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Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator

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 area...

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Main Authors: Mansouri, Shahriyar, Omar, Noritah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2010
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/17432/1/70.%20Toni%20Morrison%E2%80%99s%20Paradise.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/17432/
http://pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2018%20(2)%20Sep.%202010/15%20Pg%20333-341.pdf
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spelling my.upm.eprints.174322015-10-21T00:07:35Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/17432/ Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator Mansouri, Shahriyar Omar, Noritah 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, clichés, 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. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2010 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/17432/1/70.%20Toni%20Morrison%E2%80%99s%20Paradise.pdf Mansouri, Shahriyar and Omar, Noritah (2010) Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 18 (2). pp. 333-341. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2018%20(2)%20Sep.%202010/15%20Pg%20333-341.pdf
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description 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, clichés, 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.
format Article
author Mansouri, Shahriyar
Omar, Noritah
spellingShingle Mansouri, Shahriyar
Omar, Noritah
Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
author_facet Mansouri, Shahriyar
Omar, Noritah
author_sort Mansouri, Shahriyar
title Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
title_short Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
title_full Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
title_fullStr Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
title_full_unstemmed Toni Morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
title_sort toni morrison’s paradise: the unreliable narrator
publisher Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
publishDate 2010
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/17432/1/70.%20Toni%20Morrison%E2%80%99s%20Paradise.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/17432/
http://pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2018%20(2)%20Sep.%202010/15%20Pg%20333-341.pdf
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score 13.211869

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