Toni Morrison's Beloved and the Apotropaic Imagination PDF
Preview Toni Morrison's Beloved and the Apotropaic Imagination
TONI MORRISON’S Beloved AND THE APOTROPAIC IMAGINATION This page intentionally left blank TONI MORRISON’S Beloved AND THE APOTROPAIC IMAGINATION f Kathleen Marks UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESS COLUMBIA AND LONDON Copyright © 2002 by The Curators of the University of Missouri University of Missouri Press,Columbia,Missouri 65201 Printed and bound in the United States of America All rights reserved 5 4 3 2 1 06 05 04 03 02 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marks,Kathleen,1963– Toni Morrison’s Beloved and the apotropaic imagination / Kathleen Marks. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8262-1437-1 (alk.paper) 1. Morrison,Toni.Beloved. 2. Historical fiction,American—History and criticism. 3. Self-destructive behavior in literature. 4. African American women in literature. 5. Self-preservation in literature. 6. Infanticide in literature. 7. Slavery in literature. 8. Ohio—In literature. I. Title. PS3563.O8749 B435 2002 813(cid:2).54—dc21 2002012715 (cid:2)(cid:2)™ This paper meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,Z39.48,1984. Text design:Stephanie Foley Jacket design:Jennifer Cropp Typesetter:The Composing Room of Michigan,Inc. Printer and binder:The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Typefaces:Adobe Caslon,Bickham Script and Gravure All passages from Belovedare reprinted by permission of International Creative Management,Inc.Copyright © 1987 by Toni Morrison. For Louise Cowan— beloved teacher to so many This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix 1. Introduction:Dynamics of the Apotropaic 1 2. Sethe’s Apotropaic Imagination 26 3. Beloved as Apotrope 66 4. An Apotropaic Clearing 99 5. The Art of Memory:Situating Morrison 123 6. The Afterlife of Beloved 145 Works Cited 153 Index 161 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments A LARGE PART OF THE CRITICISMthat surrounds Morrison’s Belovedis sociological in nature, dealing with the African American experience and the experience of women in particular.This book acknowledges its debt to that criticism,but proceeds in a different direction,emphasiz- ing questions that are,rather,pre-sociological.It sees that Beloved’s pri- mary significance derives from its original exploration into aspects of human community that are for the most part hidden and profound.It is eclectic in its approach—calling upon early Greek religion, Greek mythology and underworld images, psychology, the Bible, African American criticism, anthropology, and post-structuralist thought. It does so in order to look at the losses and benefits of the kind of self- damage/self-agency the apotropaic affords. My deepest gratitude is extended to Louise Cowan of the Universi- ty of Dallas, my dissertation director and professor of literature; to Gregory Marks,my husband and best critic;to Robert Kelly,my father and good guide; to family, friends, and teachers for their discussions, ideas, and editorial help, especially Glenn C. Arbery, Mary Bonifield, Gregory Borse,Paul Connell,Bainard Cowan,Donald Cowan,Robert S. Dupree, Eamon Halpin, Kristen S. Kelly, Mary K. Mumbach, and Kale Zelden; to those at the University of Missouri Press, especially Beverly Jarrett,editor-in-chief,for her tireless support,Jane Lago,man- aging editor,for keeping me on task,Gloria Thomas Beckfield for her fine copyediting, and two anonymous readers for the Press; and lastly toThomas More College, Merrimack, New Hampshire, and Rome, Italy—alma mater to much of my family and formative of anything true in this book. ix This page intentionally left blank
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