0
THE CONSTRUCTION OF WOMAN IDENTITY IN BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON
KONSEP IDENTITAS PEREMPUAN DALAM NOVEL BELOVED OLEH TONI MORRISON
A THESIS BY:
PRIAJENG KURNIANINGTYAS SUSANTO P0600215008
POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM HASANUDDIN UNIVERSITY
2017
THE CONSTRUCTION OF WOMEN IDENTITY IN BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON
Thesis
as a partial fulfillment to achieve Master Degree
Program
English Language Studies
Arranged and Proposed by
PRIAJENG KURNIANINGTYAS SUSANTO
To
POST GRADUATE PROGRAM HASANUDDIN UNIVERSITY
MAKASSAR
2017
2
4
A STATEMENT OF THESIS AUTHENCITY
The undersigned:
Name : Priajeng Kurnianingtyas Susanto Register Number : P0600215008
Study program : English Language Study
State truthfully this thesis was the result of my own work. If it is proven later that some parts or entire parts of this thesis is the work of others, I am willing to accept any sanctions for my dishonesty.
Makassar, 15 Agustus 2017
Priajeng Kurnianingtyas. S
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, the researcher would like to express her great praise to the almighty Allah SWT, who has given chances, spirits, helath, and patience in finishing her thesis and everything she does. Peace and Blessings of Allah upon to noblest Messegers and Prophets, Prophet Muhammad SAW, who has brought human being from darknesss to lightness.
6
Unlimited and unbounded thanks are dedicated to the researcher’s parents: Muhammad Yoyok Priyo Dwi Susanto, M.Pd the researcher’s father who has given so many helpfulness, spirit, and suggestions for the researcher. Also the researcher’s mother, Sitti Nurhani, M.Pd who always gives her love, support and spirit for her to fnish this thesis.
The researcher also expresses his deep appreciation and grateful to her first consultant Prof. Drs. H. Burhanuddin Arafah, M.Hum., Ph.D.
and second consultant Dr. H. Mustafa Makka, M.S who have given helpful suggestions and ideas for the researcher, and spent their time to help the researcher corrected and finished her thesis.
High appreciation are extended to Dr. H. Fathu Rahman, M.Hum as the head of English Language Studies of Post Graduate Program Hasanuddin University, and all the lectures in English Language Studies for advice, motivation, and useful knowledge. Her deepest thanks also go to her examiners Dr. H. Fathu Rahman, M.Hum, Dra. Herawaty, M.Hum, M.A., Ph.D., and Dr. M. Amir P., M.Hum. for their valuable corrections and suggestions, also for all staffs at Faculty of Cultural Sciences who have helped the researcher in managing all formal deeds during her thesis arrangement.
Special grateful also due to her brothers and sisters Yoan Putri Praditia Susanto, M.Keb, Bagus Susilo Pramuwicaksono Susanto S.T, Widi Pangestu Wilujeng Susanto, and Rahayu Dyah Pitaloka Susanto who always give support and spirit for the researcher..
The researcher realizes that this thesis needs to be improved, therefore she appreciates for critics and suggestions. She expects that this thesis give benefits for all readers. Thank you very much and may Allah always bless us. Aamiin.
Makassar, August 2017
The researcher
8
10
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE... i
APPROVAL SHEET ... ii
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP... iii
AKCNOWLEDGEMENT... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
ABSTRAK ... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION... 1
A. Background... 1
B. Research Questions ... 7
C. Objectives of the Research... 7
D. Significant of the Research... 7
E. Scope of the Research ... 8
F. Sequences of Chapter ... 9
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW... 10
A. Previous Study ... 10
B. Theoretical Background... 14
1. Genetic Structuralism ... 14
2. Postfeminism Theory ... 16
3. Afro American Women In Literature ... 22
C. The Conceptual Framework ... 25
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY... 26
A. Type of the Research... 26
B. Source of Data ... 27
C. Method of Collecting Data... 27
D. Data Analysis ... 28
12
CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION ... 29
A. Finding ... 29
1. Plot of the story ... 29
2. Characters ... 31
3. Theme inBeloved story ... 33
4. The impact of Slavery for the main character ... 34
5. The Construction of women identity ... 40
B. Discussion... 46
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 55
A. Conclusion ... 55
B. Suggestion ... 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….58
APPENDIX………...60
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of six parts. They are background, research questions, objectives of the research, significance of the research, scope of the research and the last is sequences of chapter.
