Essay on Modernism and Beloved

PROTEST AND MODERNIST WRITING IN BELOVED


In writing Beloved, Toni Morrison has portrayed African Americans as flawed people who deserve racial equality in a postcolonial world. In this essay I will draw references from the internet, journals, including: Signifying Structures and Liquid Alterity and books, including: The Empire Writes Back and Conversations with Toni Morrison to outline this argument. The main points of this essay is that Beloved is a modernist novel, as evidenced by its use of surreal imagery and postcolonial themes, a protest novel and a feminist novel and is effective in all of these respects.

Although Beloved is a protest novel, it’s form is incompatible with the movement of post-structualism, but instead is a postcolonial novel. Morrison’s investment in agency, presence and the resurrection of authentic history make the novel incompatible with post-structualism (Davis, 1998). There is a connection between black protest and liberal academic discourse, which means that Beloved is informed by postmodernism, in that both movements argue for greater freedoms for individuals and social progression (Davis, 1998). Postcolonial writings seek to bring justice for oppressed groups and brings into question the legitimisation of the argument that the colonial power are more progressive than marginalized groups (Conway-Herron, 2010).

The best way to analyse Beloved is from a feminist and universal point of view. There are several ways of viewing black american literature, which include: national or regional models and race based models (Ashcroft, 2008). I prefer to see Beloved in the national model, rather than a model based on race, which is largely a social construct (Ashcroft, 2008). A race based analysis of Beloved puts too much importance on the victimization of black peoples, even though the power struggles in a racist society run both ways, with black peoples victimising white people as well. Thus the best way to analyse Beloved is from a feminism and universal perspective rather than the point of view of racial vilification.

Black writers of the 20th century have been largely marginalized (Gunew, 1992). For example there is a lack of female writers on the Modern Library’s list of the best novels of the 20th century. Black American writers tend to be unbiased and both castigate and encourage black peoples (Mackay, 1997). Sethe is a schizotypal like figure who believes in ghosts and magick, which is deconstructed by most modern readers as superstition, but would resonate with black females living in slavery in the 19th century. Many of the men Sethe lived with in Beloved are lusting after her, which gives her power as the lead female in the novel and makes her the centre of attention in the novel. Although the characters are marginalized as black slaves, they gain power and redemption through their sexuality and human qualities (Spark Notes, n.d.).

Beloved is a modernist novel, because of it’s use of time shifts and stream of consciousness writing, which is used in order for the reader to get inside the head of the characters. ‘... turn away from the techniques of representation of nineteenth-century realism towards formal experimentation has left an ambiguous legacy.’ (Columbia University, n.d.) Black Americans are expected to write modernist novels about oppression, which still stereotypes the average Black American as a protester, even though there is more depth (including modernist techniques) than what is expected by the mass in Morrison as a writer. The text of Beloved is cyclic and has a complex metaphorical structure and shifting semantics (D’Cruz, n.d.). It shifts time zones regularly, going back to traumatic events in the past, such as Sethe’s time in slavery (D’Cruz, n.d.). It uses vivid language and imagery to paint a portrait of the characters thoughts and experiences, which is another modernist technique. An example of this is the poemL ‘Faeries dance around their Queen.’ (Morrison, 1987, pp. 95) The queen could be seen as Beloved or Sethe, which many of the characters are attracted to. Another example of the eccentricity of the narrative and characters is: ‘her skinny hands wrapped around her knees.’ (Morrison, 1987, pp. 95) This is an example of childlike innocence and makes Denver more real and likeable. These examples show that Beloved has an atypical structure and unorthodox characters which bring the novel fully to life and make it a formidable novel in the modernist movement.

