Critical Perspectives on Mythological Motifs in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Abstract

The paper explores critical perspectives on the functions of myth and elements of cultural and oral traditions in Toni Morrison’s fifth novel Beloved. We try to demonstrate how scholarship has understood Morrison’s embedding of African mythological motifs and classical European and Judeo-Christian tropes into her story of slavery. Although Beloved has traditionally been read as Morrison’s literary reconstruction of African-American history, a substantial body of criticism has also recognised the subtler layer of meaning within this work. Such readings have largely focused on cultural roots the writer exploited to create a unique storyline of her people and community, making Beloved a novel that delves into the very fibre of the black experience and essence, Morrison’s keen topic of interest over the years. According to academics such as Therese E. Higgins, K. Zauditu-Selassie, Marylin Sanders Mobley, Daniel Erickson, Trudier Harris, Shirley A. Stave, and Tessa Roynon, Morrison’s narrative magic appears to have been drawn from intertwining of historical fact and collective wisdom of the ancients, which even the great author herself said she wished recognised in her work by more than a few patient scholars.