토니 모리슨의『솔로몬의 노래』에 나타나는 흑인의 정체성 = The Establishment of Black Identity in Tony Morrison's Song of Solomon

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

For Afro-American writers, the novel has been an important vehicle to represent the context of the black community and culture, to expose racism, inequality, and social injustice. Toni Morrison suggested that Black presence, which has been ignored since the Emancipation, but has played an important role in the white-dominated American cultural development, should be an important subject in the Afro-American novels. Morrison's novels favour community, the moral responsibility of individuals to each other, the traditional black culture and values, the importance of the past and ancestors, and the reclamation of identity for the black people.
This thesis aims at investigating the process of the establishment of black identity through Milkman Dead's quest for his family and the past in Song of Solomon. One of Morrison's foremost concerns is the immediate relevance of black past and history. For Morrison, black history and past is the core of black identity in America. In her novels Morrison, focused on the relationships among black history, her family history, and her own sense of black identity. This view of black history and black identity is at the center of her third novel, Song of Solomon(1977), the story of Milkman Dead's quest for identity. Milkman finds himself--discovers his own courage, endurance, and the capacity for love; in short, achieves his black identity--when he discovers his connection with his ancestors.
The motif of the novel is the myth of the Flying Africans. As in traditional black folklore, flying represents black people's desire to return back to Africa, to their roots, to regain freedom and identity, escaping from the oppressive slavery. Morrison reveals that reclamation of identity for the black people and its establishment derive from the search of self by learning the past of his black community. Pilate, the female ancestor/ mother, plays the dominant role in marking Milkman commune with his flying ancestor, and in passing on cultural knowledge and values of the black past to next generations.
At the end of the novel, jumping toward Guitar, Milkman flies as his ancestors flew. But this flight is different from his ancestors'. His is ultimate sign of his achievement of identity and spiritual freedom, leaving another myth/ legacy for mothers' tales. Morrison's novel argues that the presence of an ancestor, the presence of the past, and the wisdom from that source are vital in the context of African continuum. Morrison's aim in this novel is to reveal the importance of the tradition and values of African heritage that forms the Afro-American community. For to see the future and the present, it is important to know the past of the black community and to achieve their black identity.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 서론
• Ⅱ. 흑인 정체성 문제
• Ⅲ. 흑인 정체성의 확립
• Ⅳ. 결론
• ＜Works Cited＞
• ＜Abstract＞