Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World

ix,121p

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Main Author: Famurewa, Ayobami Omobolanle
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Obafemi Awolowo University 2019
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Online Access:https://ir.oauife.edu.ng/handle/123456789/3983
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author Famurewa, Ayobami Omobolanle
author_facet Famurewa, Ayobami Omobolanle
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spelling oai:ir.oauife.edu.ng:123456789-39832023-05-13T11:27:53Z Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World Famurewa, Ayobami Omobolanle Humanity Masculinity Family Slave Identity Toni Morrison Edward P. Jones Toni Morrison's Beloved Edward P. Jones's the known World ix,121p The study examined ways in which actual historical accounts were reconstructed in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’ The Known World. It discussed the distinctive ways in which the questions of masculinity, identity and family became important elements in the humanisation of slaves in the texts. The study carried out a comparative analysis of the treatment of masculinity, identity and family in both texts and situated the findings within the larger context of African American literary discourse on slavery. This was done with a view to exploring how Morrison and Jones used negative portrayals to assert the humanity of slaves. Both primary and secondary sources of data collection were used for the study. The primary source comprised Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’ The Known World. These two texts were used due to their peculiar reconstructions of slavery. A close reading of the selected novels was carried out to identify their peculiar artistic and thematic concerns. The second source included books, journal articles and the Internet. Data were analysed using postmodern theory. The results showed that in their exploration of the politics of representation in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World, several literary critics devoted their attention to the positive portrayals of slaves to show how the two writers employed artistic strategies in the restoration of humanity to the slave. It found out that negative portrayals were often ignored or labelled as detrimental to the discourse of racial validation as it pertained to questions of identity, masculinity, and family. It further demonstrated that Morrison and Jones emphasise the humanity of slaves by making issues of identity, masculinity and family central to their narratives. This was done by demonstrating both the positive and negative aspects of the slaves’ character within the text. The study concluded that Morrison’s Beloved and Jones’ The Known World demonstrated that the evolution of the slaves’ identity and the process of individuation were closely tied to an attempt to reclaim, at the very least within the realms of imagination, their humanity even while they recognised the influence of social context on what was perceived to be human. Name of Supervisor: Dr. I. C. Anyadike Number of Pages: 121 2019-02-27T11:14:48Z 2019-02-27T11:14:48Z 2014 Thesis Famurewa, A.O. (2014). Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World. https://ir.oauife.edu.ng/handle/123456789/3983 en application/pdf Obafemi Awolowo University
spellingShingle Humanity
Masculinity
Family
Slave
Identity
Toni Morrison
Edward P. Jones
Toni Morrison's Beloved
Edward P. Jones's the known World
Famurewa, Ayobami Omobolanle
Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World
title Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World
title_full Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World
title_fullStr Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World
title_full_unstemmed Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World
title_short Restoring humanity to the slave: identity, masculinity and family in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Edward P. Jones’s The Known World
title_sort restoring humanity to the slave identity masculinity and family in toni morrison s beloved and edward p jones s the known world
topic Humanity
Masculinity
Family
Slave
Identity
Toni Morrison
Edward P. Jones
Toni Morrison's Beloved
Edward P. Jones's the known World
url https://ir.oauife.edu.ng/handle/123456789/3983
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