Counter-Memory in Toni Morrison's Home

doi:10.13766/j.bhsk.1008-2204.2015.0478

Abstract

Abstract:

Toni Morrison in her latest novel Home presents the memory about America in 1950s, which can be regarded as the "counter-memory" in opposition to the "official memory" about this period. According to the official history, people then lived in their own homes, enjoying peace and comfort, but the "counter-memory" provided by Toni Morrison reveals that to African Americans, both the memory about "home" and their growth is traumatized. They were excluded from the "American Dream", living in the despair of homelessness, even unable to control their own body, which was much abused and trampled upon. However, this "counter-memory" about 1950s in America is not only about gloominess for African Americans, whose optimism and perseverance enable them to survive such hardship. To Morrison, it is very important to fight for the rights in the field of memory, which is related to whether African Americans can be remembered or forgotten in American history.

Key words: Home, homelessness, redemption, counter-memory, Toni Morrison

CLC Number:

I106

HU Jun. Counter-Memory in Toni Morrison's Home[J]. JOURNAL OF BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF AERONAUTICS AND A, 2017, 30(6): 63-68.

References

[1] LUCY D.Home by Toni Morrison:Review[EB/OL].[2015-09-01]. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9272768/Home-by-Toni-Morrison-review.html.
[2] HELLER M.Home:Toni Morrison's taut,triumphant new novel[EB/OL].[2015-09-01].http://m.npr.org/news/Books/151378917.
[3] JOHN F. Home,a novel by Toni Morrison[EB/OL].(2012-05-12)[2015-09-01].http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2012/05/12/review-home-novel-toni-morrison/qG7a2XVE93i9BdbzoCfjKO/story.html.
[4] TONI M. Toni Morrison on her new book Home[EB/OL].[2015-09-01]. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/05/24/toni-morrison-audio-q.html.
[5] PATRICK H H.History as an art of memory[M].Vermont:University Press of Vermont,1993:6.
[6] MICHEL F.Language, Counter-memory, practice:Selected essays and interviews by Michel Foucault[M].DONALD F B,SHERRY S I,Trans. New York:Cornell University Press,1980:152-160.
[7] GEORGE L.Time passages:Collective memory and american popular culture[M].Minneapolis:University of Minnesota Press,2001:213.
[8] TONI M.Home[M].New York:Alfred K. Knopf,2012:9-132.
[9] JACK K.On the road[M].New York:The Viking Press,1959:122.
[10] DAVID L L,LAURENCE G.The automobile and American culture[M].Michigan:University of Michigan Press,1983:137.
[11] PAUL C.How societies remember[M].Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,1989:167.
[12] HAYDEN W.The value of narrativity in the representation of reality[J].Critical Inquiry,1980(Autumn):14.
[13] PAUL F. Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present[M].New York:Oxford University Press,2009:167.
[14] ANGELA Y D.Women,race and class[M].New York:Random House Inc.,1983:215.
[15] TONI M.What moves at the Margin:Selected nonfiction[M].Jackson,Mississippi:University Press of Mississippi,2008:41.
[16] GENEVIEVE F,ROBERT O'M.History and memory in African-American culture[M].New York:Oxford University Press,1994:8.
[17] MICHEL F. "Film and Popular Memory" foucault live:Interviews,1961-84[M].New York:Semiotext,1996:124.
[18] JACQUES D. Memories for Paul De Man[M].New York:Columbia University Press,1988:XI.