Abstract
References
- Alexander, C. J. (2004). Toward a theory of cultural memory. cultural trauma and collective identity.In Eyerman, R. B. Giesen, N. J. Smelser and P. Sztompka.(Eds.) Berkeley/ Los Angeles and London: U of California P, p.1-31.
- Ball, L.(2013). Memory, Myth And Forgetting: The British Transatlantic Slave Trade. Diss.University of Portsmouth. https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/5777692/Lucy_Ball_PhD_2014.pdf
- Beaulieu, E. Ann. (2006). Writing African American women: an encyclopedia of literature by and about women of color. Westport: Greenwood Press.
- Bell, B. W. (1987). The Afro-American novel and its tradition. Amherst: The U of Massachusetts P.
- Clark, A. (6 Feb 2010) The Long Song by Andrea Levy.
- https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/06/andrea-levy-long-song-slavery
- Davies, C. B. (1994). Black women, writing and identity: migrations of the subject.London: Routledge.
- Emejulu, A and Sobande, F. (2019). To exist is to resist: black feminism in Europe.London: Pluto Press
- Erickson, D. (2009). Ghosts, metaphor, and history in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years Of Solitude.Palgrave.
- Eyerman, R. (2004). Cultural trauma:slavery and the formation of African American Identity. Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. In Eyerman, R. B. Giesen, N. J. Smelser and P. Sztompka.(Eds.) Berkeley/ Los Angeles and London: U of California P, p.60 -112.
- Glenn, E. N. & Chang, G., Forcey, L.(1994). Mothering: ideology, experience & agency.NY: Routledge
- Hayırcıl,Gülrenk.(2021).Cultural memory and motherhood in African American and black British women’s neo-slave narratives.[Diss.].University of Deisburg Essen.
- Henderson, C. E.(2002). Scarring the black body: race and representation in African American literature. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press
- Levy, A. (2010). The Long Song. London: Headline Publishing Group.
- Author: Lima, M. H. (2012). A written song: Andrea Levy’s neo-slave narrative. EnterText, “Special Issue on Andrea Levy,” 9, pp. 135-53.
- Mitchell, A. and Taylor, D.( 2009). The Cambridge companion to African American women’s
- literature. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. London: Vintage Random House.
- Morrison, T.(2004b).Song of Solomon. Vintage Random House.
- Muñoz-Valdivieso, S. (2016). This tale is of my making”: empowering voices in Andrea Levy’s The Long Song. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 52:1, pp.38-50.
- O’Reilly, A. (2004). Toni Morrison and motherhood: a politics of the heart. Albany: State U of New York P.
- Rushdy, A. (1999). Neo-slave narratives: studies in the social logic of a literary form (race and American culture). New York: Oxford UP.
- Schalk, S.(2018). Bodyminds reimagined: (dis)ability, race, and gender in black women’s speculative fiction. US: Duke UP.
- Smith, V. (2007). Neo-slave narartives. The Cambridge Companion to the African American Slave Narrative.Cambridge University Press.Audrey Fisch (Ed.).pp.168-88.
- Vallas, S. (2000).The Ghosts of Slavery. In Gendered Memories, John Neubauer (ed.). Netherlands: Rodopi B.V.Amsterdam,. p.101-111.
Exploring the deep layers of black motherhood in Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Long Song by Andrea Levy
Abstract
This article aims to explore the deep layers of motherhood in the literary masterpieces Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Long Song by Andrea Levy. It is a comparative analysis of the selected novels that share a common background; the history of slavery. The trauma of slavery has an impact both on the literature and on the transfer of cultural memory. African American and Black British women's writings are connected to the malfunctioning results of slavery in their past which also haunts their present. Using certain narrative forms, their neo-slave narratives reflect the trauma of slavery and cultural memory. It uncovers the centrality of motherhood to cultural memory in African American and Black British women’s neo-slave narratives. This article engages with the transfer of cultural memory in black women’s neo-slave narratives through motherhood. It aims to encapsulate the relationships between colonization, historical injustices, slavery, and gender discrimination to investigate motherhood. Black women are recognized as bearers of cultural memory; therefore, the relationship between a mother and a daughter is used to analyze cultural memory and the trauma of slavery. Morrison and Levy’s neo-slave narratives are seen as a means of struggle against forgetting. Despite sharing some features, African American and Black British women’s neo-slave narratives have differences. Reading these two neo-slave narratives in a comparative approach, this study presents a renewed point of view for cultural memory studies in literature through black mothering. It will contribute to debates about the importance of maternal ancestry upon black women to construct cultural memory.
