Analyzing Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in Terms of Bakhtin’s Notion of “Heteroglossia”

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the nature of Bakhtin's concept of heteroglossia, in Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eye, and how heteroglossia is achieved in Pecola Breedlove's interaction with others in terms of beauty and personal aspiration in the novel. Pecola is the protagonist of the novel, The Bluest Eye. The study’s main argument is whether heteroglossia has a significant role in revealing the hidden and implied intentions and meaning in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye in terms of beauty and personal aspiration. In order to prove the main argument of this paper, the researcher discusses Bakhtin's notion of heteroglossia and attempts to apply it to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. The study illustrates Bakhtin's celebration of the novel as a genre defined by its dimensions to include verified and multiple meanings best expressed in Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye due to the novel's Chapterization, the narrators' voice, and Pecola’s recognition of beauty standards. The paper also shows how Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is being categorized as a dialogic novel according to its heteroclite structure, and the narrator’s voice.