Tar Baby: Search for Identity in Commodity Culture
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2013.32..63
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
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Tar Baby, Toni Morrison's fourth novel re examines the problem that black characters face in negotiatiating a place for themselves within a dominant culture, with respect to their own history and culture. The novel critiques the dominant socio economic and commodifying cultural space from which the black woman seems to have no escape. Jadine is a colonized subject, for as a fashion model she has surrendered to an aesthetics of commodification, and as a student of art history, she has internalized the capitalist ethic of the white culture industry. Though she has ensured her freedom, Morrison's critique of her separation from her family and culture is unmistakable. Interwoven with her narrative is Son's predicament, the stereotype of a black racist and her 'lover'. The novel ends with him at the crossroads of culture, yet signaling his passage to freedom through resistance. The paper arguments how Toni Morrison has envisioned the welfare of African American community by reconstructing the role of new black generation, as represented by Jadine and Son, whose new journey towards their self fulfillment just not only bring their personal freedom but also regenerates African American community by resisting dominant commodifying cultural.
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