Beloved
By Toni Morrison
(Random House Large Print, Paperback, Large Print, 9780375704147, 400pp.)
Publication Date: September 29, 1998
Other Editions of This Title: Compact Disc (March 20, 2007), Hardcover (October 17, 2006), Paperback (June 8, 2004), Paperback (September 1988), Hardcover (August 12, 1987)
Categories: Historical - General, Literary
Description
Toni Morrison's magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel--first published in 1987--brought the unimaginable experience of slavery into the literature of our time and into our comprehension. Set in post-Civil War Ohio, it is the story of Sethe, an escaped slave who has risked her life in order to wrench herself from a living death; who has lost a husband and buried a child; who has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad. Sethe, who now lives in a small house on the edge of town with her daughter, Denver, her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, and a disturbing, mesmerizing apparition who calls herself Beloved.
Sethe works at "beating back the past," but it makes itself heard and felt incessantly: in her memory; in Denver's fear of the world outside the house; in the sadness that consumes Baby Suggs; in the arrival of Paul D, a fellow former slave; and, most powerfully, in Beloved, whose childhood belongs to the hideous logic of slavery and who has now come from the "place over there" to claim retribution for what she lost and for what was taken from her. Sethe's struggle to keep Beloved from gaining possession of her present--and to throw off the long-dark legacy of her past--is at the center of this spellbinding novel. But it also moves beyond its particulars, combining imagination and the vision of legend with the unassailable truths of history.
Upon the original publication of Beloved, John Leonard wrote in the Los Angeles Times: "I can't imagine American literature without it." In fact, more than a decade later, it remains a preeminent novel of our time, speaking with timeless clarity and power to our experience as a nation with a past of both abominable and ennobling circumstance.
About the Author
Toni Morrison was born in Ohio and is a graduate of Howard University and Cornell University. She has worked in publishing and taught at various colleges and universities, including Yale, Rutgers, and SUNY Albany as the Schweitzer Chair. She is currently Robert F. Goheen Professor at Princeton. She was the recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Praise For Beloved…
“A masterwork. . . . Wonderful. . . . I can’t imagine American literature without it.” —John Leonard, Los Angeles Times
“A triumph.” —Margaret Atwood, The New York Times Book Review
“Toni Morrison’s finest work. . . . [It] sets her apart [and] displays her prodigious talent.” —Chicago Sun-Times
“Dazzling. . . . Magical. . . . An extraordinary work.” —The New York Times
“A masterpiece. . . . Magnificent. . . . Astounding. . . . Overpowering.” —Newsweek
“Brilliant. . . . Resonates from past to present.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“A brutally powerful, mesmerizing story. . . . Read it and tremble.” —People
