Cultural Hauntings in Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987)

Abstract

African American writers’ preoccupation with supernatural elements such as ghosts stems not from an interest in Gothic themes, but in a new genre in American literature termed as story of cultural haunting.” The objective of this paper is to discuss Morrison’s choice of a ghost to play the part of connecting past with the present in her novel, Beloved (1987). In discussing this role, the paper examines Morrison’s use of the magic realism and the ghost’s relationship with the other characters, such as Sethe, Denver and Paul D, as well as its relationship with the African American community. The paper also points out how the ghost’s impact on these characters has been achieved on both personal and collective levels. To be more specific, the paper argues how Beloved’s ghost is deeply symbolizing both private and collective past, which matches Morrison’s notion about the past. Finally, the paper examines the ghost’s cultural role of healing African Americans from the trauma of slavery.