Shahriyar Mansouri and Noritah Omar
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 18, Issue 2, September 2010
Keywords: American Cultural Studies, Interdisciplinary Literary Studies, Narratology, Psychoanalysis, Toni Morrison
Published on:
Previous critical readings of Toni Morrison`s novels, especially Paradise, largely emphasise the universal themes explored in her novels, namely, feminism, culture, psychology, and of course, her remarkable presentation of African-Americans in racial and cultural conflicts. Yet, there are major areas that remain unexplored in her works. One of the most conspicuous absences is Morrison`s dominance over the art of narration. Narratology, as a science, studies the ways in which narration and narrators help us shape our perceptions of reality, cultural artifacts, cliches, etc. Needless to say, it is Morrison`s ceaseless dominance and control over the art of narration that take her novels, including Paradise, to a new level and style - a modern style, which Roland Barthes refers to as the "writerly text." By setting the science of narration as the cornerstone of this paper, the following notions will receive a proper narratological definition: (a) how the various stories, initially narrated by unrelated characters are juxtaposed against each other to convey a single plot/storyline, and (b) how a singular omniscient/omnipresent narrator is unable to lead the narrative towards a satisfactory ending. In order to investigate the significance of utilising a labyrinthine narrative form in modern texts, this paper studies the variety and relevance of the employed forms of narration, through the interdisciplinary science of narratology.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542