toni's methods and quotes

A2 english literature

gothic literature

a genre characterised by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom; contains supernatural components, suspense, and mystery

morrison’s principles for african american literature (to understand slavery away from a euro-centric focus)

1. have a participatory quality between book and reader

2. aural quality to the writing including spoken language (aave)

3. open-endedness because “life has no tidy endings”

4. ability to accept/detect differences (stories should not homogenise)

5. an obligation to bear witness

6. acknowledges broader cosmology (magical realism)

7. serves as a conduit for ancestors to share their stories

8. use humour and be frequently ironic

9. achieve clarity/epiphany with a tendency to be prophetic

10. should take her people “through the pain and denial of their racially haunted history to a place of healing”

PASTICHE (post-modern features in 'beloved')

the taking of ideas from previous writings and pasting them together to make new styles.

eg: morrison made many biblical allusions and was inspired by harriet ann jacobs who pioneered the writing of african american slave stories that put women in the forefront.

INTERTEXTUALITY (post-modern features in 'beloved')

acknowledgement of previous literary works.

eg: morrison makes many biblical allusions and references a passage from the old testament book of hosea in her prophetic epigraph "i will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved; which was not beloved"

METAFICTION (post-modern features in 'beloved')

writing that makes readers aware of the fictional nature of the very fiction they are reading.

eg: morrison writes "it was not a story to pass on" from sethe's pov and then follows it with "this is not a story to pass on" from her own pov. sethe refers to the story of what happened to herself while morrison refers to the tapestry of stories that make up african american history together

FRAGMENTATION (post-modern features in 'beloved')

the use of non-linear timelines, insertion of memories and constant jumps through time.

eg: morrison tells the story of the climactic shed scene seven times from the perspectives of many characters (schoolteacher, nephew, slavecatcher, sheriff, baby suggs, stamp paid, sethe)

MINIMALISM (post-modern features in 'beloved')

the inclusion of decidely common characters or events.

eg: morrison writes about a random white man who comes to find judy, and sethe kneads dough everyday

MAGICAL REALISM (post-modern features in 'beloved')

the introduction of impossible or unrealistic events into a narrative that is otherwise realistic.

eg: sethe's neck being bruised after a supernatural presence choked her or denver's deafness due to deep-rooted psychological trauma

PLAYFULNESS (post-modern features in 'beloved')

uses black humour, wordplay and irony to dizzy readers, muddle the story and lighten mood.

eg: paul d. and stamp paid laughing about sethe trying to kill mr bodwin

foreword quote about margaret garner

“she had the intellect, the ferocity, the willingness to risk everything for what was to her, the necessity of freedom.”

foreword quote about toni’s goal for sethe

“the heroine would represent the unapologetic acceptance of shame and terror; assume the consequences of choosing infanticide and claim her own freedom.”

foreword quote about beloved’s place in the novel

“the figure most central to the story would have to be her, the murdered, not the murderer. the one who lost everything and had no say in any of it.”

foreword quote about the non-linear timeline and fragmented narrative structure

“i wanted the reader to be kidnapped, thrown ruthlessly into an alien environment… just as characters were snatched from one place to another without preparation or defence.”

foreword quote about the resurfacing of characters’ trauma

“that the order and quietude of everyday life would be interrupted by the needy dead; that the herculean effort to forget would be threatened by memory desperate to stay alive.”

quote about hierarchal conditioning in america

“in this country, american means white. everyone else has to hyphenate.”

quote about the power of naming in literature

“if you come from africa, your name is gone… how can you connect with your ancestors if you have lost your name? that’s a huge psychological scar.”

morrison’s prophetic epigraph

referencing a passage from the old testament book of hosea: “i will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved”

morrison’s dedication

“sixty million / and more”

quote about creating beloved as a character

“i wanted a baby in human body, without past or future (having been killed so young), and also to be the embodiment of the past.”

quote about beloved’s arrival at 124

“she is like a catalyst. she opens up everybody’s vulnerability.”

two quotes from the video interview about the dilemma of margaret garner’s actions

“i couldn’t praise her and i couldn’t condemn her.” and “i talked to someone and they said it was the right thing to do, to keep her child from being enslaved, but she had no right to do it.”

quote from the video interview about whether margaret was right or wrong

“the only person who could legitimately answer that would be the dead child.”