Beloved in Search of an Identity: A Reading of Beloved by Toni Morrison, Based on Homi K. Bhabha's Theories

Abstract

This study holds written from a post-colonial theoretical stance that Beloved by Toni Morrison, is a novel of ambivalence and resistance which questions the established boundaries between Self and Other. It is attempted to examine this novel by Morrison based on theories of poststructuralist theorist, Homi K. Bhabha, who challenges the notions of fixed identities, undermines the binary opposition between oppressed and oppressor and emphasizes the role of language in identity construction. The concepts stereotype and uncanny, derived from Bbabha's theories, are applied to the novel, and the main focus has been on the unhomely nature of the colonial world and the ambivalent nature of colonial relationships, which leads to resistance on the part of the colonized. Key Terms: Beloved, Unhomely, Uncanny, Stereotype, Morrison, Black, Novel