Morrison’s writing falls into two genres: Modernism and African America literary protest. Modernist novels rebel against the technique of realism and lean towards experimentation (Columbia University, n.d.). Modernist techniques contain racial crises in the use of self-referential play (Columbia University, n.d.). Extremists may argue that a postmodern world has no history, and that history has been annihilated, however, this view has no basis in reality, because we can observe clearly the changes in history occurring now, including global terrorism and neo-liberalism (Davis, 1998). Postmodernists stand against any grand narrative and the objectivity of modernist and humanistic intellectuals. Black writers in particular made inroads for their race in the 1970s, even though they are drawing from a grand narrative. Beloved is a protest novel, because it uses themes of the supernatural and realism in order to critique the master narrative of white 20th century discourse (Davis, 1998).

Contemporary writing is often self-referential and playful, which is in response to crises in the early 20th century, including world war one and apartheid in South Africa (Columbia University, n.d.). Intractable conflict occurs in many regions that have been colonised by the Soviet Union or Western European countries in the past. This conflict can be caused by many events, including ‘territorial boundaries, the treatment of indigenous populations, the privileging of some groups over others, the uneven distribution of wealth, local governmental infrastructures, and the formation of non-democratic or non-participatory governmental systems.’ (Marker, 2003) Thus racial tensions lead to conflicts, which has been presented in Beloved in a unorthodox writing style, which mixes well with this theme.

Morrison’s Beloved is a perfect example of a hybrid novel, in that it calls forth all sorts of colour and flavour of human history (McCarthy, 1995). It tells the story of a woman named Sethe who kills one of her daughters in order to escape the pull of slavery in the United States (Spark Notes, n.d.). Sethe is very brave, but also flawed in her anger towards her captors. The white slave owner in the novel takes the place of the father in Beloved (D’Cruz, n.d.). The character Beloved acts as a surrogate for Sethe as one of her daughters has been killed (Spark Notes, n.d.). The characters in Beloved are plagued by superstition, which is part of their African roots. Even though the novel takes on many influences, which make it a hybrid novel, it is also primarily a protest and feminist novel and should be interpreted as thus (McCarthy, 1995).

The portrayal of women in Beloved creates a dichotomy between the temporal opposites of the male and female. The male have power and voice, while females are silenced but destructive, which can be seen in the character Sethe. There is a potent parallel between the goddess: Kali and Sethe, in that both are bloodthirsty female villains, who are hell bent on achieving success (Harris, 1993). To Sethe the behavior and thoughts she experiences appear logical and thus emerge from the traumatic stress of danger and slavery (Harris, 1993). In writing Beloved, Toni Morrison has defeated the complicity between language and male domination in giving the female characters a centralised voice. In a typical 19th century colonial text slaves are shown to benefit from their slavery and women are portrayed as slum mothers or housewives, which is deconstructed by the novel, thus creating a new dichotomy.

Morrison is pontificating in Beloved that there is no way out for Sethe. Sethe is trapped in murderous urges and also the threat of slavery and is chained to her past; using it to cause chaos and suffering. Part of the story illumes this dichotomy: ‘Suspended between the nastiness of life and the meanness of the dead.’ and also ‘The welcoming cool of chiseled headstones.’ (Morrison, 1987) This is Morrison using morbid imagery and energy to suggest that suicide is a urge that seems to hold a escape, but is truthfully a mirage. It is a dark gothic way of presenting the characters as awaiting Christian judgement in what is a predominantly Christian region. Morrison’s depiction is surreal and underlies the urgency of the characters and the urgency of the 19th century in history.

Morrison writes that ‘Denvers secrets are sweet.’ (Morrison, 1987, pp. 34) Denver plays in the woods and it is said by Morrison that her imagination is her own food. Morrison uses a metaphor to add colour to the character: Denver and to make her seem mysterious. The phrase ‘Wore her out’ on page two is repeated twice for emphasis (Morrison, 1987, pp. 2). Morrison makes the house named: 124, seem like a character in Beloved, as a magical place where amazing things are occurring. Morrison says that ‘the tender embrace of the sleeve made Denver remember the details of her birth.’ (Morrison, 1987, pp. 34) This phrase creates a sense of nostalgia and creates warmth and unity in the novel. The characters hold secrets from each other because they are human and not perfect. Denver is presented as charismatic and as a strong female character is therefore important to the feminist ideal of freeing women from their status as ‘black’ or ‘slave’.