“Toni Morrison is not just an important contemporary nove list but a major figure in our national literature.” —New York Review of Books
“A work of genuine force. . . . Beautifully written.” —The Washington Post
“There is something great in Beloved: a play of human voices, consciously exalted, perversely stressed, yet holding true. It gets you.” —The New Yorker
“A magnificent heroine . . . a glorious book.” —The Baltimore Sun
“Superb. . . . A profound and shattering story that carries the weight of history. . . . Exquisitely told.” —Cosmopolitan
“Magical . . . rich, provocative, extremely satisfying.” —Milwaukee Journal
“Beautifully written. . . . Powerful. . . . Toni Morrison has become one of America’s finest novelists.” —The Plain Dealer
“Stunning. . . A lasting achievement.” —The Christian Science Monitor
“Written with a force rarely seen in contemporary fiction. . . . One feels deep admiration.” —USA Today
“Compelling . . . . Morrison shakes that brilliant kaleidoscope of hers again, and the story of pain, endurance, poetry and power she is born to tel l comes right out.” —The Village Voice
“A book worth many rereadings.” —Glamour
“In her most probing novel, Toni Morrison has demonstrated once again the stunning powers that place her in the first ranks of our living novelists.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Heart-wrenching . . . mesmerizing.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Shattering emotional power and impact.” —New York Daily News
“A rich, mythical novel . . . a triumph.” —St. Petersburg Times
“Powerful . . . voluptuous.” —New York
托妮·莫里森《爱》的多重主题 托妮?莫里森是世界文学史上荣获诺贝尔文学奖的第一位黑人女作家，她的小说《爱》自从2003年问世以来备受评论界好评。作为一部典型的后现代作品，小说《爱》中隐含着多个主题，不同的读者会根据小说中不同的人物塑造和他们的过往经历解读出不同的主题。笔者认为《爱》的多重主题主要包括以下几方面：对父权制和种族主义的抨击，对父权制下黑人女性自我身份摧毁的揭露，反映黑人女性自我意识的逐渐觉醒，呼吁黑人女性只有团结起来才能实现自我价值。 中国论文网/1/view-12826428.htm 托妮?莫里森作为当代美国黑人文
坛中一颗璀璨的明星，于1993年荣膺诺贝尔文学奖。迄今为止，莫里森已出版了十部令世人瞩目的长篇小说。她的第八部长篇小说《爱》一经问世就受到广大读者的青睐。小说描述了生前富有的柯西度假村老板比尔?柯西对当地人们，特别是对他身边女人们的深远影响，以及他们之间的爱与恨。《爱》成为世界文学中的一部奇葩，这与它具有多重主题是分不开的。总的来说，《爱》的多重主题主要可以从以下四个方面阐释。 一、对父权制和种族主义的抨击 黑人女性的受压迫史是每一位黑人女性作家的作品中不可或缺的主题。莫里森在小说《爱》中也向读者描述了男权社会中黑人女性生活的艰辛和苦难。她不但精确记录了男权价值观对黑人女性生活的影响，而且通过黑人女性的经历向读者说明她们的肤色和性别使她们不可避免地要承受种族和性别的双重歧视和压迫。莫里森在小说中塑造的那些居住在以比尔?柯西为中心的父权制家
庭中的黑人女性形象――留心，克里斯廷和梅，无一不是父权制下的牺牲品。 对于克里斯廷而言，留心是她最好的朋友，她忘不了自己是“如何违抗自己的母亲去保护她”。但留心一夜之间却变成了自己的祖母，从此她们反目成仇，在对彼此的仇恨中生活了50年。而这一切都源自柯西――那位“理想的丈夫。完美的父亲”，不顾孙女的身心成长和儿媳的反对，做出一个轻易的决定：他选择孙女最好的朋友，即11岁的留心，作为自己的续弦。自从嫁给柯西以后，留心悲剧的人生便开始了。面对这桩年龄和贫富差距都过于悬殊的婚姻，人们没有怪罪柯西，“他们原谅了柯西。原谅了他的一切”，反而将所有的过错都归于这个无辜又无能为力的小女孩身上。然而，小说在描述受人尊敬的柯西时，字里行间无不透露出讽刺，正是作为父权制代表的伟大人物柯西践踏着黑人女性的生活，决定了她们的悲剧命运。而且，柯西他自己本身是“种族主义的受害者”，
（有答案）高中英语短篇文章之《黑人托妮·莫里森》阅读短文并回答问题 Toni Morrison,an American writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature,has died at age88.Her novels Beloved,Song of Solomon and others explored the way African-Americans search for freedom and identity in a country obsessed（着迷的）with skin color. Morrison was nearly40when she published her first novel The Bluest Eye in1970.Within25years,she would win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel Prize committee described her writing as“language itself,a language she wants to liberate from race”.In1988,she won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved,which