Kimberly Rotter

Beloved: a Political Composition: No Ordinary Musical Ditty Kimberly Rotter

Believing the attention that has been paid to the lyricism of her work denies her stories their power and resonance, Toni Morrison dismisses much of the critical analysis of her book Beloved (1987). Yet, the musical quality of her writing is undeniable. Could something else besides an imitation of music account for the novel's repetition, call and response form, and lack of chronological order? Could understanding her real motivation behind the novel explain the form? This book explores these questions and argues that Beloved belongs to the emerging traumatic fiction genre that relies on literary techniques that have a distinct musical quality. These techniques provide Morrison with a language, unmarked by white discourse, for Morrison to tell a black story of slavery that resists forgetting and silencing. This book explores how Beloved challenges the seemingly authenticated historical slave story that upholds individualism in order to create room for a new black cultural memory that highlights community.