A. BACKGROUND
The middle of nineteenth century often referred as a progressive era, marked by the emergence of a new image of women in society.
Women who are from another ethnic background such as Afro American women who have lived differently, try to struggle their roles as mother, wife, and also their identity as women.
Back to the history Afro American women that slavery was a major problem, affecting their identity in social life. Collins states the majority Afro American women were bought to the United States to work as slaves in a situation of oppression. Oppression is described an unjust situation where one group denies another group access to the resources of society (2000: 2). Despite of all this oppression are covered by slavery, the system of oppression also works to suppress Afro American women moved by white people. The impact of slavery for Afro American women is losing their identity as woman and became less feminine.
14
According to Collins in Black Feminist Thought Knowledge Consciousness and The politics Empowerment, there are two elements that become problematic for African of American women. First, under slavery Afro American women worked without wage in the allegedly public sphere of southern agriculture and they had routinely violated. Second, they were separated from workingin family household suffer from deficient idea of gender ideology (2000: 47). In conclusion, Afro American women become less ‘feminine’, because they work outside from home, work for wage and compete with men, and their occupation take them away from their children.
As one of the consequences of the phenomena, Afro American women experienced as mothers who have been shaped by the dominant, especially since children followed the condition of their mother. Any children who were born in such condition must be seen as the product of rape. In this problem, one of author such as Toni Morrison presented literary works which concerned on the identityof Afro American women and alsoas part of Morrison’s project to call attention onthe way of whiteness was constructed and Morrison showed this construction though typically by critics in text by writing the novels.
According to Brooks, postfeminism is the way of concept to look for the construction of woman related to their historical problems, and refers to a shift in understanding construction of identity like woman, man, and feminist. The use of concept postfeminism is emerged by initiative in
government industry, is marked by man and women equality (1997).
Basically, it tends to debate about the issues of victimization, because of critical of any definition of women as victims who are unable to control their own lives, and body, also it can be said that postfeminism is a flexible theory which can be adapted to see individual needs and desires by considering position within feminist histories.
In this study, the researcher chooses Beloved, a novel’s by Afro American author, Toni Morrison. From the previous studies, there is none of the researches which lifted up the construction of woman identity as a subject from the novel itself. Most of the researcher who were actually studying about Morrison’s Beloved focused on the Morrison motives and psychological analysis. For the research which lifted up the concept of Afro American women subjectivity lack in number. In addition, this concept is not only relatedto the literature but also is focused on habitual and attitude instead after slavery for Afro American women.
Morison the author tries to call people in her novel’s Beloved by describing a history of black people in the perspective of historical fiction which also is focused on the condition of society. The novel contains the epic depictions of situations of Afro American women after slavery era and the impact including maternal discourse, a process of healing a trauma and recovery by forcing the main character to confront and remember the past.
16
In fact,Beloved tells about Sethe and her daughter Denver who lived in 124, a house in a rural area close to Cincinatti. Eighteen years have passed since she escaped from slavery at a farm called Sweet Home. Sweet Home was run by a cruel man known as schoolteacher, who allowed his nephews to brutalize Sethe while he took notes for his scientific studies of blacks. When Sethe was pregnant, she fled and delivered her child along the way with helping from a white woman name Amy. Meanwhile, Sethe's husband, who was supposed to accompany her, disappeared.
After that, she escaped to Cincinatti with her four children, Sethe enjoyed only twenty-eight days of freedom before she was tracked down by her old master. Rather than allowed her children to be returned to slavery, she attempted to kill all of them, succeeding only in killing the baby girl. Then, she was rejected to kill her children by her master, who saw that she was no longer fit to serve, Sethe was also saved from hanging and was released to raise her remaining three children at Cincinatti.
Furthermore, the researcher attempts to analyze the construction of women identity as a subject by using postfeminism perspective that focuses on the main characters in the novel. Thus, the researcher suggests by investigating and analyzing the main characters, it can give a comprehension about what the impact of slavery in historical trauma that makes Afro American women loss the identity. Additionally, it is also to
know how the main character constructed the identity as women in healing process after slavery era that occurs in the story. This is the reason why the researcher tries to analyze and usesBeloved by Toni Morrison as the object of study.
B. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Based on the explanation above, here the researcher decides the research questions as followed:
1. Whatthe impacts of Slavery that are experienced by the main character inBeloved by Toni Morrison?
2. How does the main characters construct the "identity" as woman?
C. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
Based on the research questions above, there are some objectives which are hoped to be achieved as follow:
1. To describe the impacts of Slavery that are experienced bythe main characters inBeloved by Toni Morrison
2. To show how the main characters in the novel construct the identity as a woman
18
D. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
The significance of this research are divided into two categories as followed:
The analysis of this research is to provide significance for the readers in case of the information about the impact of slavery for Afro American women after slavery era. In practical way, this research goal is to offer some important insights to the readers about the value to role the life as a human being and especially to give the lesson about the way Afro American women who are trying to construct the identity as a mother and wife.
The analysis of this research provides a lesson to the readers related to the human being adjustment to the new place with the new matter and how to react and face the new condition without losing the grip. In addition, this research encourages the reader to search more about Postfeminism in literature and reveal more about the identity ofAfro American women in literature.
E. SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
The researcher focuses on the analysis of the impact in the novel and how the main characters construct the identity as woman by focus on analyzing the main characters in Beloved by Toni Morrison. Therefore, the scope of this research is focused on 2 research questions: first, what the
impacts of Slavery for main characters on the novel, and the second, how the main characters construct the "identity" as woman.
F. SEQUENCES OF CHAPTER
The sequence of chapters in this writing is divided into five chapters as follows:
Chapter one provides a general introduction. It includes the background of the study, research questions, objective of the research, significance of the research and sequence of the chapter.
Chapter two provides a literature review which consists of previous studies, theoretical background, genetic structuralism approach, Postfeminism theory, African of American Women in literature, and conceptual framework.
Chapter three deals with the type of the research, sources of the data, the method of collecting data, and data analysis.
Chapter four reveals findings and discussions related to the subject matter of the research. It contains the analysis of the impact of slavery and the way of main characters in the novel construct the identity as women through postfeminism perspective.
Chapter five includes the conclusions and suggestions, which contains of significant ideas that solves for the research questions.
Furthermore, this part offers suggestions. The last are bibliography and appendix.
20
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This second chapter reveals the previous study related to the subject matter of this research, the theory used in this research and the conceptual framework.
A. PREVIOUS STUDY
The following part deals with the previous studies of literature which undertaken the construction of women identity to be analyzed and another studies which used the Morrison’s Beloved as object of the study of the analysis.
First, previous researcher is Gang Xu (2014) from Foreign School Inner Mongolian University for Nationalities China, Under the title, ‘The new History’ in Toni Morrison Beloved and the Construction of the Black’s Subjectivity. Xu examines the new history to depict blacks experience which focus on reveals the pathetic history reconstructing Afro American subjectivity and Culture that change in society. Moreover learned about Morrison’s motive to reconstruct Afro American slave.
Joodaki and Vadji (A Reading of Beloved by Toni Morrison Based on Homi K. Bhabha’s Theories, 2014) It was attempted to examine the novel by Morrison based on theory of poststructuralist, Homi K. Bhabha, who
challenges the notions of fixed identities, undermines the binary opposition between oppressed and oppressor and emphasizes the role of language, and the main focus has been on the unhomely nature of the colonial world and the ambivalent nature of colonial relationships, which leads to resistance on the part of the colonized.
Babamiri, Dahstpeyma, and Jamali (2014) from Departement of English Collage of Persian Literature and Foreign Language Tabriz Branch Islamic Azad University with the title Masculinity and Feminity in Toni Morrison Beloved: A Womanist Approach. They examined the masculinity in Beloved written by a womanist writer. The study showed the negative and problematic influence of white men over their black slaves as the dominance, and study the reflection of masculinity impact and also acting masculine being strong among female protagonist in Beloved novels this research done through womanist approach findings more light on how try to entrap and domesticate women under their own dominance.
Shin Tai (2016) under the title Mapping Postmodern in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. This report seeks to present Beloved as a postmodern novel.
The paper analyzes Morrison’s achievement in subverting the literary conventions of the Euro-American tradition. This report applied the concepts of the postmodern to the novel, Beloved. In doing so, Shin Tai distinguished the postmodern in terms of the narrative strategies, the diverse experience of African culture, a critique of representation, an
22
awareness of intertextuality, and open ended interpretations. Thus, in this report aimed to illustrate howBeloved shares in postmodern features.
Shaheen from University of Faisalabad Pakistan, under thesis title is about The Study of Gender in Toni Morrison’s Beloved (2014), examined the literature through focus on gender politics to women caused oppression. Gynocentric perspective renders a special help to give insight in to the lives of women characters and trace the prospects that intersect the ways of oppression where women are trivialized as commodities, a property with a price tag in Morrison’sBeloved.
