Representations of Space in Toni Morrison's Love, Paradise and A Mercy

Abstract

This dissertation will examine postmodern concepts of space in Toni Morrison’s three most recent novels – Love, Paradise and A Mercy, focusing on the construction of new spaces that resist spaces of oppression, and that enable healing from trauma. The dissertation will focus upon the experiences of women in each text, and examine their attempts to construct new spaces of resistance within the largely patriarchal societies they inhabit. The work will examine the affiliation between home and healing and the various issues that affect the construction of a space that constitutes a home, such as the adoption of oppressive cultural values, specifically patriarchal values, by the black community. The dissertation will examine the necessity of constructing new spaces as a means of overcoming both individual and collective trauma. The work will also examine the reclamation of spaces that represent oppression, and the necessity of working as a community in order to successfully reclaim these spaces, and transform them into sites that enable healing

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Aberystwyth University