Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACT: In A Mercy Toni Morrison tackles the multilayered and strikingly powerful Gothic "haunted" house metaphor from a female perspective. Her revenants and hauntings are not just individual, but also historical, political and cultural manifestations. Through the Gothic dwelling, Morrison explores the fragmented personal and familial identities, conventional gender arrangements, failed domestic ideology, racist and colonial past, etc., in a patriarchal society dominated by whites. Her transgressive rewriting draws attention to the impact of slavery and racism and, consequently, to the othering of ethnic females, especially blacks. Morrison not only depicts the unspeakable horrors of American history, but also provides ways for its regeneration, such as women's empowerment and their struggle for self-definition. Morrison's revisitation of the "haunted" house formula offers an alternative female perspective on American identity and history.RESUMEN: En A Mercy Toni Morrison aborda la poderosa y compleja metáfora de la casa gótica "encantada" desde una perspectiva femenina. Sus fantasmas no son exclusivamente individuales, sino manifestaciones históricas, políticas y culturales. Mediante la mansión gótica, Morrison analiza la fragmentada identidad personal y familiar, las convenciones de género, la fallida ideología doméstica, el pasado racista y colonial, etc., en una sociedad patriarcal dominada por blancos. Su reescritura transgresora destaca el impacto de la esclavitud y el racismo y, consecuentemente, la alterización de la mujer étnica, especialmente las negras. Morrison no sólo describe los inefables horrores góticos de la historia americana, sino que también proporciona formas de regeneración, tales como el empoderamiento de la mujer y su lucha por autodefinición. La revisitación de Morrison de la fórmula de la casa "encantada" ofrece una perspectiva femenina alternativa de la identidad e historia americanas.

In A Mercy Toni Morrison tackles the multilayered and strikingly powerful Gothic "haunted" house metaphor from a female perspective. Her revenants and hauntings are not just individual, but also historical, political and cultural manifestations. Through the Gothic dwelling, Morrison explores the fragmented personal and familial identities, conventional gender arrangements, failed domestic ideology, racist and colonial past, etc., in a patriarchal society dominated by whites. Her transgressive rewriting draws attention to the impact of slavery and racism and, consequently, to the othering of ethnic females, especially blacks. Morrison not only depicts the unspeakable horrors of American history, but also provides ways for its regeneration, such as women's empowerment and their struggle for self-definition. Morrison's revisitation of the "haunted" house formula offers an alternative female perspective on American identity and history. ; En A Mercy Toni Morrison aborda la poderosa y compleja metáfora de la casa gótica "encantada" desde una perspectiva femenina. Sus fantasmas no son exclusivamente individuales, sino manifestaciones históricas, políticas y culturales. Mediante la mansión gótica, Morrison analiza la fragmentada identidad personal y familiar, las convenciones de género, la fallida ideología doméstica, el pasado racista y colonial, etc., en una sociedad patriarcal dominada por blancos. Su reescritura transgresora destaca el impacto de la esclavitud y el racismo y, consecuentemente, la alterización de la mujer étnica, especialmente las negras. Morrison no sólo describe los inefables horrores góticos de la historia americana, sino que también proporciona formas de regeneración, tales como el empoderamiento de la mujer y su lucha por autodefinición. La revisitación de Morrison de la fórmula de la casa "encantada" ofrece una perspectiva femenina alternativa de la identidad e historia americanas.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables and Toni Morrison's Beloved share some important elements of the gothic tradition. One of the most complex themes of these two gothic romances is the past and its haunting. Whereas in Seven Gables the theme of the past is linked with the decline of "aristocracy" (colonialism) and growth of democracy; in Beloved it is closely associated with the theme of race. Both stories are haunted by the ghosts of the colonial past, addressing the connections between colonialism and the Negro. While Africanism is subtly woven into Seven Gables, Beloved focuses on the historical effect that slavery had on African-Americans. Both Hawthorne and Morrison delve into the ethical repercussions of human scientific endeavors for the soul and the anxieties about Western rational discourse. They depict the danger of the Faustian scientist's pursuits. In Seven Gables, nineteenth-century science and technology appear as a counterforce of the Gothic burden of the past and the American pastoral myth. Beloved, however, attacks the racist use of science in a rural, pre-industrial society, conveying the complicity between slavery and science. Seven Gables and Beloved deal with magic and the supernatural. Both Hawthorne and Morrison move between a realistic and fantastic world. They explore the supernatural and the connection between physical and spiritual life, fabricating a psychological and symbolical dimension through which they delve into the Gothic self. However, Hawthorne's dealings with magic can be framed in the superstitious Puritan beliefs of New England, whereas Morrison's ghosts should be inscribed in the black tradition. Both novels have as their primary settings the haunted house, a defining element of the Gothic tradition, the ruined Pyncheon mansion and 124, the spiteful house. The haunted house is a complex symbol and an organizing principle: the unreal world where Gothic nightmares come true. These two romances depict the patriarchal family as the source of the individual's ...