tells the story of a mother who kills her baby daughter rather than permit her to be born into slavery.It became a bestseller and was later made into a film with Oprah Winfrey. Many Americans admired her as“the country’s greatest living writer”. And she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,the U.S.’s highest civilian honor. She was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain,Ohio,in1931.Her father worked in a steel mill,and her mother was a maid.She attended Howard University,an all-black university in Washington,D.C.At Howard,she read African,British and American literature,including writers William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf.“The writer who affected me the most was the novelist who was writing in Africa:Chinua Achebe;Things Fall Apart
论托尼莫里森《爵士乐》中的畸形之爱 托尼-莫里森于1993 年获得诺贝尔文学奖，成为摘此桂冠的第一位黑人女性作家，其在美国现当代文学史上的地位不言而喻。莫里森心系黑人种族历史与命运，擅长以故事的形式表达其对黑人、尤其是黑人女性的关怀。她的每一部作品都是一个或感人至深、或动人心魄的故事。而这些看似千差万别的故事同时又有着相同的主题，那就是爱与爱的缺失。在独特的历史语境及种 族语境下，这种爱有时会发生异化，以极端或反常的形式表现出来。《秀拉》穿插秀拉与其好友内尔的丈夫的偷情故事， 所罗门之歌》包含奶娃与其外甥女的乱伦之恋，《宠儿》以塞丝杀女 为主线倾诉浓浓母爱爵士乐＞以1926 年的纽约黑人聚居区哈莱姆为背景，是莫里森追寻历史三部曲中的第二部、《宠儿》 的续篇。乔、维奥莱特以及多卡丝三者之间的爱恨情仇，在莫里 森动人而婉转的讲述下，娓娓道来。小说的男主角乔出生于1873 年，女主角维奥莱特正好年届半百。他们已不再是弗吉尼亚魏斯伯尔县一无所有的黑奴，而是纽约大都会里经济上能够自立的新一代美国人：乔推销妇女美容品，维奥莱特是美发师。然而过去南方农村的记忆、尤其是失去母亲的记忆一直伴随着他们，这些记忆在大都会令人窒息的生存压力下发酵、变异，乔内心空虚、另觅新欢，维奥莱特精神失常、沉默寡言，夫妻关系冷漠、形同陌路，最终酿成杀害情人的惨剧。然而，在小说的结尾，莫里森
寄予黑人种族以希望，乔与维奥莱特重拾迷失的自己，彼此相爱, 获得了精神上的新生。 《爵士乐》以一个男人开枪打死一位十八岁姑娘、他的妻子 大闹葬礼开头，扣人心弦。通过多个叙述者的讲述，读者得知这个男人乔及其妻子维奥莱特是生活在纽约哈莱姆聚居区的一对黑人夫妻，死去的姑娘是乔的情人。乔因为不能接受自己的情人和自己分手，结交新的男友，而开枪打死了她。可以说，乔是出于对多卡丝的畸形之爱，而杀死了她。这与《宠儿》中塞丝杀死宠儿是有异曲同工之处，杀人动机都是出于浓浓的爱，不同的只是时间、地点以及人物关系罢了。枪杀流血的背后实际上蕴藏着种族歧视对美国黑人身心的深刻影响。小说主人公乔和妻子维奥 莱特都是受缚于二十世纪二十年代美国北方现代都市生活的黑 人。从奴隶制的枷锁下解脱出来, 他们义无反顾地融入了纽约这 个大都会的生活。一方面，大都会那让人心悸的生活节奏使他们脱离了南方农村的根：另一方面，和大多数莫里森笔下的人物一 样，他们的内心深处仍然摆脱不了过去南方农村生活的记忆。这 种记忆在赋予他们现在生活意义的同时，也阻碍了他们过上真正幸福的大都会生活。对于小说的男主人公乔而言，这种记忆既有对过去自由自在的南方丛林生活的怀念，也有被自己母亲抛弃后的极度空虚，二者相互交织，使他感到失望、空虚，“他深信只有他一个人还记得那些日子，还想让它们回来：虽然还记得当初的情形，却根本找不到当初的感觉了，所以他就在别处给自己找
1 / 2 十万种考研考证电子书、题库视频学习平台 圣才电子书 https://www.doczj.com/doc/dc12777042.html, 第26单元 托尼?莫里森 1. Why does the author choose Twyla as the narrator of the story? How is she characterized? Key: Because on a superficial level, the white has the right to talk about something and the black has to keep silent. In a deep sense, Twyla, as a white and outsider, would be objective to describe the black images around her. She is characterized through her language, actions and psychological activities, and the comparison between her and Roberta as well. 2. In what ways are the changes in time and space essential ingredients of the story? Key: The story has a very large span of time and space, which covers the characters’ early age and the time after they have their own families. Their experiences of young age become their main memories and subjects of their talk. Their different attitudes towards such memories and the events happing around them reflect their different opinions and attitudes towards people, world and life. Through the changes in time and space there shows the different characteristics, personalities and qualities of the two main characters. 3. Why does Roberta cry at the end of the story?
