"Claiming ownership of that freed self:" Toni Morrison's American counter-narrative

This dissertation lends its voice to the works of those scholars who have used Morrison's numerous interviews, essays, and other works of non-fiction to navigate their reading of her prose. Focusing specifically on the similarity of historiographic approaches between The Black Book, Morrison's one historical project, and her fiction, I assert that all of Morrison's novels can be read as historical texts. The Black Book is comprised of variegated pieces of memorabilia, gathered by the authors from collectors, "people who had the original raw material documenting our life" ("Rediscovering" 15). It is, therefore, a (re)collection of pieces of memory, documented and undocumented. Although Morrison's first four novels, do not conform to the traditional definition of the historical novel in "recall[ing] a life which no longer exists," they are based on the same method of historical (re)collection employed in The Black Book, each incorporating documented and undocumented pieces of memory and memorabilia (Christian 328). Based on the aforementioned methodological similarity, I read Morrison's works in historical chronology rather than publication sequence to excavate her multi-layered narrative approach that she lays bare through the process of time. While each of the novels discussed are comprised of various layers of interwoven individual narratives they unfold against the backdrop of a larger American narrative, the National Narrative. Reformulating Morrison's usage of the event based "national narrative" in her Simpson analysis, I argue that the National Narrative is the cohesion of two constructed narratives, white domination and black subjugation ("Official Story" 16). Although each protagonist, with the exception of Sethe in Beloved, has corporeal freedom, all are spiritually bound by difficult past histories, and by the Narrative impact in their present circumstances. Yet, the narrative of the protagonist's life serves as a counter-narrative to the National Narrative's constructions as he/she journeys towards spiritual recrudescence. However, none of Morrison's novels proceeds or concludes in a linearly definitive manner. Contrary to narratological convention, each novel includes fragmented time sequences and concludes with numerous questions unanswered encouraging the reader to participate in the textual conversation Morrison elicits with each opening sentence.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-249)