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Beloved: A platform to promote new “Definers”

I want to focus on the quote that Morrison introduces in the first chapter of Part Two. In her rememory, Sethe comments on a time that Sixo redefines stealing, and how the whitepeople punished him for it: “Schoolteacher beat him… to show him that definitions belong to the definers–not the defined” (225). In the foreward, Toni Morrison notes that “to render enslavement as a personal experience, language must get out of the way” (xix). This feature of the use of definitions is really important, because the language we use to shape slavery is a language by and generally for whitepeople.

I believe those two quotes combined point to the purpose of Morrison’s novel inlaid with new words of her own creation. Morrison has made herself the definer to reclaim a narrative of slavery that has far too often been taken over by whitepeople. As a whiteperson, I have found myself often confused by the language and timelapse of Sethe’s narrative, and I’m finally beginning to understand how that disorientation is intentional. Whitepeople (specifically in the US) never had to adapt to learning new languages and understanding different cultures. This book forces whitereaders to challenge their expectations of literature and open themselves to a whole new form of narrative storytelling to empathize with the characters–who feel far realer than fiction–forced to exist in a world where words were used to oppress and define them without any regard for their humanity and experiences.

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2 Comments

  1. Emma Joaquin Emma Joaquin

    I think your point about white people never having had to adapt to new cultures or languages as much as minorities have is an interesting one. This book flips things about in many respects, like this one, and gives white readers a glimpse of how things really were for black people throughout history.

  2. Nora Apt Nora Apt

    I appreciated your point about Morrison’s intentional use of disorientation. Previously, I presumed that this disorientation was solely used to shed light on the impact of trauma; however, after reading your blog post, I think Morrison both pushes white readers to “challenge their expectations of literature and open themselves to a whole new form of narrative storytelling to empathize with the characters” while effectively demonstrating trauma’s psychological effects .

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