对托尼莫里森近十年的国内文献综述 2001年，仅三位学者研究莫里森。哈尔滨师范大学外国语学院英语系孙冬在外国文学研究2001年5月第3期发表英雄与英雄之旅—评托尼·莫里森的《所罗门之歌》的神话模式托尼·莫里森的所罗门之歌在故事情节的安排上追随了古希腊神话的模式。从奶人的诞生、成长到他最后的觉醒都能在希腊神话中找到相对应的原型。然而这种追随并不是简单的模仿。莫里森把他们植入一个更加复杂的现代美国社会,将种族阶级和性别等诸多方面融汇一体。创造了一个独特的魔幻世界。 河南大学外语学院高继海于河南大学学报第41卷第3期佩科拉悲剧探源———评托尼·莫里森《最蓝的眼睛》，文章论述托尼·莫里森的第一部小说《最蓝的眼睛》所反映的种族歧视问题, 阐明白人的主流文化是如何压抑、摧残黑人女孩的,揭示小说作者向自己同胞传达的信息:对压迫要反抗、要斗争。 福州大学外语系甘振翎于福州大学学报2001年第3 期发表民族文化的生存与两性关系的协调——托尼·莫里森和她的《所罗门之歌》，托尼·莫里森是世界上第一位荣膺诺贝尔文学巨奖的非裔美国作家。她的作品不仅具有黑人传道士布道或 黑人音乐的那种震撼人心的魅力, 还兼具现代文学的抽象、魔幻和社会政治功能等特征。通过对小说《所罗门之歌》中男女角色的分析, 探讨莫里森对性别歧视、女权运动、民族文化的生存和两性关系问题的独特见解。 2002年，仅两位学者研究莫里森。湖北师范学院外语系胡泓在高等函授学报2002 年10 月第5 期发表托尼·莫里森作品中的成长主题，在托尼·莫里森的早期作品中有一个共同的主题,那就是黑人孩子的成长问题。通过对《所罗门之歌》等早期作品的具体分析,发现托尼·莫里森实际上是想通过对黑人个体成长问题的探索,从而找到整个黑人民族的发展方向。其最终结论是:黑人民族应该保持自身的文化传统,对其他民族的文化扬长避短、兼容并蓄,走一条共同发展的道路。 安庆师范学院英语系王小晴安庆师范学院学报2002 年1月第1 期发表不堪叙说的故事——论托尼·莫里森的小说《宠儿》，托尼·莫里森的《宠儿》讲述了一个不堪叙说的故事, 以一种被压抑的叙述为手段, 再现了神秘的人类救赎仪式, 升华了种族创伤记忆。在她的创作中, 她以艺术手段表达了非裔美国文化对西方主流文化的反叛, 探索一条走出历史阴影的道路。 2003年国内对莫里森的研究是个空白。 2004年研究的学者相对多起来，主要是从族裔文化语境、社会主题、奴隶制度、寻找精神几方面着手研究，苏州大学外国语学院朱新福于外国文学研究发表托尼·莫里森的族裔文化语境，托尼·莫里森的文化语境是西方经典文学传统与黑人族裔文化结合的历史语境。她强调作品的政治意义和影响 ,主张黑人文学艺术的独特性 ,即“黑人性”,提出了黑人特有的文化语境。一方面 ,莫里森的目标是“矢志不移地书写黑人文学” ,始终以表现和探索黑人的历史、命运和精神世界为主题 ,并把那些公认的已证实为黑人艺术的原则作为她的创作任务和艺术宗旨;另一方面 ,她的族裔文化语境以及她的美学观并不局限在种族和政治意识形态领域 ,而是突出黑人文学创作的精髓之处:展现黑人的悲剧命运及其“失落”和异化;强调读者的参与以及作者和读者的密切关系;重视文本的口述性质和黑人音乐的独特作用。这些要素构成了莫里森独有的族裔文化语境和美学思想。 南京航空航天大学大学外语部陈洁于江苏教育学院学报发表奴隶制度的“后遗症”和历史创伤的愈合———托尼·莫里森《宠儿》简析，《宠儿》是1993 年度诺贝尔文学奖得主,美国当代女作家托尼·莫里森的巅峰之作。莫里森通过作品告诉读者黑人最终能够消除奴隶制度的影响,并且勇敢的迈向新的生活,这一切的实现有赖于黑人的共同努力。