Farshid inReclamation of the Exploited Body in Toni Morrison Beloved (2012), classified the main character (ex-slaves) behavior in order to see how they ‘claim’ their body in the free life after being exploited by Schoolteacher as property.
Khaleghi (2012), in Reclaiming Identity Through the Community: A Study of Toni Morrison’s Beloved and A Mercy, analyzed Morrison’s novel and motives showing pre-slavery and post-slavery African-American community in which people suffer physically and psychologically from the dominant culture in the story, also exposed the dangers of manhood that relies on violence and oppression. Slavery, class and gender inequity, betrayal, and brutality are described through the lives of the novel’s characters.
Based on the previous studies those researcher investigated Morrison’s Beloved by concern in social culture that change in black people life history that illustrated in blacks experience, examined the novel by using poststructuralist theory which is approve by some relation between oppressed and oppressor role of language and colonial relationship.
Moreover they examined masculinity written by womanist writer such as Morrison problematic influences, distinguished Morrison’s Beloved as a postmodern novel by analyzed Morrison achievement in literary conventions a critique of representation African culture, examined the literature focus on gender politics to women caused operation using Gynocentric perspective, classified the main character behavior in manage their body after being slaves (pre-slavery and post-slavery) which is slavery, class, and inequity, betrayal, brutality are described trough the lives of the novels characters.
Therefore, this research identifies the main characters situation in the free life, for example the life of the main character as mothers, wife, cyber intimate, and how the impact of slavery influences the Afro American women for losing the identity and how the women character try to get out from ‘slaves’ and construct the identity as woman in Morrison’s Beloved trough postfeminism perspective.
24
B. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Theory is the main basic grip in every research or any scientific writing in order to organize the scope of the research, either the role of the research analysis. Every existing research should have a theory or even more to support the analysis. Furthermore to convince people most by changing people’s common sense views which the research is worth studies.
1. Genetic Structuralism
Theoretical reference used in this research is Genetic structuralism developed by Lucien Goldmann.Genetic structuralism was emerged as a reaction from classic structuralism that literary research only analyzes the intrinsic elements and disregards other elements such as the author’s background and historical background. These intrinsic structures are homologous to the mental structure of the group of authors. Therefore, by understanding literary text and disregarding author as the meaning will be incomplete the identity, and values that have been used by the author.
Genetic structuralist analysis in the History of Literature is merely the application to the particular general method that believing the only valid one only in human science which is relate to all the sector human behavior analyzing fundamental principles applied in human science in general and to literary criticism in particular (Goldmann, 1975). From this point of view, genetic structuralism is the scientific study of human facts, whether
economic, social, political, or cultural involves in some research to come up against a whole series of problems.
Lucian Goldmann a Romanian theorist based in France rejected the idea that text are creations of individual and argued that they are based upon trans-individual mental structures belonging to particular groups or classes. Despite of sustain his theory, Goldmann develop set of categories that connect each other which are human fact, collective subject, and worldview.
a. Human Fact
Human fact or the fact of humanity is all of the result of activity or human behavior, both of verbal or physical which seeks understood by science (Faruk: 1994).
In concluding that, human fact can be some important issues that researcher analyzes in Morrison’s Beloved because the story tells about the history of slavery that shows about the problematic situation face by Afro American Women.
b. Collective Subject
According to Goldmann (1975) text are not creation merely of an individual consciousness but that literary works have their origins in a trans-individual subject of cultural creation.
Collective subject a social group or class whose ideas and activities to create a complete and united view of their social life in order to make
26
the ideas is more plural than just focus on the text. Goldmann specifies collective subject as social class because these social class is the collectivity that create a complete and coherent structure of society.
c. World Views
Through worldview it is possible the literature is reflected the authentic values which embrace life. Authentic values are values that implied in a novel. Values that organize form completely. Goldmann believe there is homology between literary structures with the society structure, because both are product are the same structure activity.
The relation between society and literary structure cannot be understood as direct determinative relation but trough by what he called worldview.
The worldview is a term suitable for the overall complex of ideas, aspirations, and feelings that connect together members of one social group to another. As a collective consciousness that worldview is evolving as a result of specific economic and social situation faced by collective subject who has it (Faruk, 1994).