References
- Alexander, C. J. (2004). Toward a theory of cultural memory. cultural trauma and collective identity.In Eyerman, R. B. Giesen, N. J. Smelser and P. Sztompka.(Eds.) Berkeley/ Los Angeles and London: U of California P, p.1-31.
- Ball, L.(2013). Memory, Myth And Forgetting: The British Transatlantic Slave Trade. Diss.University of Portsmouth. https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/5777692/Lucy_Ball_PhD_2014.pdf
- Beaulieu, E. Ann. (2006). Writing African American women: an encyclopedia of literature by and about women of color. Westport: Greenwood Press.
- Bell, B. W. (1987). The Afro-American novel and its tradition. Amherst: The U of Massachusetts P.
- Clark, A. (6 Feb 2010) The Long Song by Andrea Levy.
- https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/06/andrea-levy-long-song-slavery
- Davies, C. B. (1994). Black women, writing and identity: migrations of the subject.London: Routledge.
- Emejulu, A and Sobande, F. (2019). To exist is to resist: black feminism in Europe.London: Pluto Press
- Erickson, D. (2009). Ghosts, metaphor, and history in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years Of Solitude.Palgrave.
- Eyerman, R. (2004). Cultural trauma:slavery and the formation of African American Identity. Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. In Eyerman, R. B. Giesen, N. J. Smelser and P. Sztompka.(Eds.) Berkeley/ Los Angeles and London: U of California P, p.60 -112.
- Glenn, E. N. & Chang, G., Forcey, L.(1994). Mothering: ideology, experience & agency.NY: Routledge
- Hayırcıl,Gülrenk.(2021).Cultural memory and motherhood in African American and black British women’s neo-slave narratives.[Diss.].University of Deisburg Essen.
- Henderson, C. E.(2002). Scarring the black body: race and representation in African American literature. Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press
- Levy, A. (2010). The Long Song. London: Headline Publishing Group.
- Author: Lima, M. H. (2012). A written song: Andrea Levy’s neo-slave narrative. EnterText, “Special Issue on Andrea Levy,” 9, pp. 135-53.
- Mitchell, A. and Taylor, D.( 2009). The Cambridge companion to African American women’s
- literature. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. London: Vintage Random House.
- Morrison, T.(2004b).Song of Solomon. Vintage Random House.
- Muñoz-Valdivieso, S. (2016). This tale is of my making”: empowering voices in Andrea Levy’s The Long Song. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 52:1, pp.38-50.
- O’Reilly, A. (2004). Toni Morrison and motherhood: a politics of the heart. Albany: State U of New York P.
- Rushdy, A. (1999). Neo-slave narratives: studies in the social logic of a literary form (race and American culture). New York: Oxford UP.
- Schalk, S.(2018). Bodyminds reimagined: (dis)ability, race, and gender in black women’s speculative fiction. US: Duke UP.
- Smith, V. (2007). Neo-slave narartives. The Cambridge Companion to the African American Slave Narrative.Cambridge University Press.Audrey Fisch (Ed.).pp.168-88.
- Vallas, S. (2000).The Ghosts of Slavery. In Gendered Memories, John Neubauer (ed.). Netherlands: Rodopi B.V.Amsterdam,. p.101-111.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture |
| Journal Section | World languages and litertures |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | October 23, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Issue: Ö13 |
RumeliDE Journal of Language and Literature Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).