ABSTRACT
This book presents background information on the beliefs, customs, traditions and cosmologies of several of Africa's foremost peoples, relates these findings to each of Morrison's seven novels by highlighting the connections between the African root and the African-American product, and elucidates how this connection helps to understand and to clarify many of Morrison's allusions to the culture out of which she writes. It presents a new way of reading Morrison's work that has been previously overlooked, and moves beyond just African-American culture, delving into Africa and its people.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |74 pages
God, Gods, and Spirits in African Life: Song of Solomon, Beloved, Tar Baby, and Jazz
chapter |24 pages
Ancient Ancestral Folklore in Song of Solomon
chapter |16 pages
The Influence of African Cosmological Beliefs in Beloved
chapter |14 pages
Tar Baby and the Ancient Folktales of Africa
chapter |16 pages
Jazz and African Ancestral Cultures and Traditions
part |65 pages
A Circle of Friends: Communities of Women in The Bluest Eye, Sula, Tar Baby, Beloved, Jazz, and Paradise