So, worldview is a united ideas that develop in the collective subject that has been created social reaction in certain community. This research uses genetic structuralism to seek the intrinsic elements of the story but also concern about the idea of the author illustrated by the main characters.
2. Post-feminism Theory
The origin of Postfeminism was marked by the following event international women day in Paris 1968, but first came to be used as an actual term in the 1980s. The prefix ‘post-’ in the term ‘postfeminism’
indicates that postfeminism came after the feminist movement. Back to the history that feminism are divided into three waves. The first wave of feminism has been revealed in 1792 until1960. The ideas for fighting the development of the rational side of women, which is focused on individuals autonomy practice, but still do not eliminate discrimination against women (Sanders, 1999).
The second wave of feminism was revealed in 1960-1980. This wave appears as a reaction to the dissatisfaction of women in various discriminations they are experienced. The third wave well known as Post- feminism movement, it emerges as the result of varieties criticism of feminism universalism, which is postfeminism still tend to debate around feminist issues as the object.
According to Genz and Brabon (2009: 1) Postfeminism is a concept fraught with contradictions, it emerged in the late twentieth century in a number of cultural, academic and political contexts, from popular journalism and media to feminist analyses, postmodern theories and neo- liberal rhetoric. This essentially pointed to the birth of postfeminism as having caused the death of the original ideas surrounding early feminist movements. In popular culture, it has been associated with female
28
characters Madonna and Helen Fielding’s chick heroine Bridget Jones, who has been criticized as the poster child of postfeminism. In ideal of republican womanhood is Michelle Obama represent of Black women (Gill and Scharf, 2011:68).
In academic writings, it sits alongside other ‘post-’ discourses including postmodernism, poststructuralist, and postcolonialism, it refers to a shift in the understanding and construction of identity and gender categories (like
‘Woman’, ‘Man’ and ‘Feminist’) as a consequence of wanting women to
band together collectively, feminists neglected the critique of apositive and stable identity. They relied on a stable concept of what a woman was, which led to ‘essentialist’ dilemmas, instead of subjecting ‘woman’ to critical analysis.
For the case of Postfeminism in academic is about represents feminism’s maturity into a confident body of theory, representing pluralism and deference and reflecting position in relation to other philosophical and political movements. For Brooks in Postfeminism Feminism Cultural Theory and Cultural Forms (1997: 99) she point out analysis feminism is becomes the subject of postfeminist critiques that gives on a singular and uniform conception of the feminist movement, emphasizing instead the multiple and varied ways of being ‘feminist’ and understanding ‘feminism’.
In this sense, postfeminism can be considered as a movement of feminist pluralization. It is not about what comes but it is about the conceptual
shifts within feminism, and opens up the feminist realm for the articulation of ‘other’ voices and identities.
The construction of ' post-feminism' has emphasized the differences between women. Instead women are blamed, or blame themselves and one another, for their feelingsof dissatisfaction and the underlying causes remain ignored or refuted. The majority of women seek to make sense of their lives and accommodate theoften conflicting desires of autonomy and alliance. If women feel they are tobe judged, or placed on a hierarchy of oppression by other women, they will cease to express their views or discuss the significant and inherentcontradictions in their lives (Coppock, Hayden, and Richter, 1995: 7)
In many ways, postfeminism can be said as the respond to the theoretical and political challenges facing feminists in a post-second wave environment of moving feminism, yet the understanding of postfeminism as feminist pluralism also highlights a fact that came up with the advent of the modern era that depict in the textual representations of women. The implications of the postfeminist literary theory have been influential on the way women’s is written. In analyzing the characters, the media that used by the researcher to identify the character is the language and the character behavior itself. Also postfeminism expresses the intersection of feminism with postmodernism,represents a dynamic movement capable of challenging modernist frameworks.This stage also firmly said by Brooks as followed:
30
The postfeminist movement insists that feminism has to be viewed pluralistically, and in this way, it establish a dynamic and vigorous area of intellectual debate, shaping the issues and intellectual climate that has characterized the move from modernity in the contemporary world (1997: 210).
