Toni Morrison托尼莫里森

Part I. BiographyPart II. Major Works and Awards Part IV. A Brief Analysis of Beloved Part III. Writing Features Part I. Biograph of Toni MorrisonToni Morrison (1931 ) 19311949 1953 1955 1957 1958 1964 1970 1973 1977 1987 1993 1996Toni Morrisons Time Table Toni Morrison born February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio grandfather was born a slave her family lost their land and were forced to work in the mines and mills of the industrialized North Lorain, Ohio 1949-1955 attended Howard University in 1949 received a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) In English from Howard in 1953 earned a Master of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1955 became an English instructor at Texas Southern University after graduation in 1955. returned to Howard to teach English in 1957. became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.1955-1957 got married in 1958 got divorced in 1964 and moved to New York, working as an editor. began her writing career.1964-a turning point of Morrison became an English instructor at Texas Southern University after graduation in 1955. returned to Howard to teach English in 1957. became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.1955-1957 Writing Career In 1993, Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. “Toni Morrison, who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic inport, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”1993 The National Endowment for the Humanities selected Morrison for the Jefferson Lecture. “Time, it seems, has no future.” be honored with the 1996 National Book Foundations Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.1996 In 1984, she was appointed to an Albert Schweitzer chair. From 19892006, she held the Rober F.Goheen Chair at Princeton University. In June 2005, she was awarded as an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.Later Life Part II. Major Works and Awards Novels 1970 The Bluest Eye 最蓝的眼睛 1973 Sula 秀拉 1977 Song of Solomon 所罗门之歌 1981 Tar Baby 柏油孩子、黑宝贝 1988 Beloved 宠儿 1992 Jazz 爵士乐 1999 Paradise天堂、乐园 1993 Love 爱 2008 A Mercy恩惠 Non-fictions Remember : The Journey to School Integration The Black Book Birth of a Nationhood What Moves at the Margin Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power :Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and the Construction of Social Reality Play in the Dark : Whiteness and the Literary Imagination Childrens literatureThe Book of Mean People (2002)The Big Box (1999)Plays Dreaming of Emmett (1986)Libretto(歌剧脚本)Margaret Garner (first performed May 2005)Other works The Bluest Eye A novel based on elements of Morrisons own experience, contrasts two black families: the dysfunctional(不正常的) breedloves and the healthy, loving McTeers. Sula Sula portrays two black women who choose different paths in life. Song of Solomon Flight as a Means of Escape Abandoned Women The Alienating Effects of Racism Tar Baby A novel about contentions and conflicts based on learned biases and prejudices. These biases exist on a race level, gender level, and a class level. Beloved Morrisons best novel and won her the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction（ 普利策小说奖）. Awards 1977 National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon 1977 American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award 1987-88 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award 1988 American Book Award for Beloved 1988 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Race Relations for Beloved 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Beloved 1989 MLA Commonwealth Award in Literature1993 Nobel Prize for Literature 1993 Commander of the Arts and Letters, Paris 1994 Condorcet Medal, Paris 1994 Pearl Buck Award Awards 1994 Rhegium Julii Prize for Literature 1996 Jefferson Lecture 1996 National Book Foundations Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters 2000 National Humanities Medal UUA:Frederic G. Melcher Book AwardAwards Part III. Writing features by 唐 光 丽1. Powerful fictional style 2. Provocative themes 3. Sophisticated narrative techniques 4. Poetic style Writing features1.Powerful fictional style In beloved, Paul D, fellow slave from Kentucky comes to live with them. She eventually takes over the household, feeding on Sethes memories and explanations to gain strength. Beloved nearly destroyed her mother until the community of former slave women who have ostracized Sethe and Denver since the murder join together to exorcise Beloved at last. Writing features2. Provocative themesA. Strong feeling of feminist consciousness and nationalism. eg, the bluest eye Sula BelovedB. Describe mainly the impression of black women who are oppressed by race and gender. eg, the protagonist of beloved Sethe Writing features In her novel the bluest eye and Sula, Morrison expesses his