Abstract：Toni Morrison can be considered one of the great writers in the world. She won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993. The novel Beloved is regarded as Morrison’s representative work. Once published in 1987, it created a sensation in the American literary field and has won a Pulitzer Prize.
Based on actual historical events, the novel Beloved tells a story that a black woman killed her daughter in order to prevent her from returning to be a slave. Thus she was always haunted by her murdered daughter. The novel is half a ghost story, half a description of reality. It explores the physical and mental traumas caused by slavery. In the novel, Toni Morrison creatively combines magical realism with African-American literature, which forms a unique artistic style. Through the employment of magic realism, the novel depicts with the darkest history and miserable life of black people to readers and reveals the devastating consequences of slavery and lasting effects on slaves.
This thesis explores the concrete application of magic realism in Beloved. Through the analysis on the reality, it also explores magic realism’s functions on the conveyance of the themes to act as the reflection of the African American history and a metaphor for the American reality.
Keywords：Toni Morrison Beloved magic realism
Contents
Abstract
摘要
Chapter One Introduction-1
1.1 Introduction to Toni Morrison-1
1.2 Introduction to Beloved-2
1.3 Research Status of Beloved-3
1.4 Structure of the Thesis-4
Chapter Two Magic Realism-5
2.1 Definition of Magic Realism-5
2.2 Development of Magic Realism-5
2.3 The Characteristics of Magic Realism-6
Chapter Three Application of Magic Realism in Beloved-7
3.1 Integration of Magic and Realistic Elements-7
3.1.1 Mixing of Reality and Dreams-7
3.1.2 Appearance of Ghosts-7
3.2 Adoption of Mythological Archetypes-9
3.2.1 Biblical Allusions-9
3.2.2 African Folklores-10
Chapter Four Functions of Magic Realism to the Conveyance of the Themes in Beloved-12
4.1 In the Shadows of Slavery-12
4.1.1 Distortion of Love-12
4.1.2 Loss of Identity-13
4.2 Out of Shadows of Slavery-13
Chapter Five Conclusion-15
References-16