From the quotation above, it clearly shows that postfeminism can act in theoretically engaging and challenging ways thatpresuppose the end of critical production in politics such as women as workers in slavery era. It is most constructive sense, offers a different conceptual to understand by critical practice.it is not so much a trivialization of feminism as an active reinterpretation of contemporary forms of critique and politics that take into account the diverse agency positions of individuals today. As it has now become essential to rethink political or feminist agency in the context of identity categories
a. Subjectivity and Women identity
The issues of subjectivity and identity within feminist theorizing are closely related to issues of epistemology within feminist theoretical analysis and the relationship between feminist knowledge and women’s experience. Sandra Harding’s in Reinventing Ourselves as Others: More New Agents of History and Knowledge(1993) in Brooks (1997: 18)points out that reflects between the relationship between experience and knowledge, her latest writing examines the kinds of subjects or agents of history and knowledge and the kinds of projects that are generated by the
“logic” of standpoint theory.
Waugh’s critique (in Brooks: 98) of feminism’s intersection with postmodernism.
1) The first is that she conflates the categories of feminist and women writers and subsumes both categories of writer within an essentialist model of experience, assuming that feminism can be equated with women’s experience.
2) Second, her theorization the concept of subjectivity and agency draws heavily on the modernist liberal humanist conception of ‘the subject’. She argues that ‘women’ have always experienced themselves in a ‘postmodern fashion’, lacking agency, and claims that this was one of the reasons why women felt they had to occupy the centre (and a totalizing they position) in the early 1970s.
Waugh maintains this was why women began to seek ‘a subjective sense of agency’ and collective identity. She suggests women writers may have needed to formulate a sense of identity, history and agency before they could consider deconstructing them.Feminism has displayed casualness about the specific historical context of its claims. She argues that feminism can produce better and politically stronger theory by moving more clearly in a postmodern direction.
Post-civil-rights discourse similarly provides an important context for the anthology as it seeks to draw out the racialized marking of postfeminist culture. Kimberly Springer’s essay explores the articulation of black women, in terms both new and familiar, within postfeminist media culture.
32
Such analysis of gendered and racial types is staged within a developing media context.
The ten years between 1980 and 1990 proved to be much more than a decade in terms of the historical development of feminism as a body of theoretical and critical practice. The gulf between second wave feminism and what is described here as postfeminism became more clearly defined and focused around the issues of feminist theory and theorizing (Brooks:
1997)
Based on the quotation the identity of women cannot be separated with what happened in their past or history. The relation between postfeminism and the subjectivity around the issues that had been debated in feminism is the modernization and political history including the oppression that shape the identity of women, thus postfeminism perspective is transforming the subjectivity of women in modernization society. The subject positioning constructed by different texts clearly relate to whether the text is produced for male or female.
In the context of this research, the researcher analyzing the spirit of Afro American woman to get out from the identity as a slaves and concern with their past and how the main character especially the women face the problem doing that by using postfeminism lens. Therefore, the researcher interpret the act, and behavior of the main character, also the situation of the story.
3. Afro American women in Literature
This research concern with Afro American women literature, especially because the main issues that tend to debate always about slavery and identity. According to Warren in What was African American Literature?
states that African of American literary texts are distinguished by the way black authors, consciously and unconsciously have worked and reworked rhetorical practices, myths, folklore, and traditions that derive from the African continent. Others have maintained that African of American literary texts are defined by a prolonged engagement with the problem of slavery, a system of labor exploitation that was central to the development of not only the United States but the whole of the Western world making the writing against under the influences of the slave regime has defined not only the literature written prior to abolition but also subsequent black literary practice, because black literary practice as a whole has been indelibly marked by the ways that enslaved blacks coped with the brutalities of the Middle Passage, when millions of Africans were transported from Africa to the Americas, and chattel slavery (2011: 2).
In addition that, this study attempt to analyze some issues relate to situation in Afro American women in pre and pra slavery era by interprets the text. One of the author that always written about slavery in the history is Toni Morrison. Morrison also concern with Afro American women and their identity.
34
Part of Morrison’s project is to call attention to how women identity is constructed, as Morrison shows this construction is still evident, though typically neglected by critics, in texts such as Cather’s novel (Reames, 2007). In concluding that, the identity of Afro American women are describing by Morrison in order to show the story behind it and the reason why they are losing their identity by memorizing way and presents the situation of it.
That is situation answered by the setting of Beloved, in which Morrison explores how the historical context of women’s interracial relationships situates the interplay of race, class, and bodies.Primarily the story of an escaped slave’s recovery of her sense of self, Beloved is also very much a story of mothers and daughters. Morrison’s Belovedindicates the story by underlying the historical paradigm of Afro American women.
C. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
Identity
The Construction Of Woman Identity Morrison’sBeloved
Postfeminism Genetic
Structuralism
Characters Theme
Plot