship is the study target,and its type and causes are analyzed with expecting to have a more profound understanding of Morrison and her works.This thesis is divided into six parts.The introduction introduces Morrison’s creation and her status in the history of American black literature and summarizes the research condition of Morrison and her works both at home and abroad.The first chapter summarizes the interdisciplinary relationship between the literary manifestation and the black intergenerational relationship.Intergenerational relations are the object of many disciplines,involving many aspects of social life.Since the Greek mythology,many Western literary works used it as the theme to reach a purpose of exploring social life and human thought.The life of American blacks begins with the evil slave trade,giving the black intergenerational relationship unique in particular historical circumstances.Morrison has given full attention to the unique interdecadal relations of blacks in her works,covering almost all of her novels.The second chapter illustrates the types of intergenerational relations in Morrison’s novels.There are two types of intergenerational relations in her novels:the blood relationship of father and son/daughter and the father-child relationship in ethnic meaning,with the former showing a kind of abnormal intergreneratinal relations and the desire for a harmonious intergenerational relationship.Chapter three analyzes the causes of intergenerational relations in Morrison’s novels.Echoing to the relationship types in chapter two,this chapter focuses on the marginalization and the national characteristics of the black race which analyzes thecauses of the abnormal intergenerational relationship,the intergenerational conflict of the ethnic group and the desire for harmonious relationship.Chapter four explores the development of black people embodied in the intergenerational relationship of Morrison’s novels.Resting on the description of the intergenerational relationship with the blacks,Morrison replayed the process how American black come to mature,expressing her deep insights bear on the development of black people ideas.And,the novel Home demonstrates Morrison’s expectations towards black people’s future development.The conclusion generalizes the whole thesis and highlights the viewpoints of it.