In Poppie Nongena it is said that “...unruly political substance, its birth in the violent crucible of the [Soweto] uprising, its doubled and contradictory female authorship, its violation of racial, gender, class and aesthetic boundaries...” The Soweto uprising occured in South Africa in the 1970s. It occured because of the racist policies of the ruling National Party Government. Similar racist policies were in place in the time where Beloved was set. The black peoples of the world, thus in dual with each other fought back against these racist policies in order to achieve racial union. Postcolonialism came out of the racist climate of World War Two and was a important period and theme which put a metaphorical lid on the tensions which occurred before world war two. Thus it would not make sense for Black Americans to see christianity as a beacon of hope, because it does not address the issue of racial injustice (Kitchener, 2010).

Christian piety is important in the movement of emancipating Black Americans from slavery. African Americans in history lived in houses, which strengthens the history of colonialism, slavery, and racial segregation (Kitchener, 2010). Even though the houses were set up to resist the racist narrative, they are still a setting and signal, which open up paradoxes for African Americans (Kitchener, 2010). In constrast to African American religion is the Christian notion of piety, which allows Black Americans to escape slavery after the catalyst, which was the Civil War. Thus African Americans were enslaved because of right wing Christian ideology and were freed due to the same christian ideology, but with a benevolent essence.

The characters in Beloved are flawed and failed humans, who are dealt injustice because of slavery. Beloved is a important modernist work, which deconstructs itself and the colonialism which led to world events like Apartheid and the Second World War. It is effective largely because of its modern use of abstraction and magical use of language. Overall because of its use of dark and gothic imagery, realism and postcolonial deconstruction, Beloved is a example of new literature which puts light onto the past as dark and constraining for African Americans and women in general.


















REFERENCES


Ashcroft, B. Griffiths, G. Tiffin, H. 2008, The Empire Writes Back, Routledge, USA, New York.

Columbia University (online), n.d., ‘From Realism to Modernism’,  http://www.columbia.edu/cu/english/orals/realism_modernism.htm, [Accessed 24 July, 2010].

Conway-Herron, J. 2010, ‘Issues and Themes Study Guide’, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, pp. 20-29.

Davis, K. 1998, ‘Post-modern Blackness’, Find Articles (online), http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0403/is_2_44/ai_53260178/, [Accessed 15 July, 2010].

D’Cruz, D. n.d., ‘The Liquid Alterity of the maternal-feminine’, Massey University. [Accessed 15 July, 2010].

Gunew, S. Longley, K. 1992, ‘Striking Chords - Multicultural Literary Interpretations’, Allen and Unwin, Sydney, Australia.

Harris, T 1993, ‘Beloved: From fiction to folklore’, in The Novels of Toni Morrison, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, pp. 151–183.

Kitchener, L. 2010, Signifying Structures: Representations of the House
in African-American and Black Southern African Women’s Writing, Howard University

Mackay, N. 1997, ‘Reflections on black women writers’, in RR Warhol & DP Hendl (eds), Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism, Macmillan Press Ltd, Hampshire, pp. 151–161.

Marker, S. 2003, ‘Effects of Colonization’, Beyond Intractability (online), http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/post-colonial/?nid=6712, [Accessed 24 July, 2010].

McCarthy, C. 1995, Cultural Studies Journal, Issue 2, Volume 9, ‘The Hypocrisy of Completeness’, pp. 247 - 255.

Morrison, T. 1987, ‘Beloved’, Random House, Great Britain, pp. 2, pp. 34, pp. 95.

Spark Notes (online), n.d., Beloved, http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/beloved/summary.html, [Accessed 24 July, 2010].