莫莉生爵士乐中的历史与想像-育达机构典藏.docVIP

Representation of African American History in Toni Morrison’s Jazz Tung-jung Chen* Abstract Toni Morrison’s novels—from The Bluest Eye (1970) to the latest A Mercy (2008)—are deeply rooted in American history. Through her rich imagination, Morrison has re-visioned and re-interpreted the Black Diaspora and transformed it into wondrous literary pieces. A fictional work as Jazz (1992) is, it derives inspiration from African American folk history, with events, dates and places corresponding fairly closely to those in U.S. history and geography. Set mainly in 1920s’ New York, the novel delineates everyday life of African Americans living in Harlem and captures the special aura of the City. Meanwhile, Jazz also touches upon the rural life of African Americans in the South. In this highly significant African American migration narrative, Jazz not only records the historical changes experienced by African Americans after the Civil War, but also stresses American whites’ atrocities on African Americans. This essay attempts to use Jazz as an example to illustrate how Morrison tries to represent African American history in this novel, with special attention to examining the impact of historical events and social changes upon the lives of the main characters in the novel. Key Words: Toni Morrison, Jazz, African American fiction, African American history 《爵士樂》中的非裔美國歷史再現 陳 東 榮* 摘 要 童妮?摩里森的小說——從《眼》(The Bluest Eye, 1970)到問世的008)——無不深植於非裔美國歷史。透過豐富的想像力，摩里森「重」視和黑人離散史，並將之轉化精的文學作品。(Jazz, 1992) 雖屬虛構，但靈感來自非裔美國庶民歷史書中指涉的細節與美國實際史地大致吻合部以年代紐約市為主要背景的小說摩里森不僅描繪當時哈林區黑人的日常生活，捕捉整個城市的特殊氛圍對於南方鄉村黑人生活亦多所著墨部值得重視的非裔美國遷移敘事記錄美國內戰黑人遭逢的歷史變遷，（控訴）白人對黑人的本文擬以小說為例，探討摩里森如何析中指涉的歷史事件及社會變遷對小說人物所造成的影響。 一一九六年代末期之前，掌控文化霸權的白人往往忽視或無視非裔美國人的存在。在他們的史書中，有關非裔美國人的部份若非付之闕如，即是聊備一格，與他們實際貢獻不成比例。鮑爾溫(James Baldwin)曾說：「我在此地已經三百年了，你們卻從未正視過我。」在白人眼中，非裔美國人不啻是艾理森(Ralph Ellison)筆下的「隱形人」(Invisible Man)，暗喻著隱無與喑啞。 童妮?摩里森(Toni Morrison, 1931- )深切瞭解歷史作為民族記憶的重要性。對言，歷史不只是知識的形式，且是力量的泉源。民權運動如火如荼時，她和多位文人志士呼籲非裔美國人重撰歷史，釐清現遭到壓制或抹除的史實。一九七年代在藍燈書屋(Ra