strong feeling of feminist consciousness and nationalism; meanwhile, its also reveal the distort character of black people, for example, Pecola in the bluest eye surmised that the reason she was abused at home and ridiculed at school was her black skin, which was equated with ugliness. She imagined that everything would be all right if she had blue eyes and blond hair. Writing featuresC. Integrate the past and present life of African Aericans to show the distort of colonial system, racial discrimination and dissimination of black peoples life. D. appeal to find the lost culture and rebulid the nationalism. Writing features In sula,she is the pariah of her hometown With the discovery at the age of 12 that she and her friend Nel Wright were neither white nor male, and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them, life evolved into an unlimited experiment. Not bound by any social codes, Sula was first thought to be unusual, then outrageous, and eventually evil Writing features In song of solomon, Morrison expresses her nationalism .The Milkmans Macon odyssey became a kind of cultural epic for all African-American people; it mapped in symbolic fashion the heritage of a people, from a mythic African past, through a heritage obscured by slavery, to a present built upon questioned values. Part IV. A Brief Analysis of Beloved Background Characters and Plot Writing features Themes Reflection 用 杀 死 自 己 亲 生 婴 儿 来 拯 救 孩 子 的 “ 疯 狂 ” 的 黑 人 母 亲 变 成 鬼 魂 不 断 侵 扰 亲 人 的 黑 人 婴 儿 致 人 疯 狂 的 美 国 种 族 主 义 的 梦 魇 1. Archetype: the true story of Margaret Garner, a fugtive slave, from The Black Book （ 黑人之书 ）.2. History: Beloved straddles (游离) the line between fiction and history; from an experience of a single family, she creates a powerful commentary on the psychological and historical legacy of slavery.3. Style: affected by such modernist masters as Faulkner or Joyce. 1.Sethe(塞丝) the protagonist of Beloved, a proud and independent woman who is extremely devoted to her children and attempts to murder them in an act of motherly love and protection. 2.Denver(丹芙) Sethes youngest child, the dynamic character in the novel. She overcomes her fear of the world and starts to fight for independence and self-possession . 3. Paul D (保罗.D) A former slave from Sweet H ome who survived the horrors of slavery and has evolved into a resourceful, contemplative man. H e challenges Sethe to try to make a future with him. 4. Baby Suggs (贝比.萨格斯） Sethes mother-in-law. Baby becomes a preacher after H alle buys her freedom, and she provides a stabilizing force for Sethe and Denver. 5.Beloved(宠儿) Sethes third child and oldest daughter who was killed at the age of two. H er restless spirit haunts the family first as a ghost and then as a flesh-and-blood woman. Beginning: 1848, Sweet H ome “Sweet Home” Sethe, Halle Suggs, Paul D, Paul A, Paul F,SixoMr. Garner I shall not answer you ”心理和社会意识的 觉醒赋于挑战权威的力量 The awakening(觉醒)-Edna(埃德娜)平淡无奇压抑孤寂裸体自杀 只为涅槃重生肉体解放 催生深沉思索 邂逅爱情挑战权威女 性 角 色 对 比 She cast the unpleasant, pricking garment from her, and for the first time in her life she stood naked in the open air, at the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her, and the waves that invited her. How strange and awful it seemed to stand naked under the sky! How delicious! She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known. She didnt look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she had traversed when a little child ,believing that it had no beginning and end. “过 去 的 日 子 就 像 在 做 梦 一 般 但 愿 可 以 沉 睡不 醒 ， 醒 来 却 发 现 啊 ， 也 好 ， 或 许 醒 来 终究 是 比 较 好 的 ， 即 使 受 苦 ， 也 总 比 一 生 都被 幻 象 所 蒙 蔽 来 得 好 ” （ 临死前的宣言）觉醒的最终意义：宁可醒来后付出生命的代价也不愿再懵懂地生活下去 Beloved (宠儿) Sethe (塞丝) 塞丝”非洲文化中的男性神，一般人身，一半鸟身。刚强毅力和自由的代表，希望与自由的化身 女性角色对比 Edna VS Sethebackground destinythe theme 2. Racialism 她 的 笔 触 超 越 了 愤 怒 ， 也 不 再 “ 控 诉 ” ，而 是 以 一 种 斩 钉 截 铁 的 痛 切 陈 述 一 个 黑 奴（ 或 解 放 了 的 黑 奴 ） 在 世 界 上 的 根 本 处 境 ：“ 任 何 一 个 白 人 ， 都 能 因 为 他 脑 子 里 突 然 闪过 的 一 个 什 么 念 头 ， 而 夺 走 你 的 整 个 自 我 。不 止 是 奴 役 、 杀 戮 或 者 残 害 你 ， 还 要 玷 污 你 。玷 污 得 如 此 彻 底 ， 让 你 都 不 可 能 再 喜 欢 你 自己 。 玷 污 得 如 此 彻 底 ， 能 让 你 忘 了 自 己 是 谁 ，而 且 再 也 不 能 回 想 起 来 Racialism Amnisia to historyConnotation of Beloved National amnisia “小说中的人物不愿回忆，我不愿回忆，黑人不愿回忆，白人不愿回忆，我是说，这是全民族的记忆缺失症” “我们生活的美国是一个过去总是被抹去、将来总是清白无辜的地方，其间尽管移民们来来往往，但是美国历史总是清清爽爽的。过去不在场、或者被浪漫化。这个文化不鼓励评述过去的真相，更不会接受关于过去的真相。与30年前相比，现在记忆处于更加危险的境地。” The torment of the history and devastating slaveryFear for the past Avoid encountering with the pastOverwhelming by the past 宠儿女儿的幽灵过去到完整，分裂到完整的桥梁惨痛的历史记忆历史现实中的不平等与苦难灾难中的黑人化身灾难中的黑人化身 宠儿是整个美国白人社会的“他者”，提醒着白人：黑奴制是不容回避的一部分，它的作用已超越了恢复黑人记忆的范畴，也号召黑人应克服自身的狭隘性和局限性，使黑人社区成为黑人名副其实的精神乐园，为解放黑人指明了一条出路 vs传统的反奴隶制作品宠儿进行表层抗议倡导种族道义弘扬文化与生命的价值意义对历史文化的重新整合寻求自我历程和重构黑人民族意识才能帮助走出阴影，成为自由人人类立场 1987年 一 经 出 版 ， 立 刻 震 惊 美国 文 坛 ， 评 论 界 誉 为 “ 美 国 文学 史 上 的 里 程 碑 ” 。 1988年 ， 获 美 国 普 利 策 图 书 奖 。 1993年 ， 作 者 莫 里 森 获 诺 贝 尔文 学 奖 。 1998年 ， 宠 儿 被 搬 上 银 幕 ，由 著 名 电 视 主 持 人 奥 普 拉 温 芙蕾 饰 演 塞 斯 。