A PSYCHOANALYTIC READING OF TONI MORRISON‟S A MERCY AND GLORIA NAYLOR‟S THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE AND MAMA DAY
A PSYCHOANALYTIC READING OF TONI MORRISON‟S A MERCY AND GLORIA NAYLOR‟S THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE AND MAMA DAY
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Date
2015-06
Authors
TOLUHI, Toyin Tianah
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Abstract
The study of Psychoanalysis over the years has helped to reveal the relation between the
mind, language and personality trait which are not easily observable or revealed in our
regular acts and use of language. By placing much emphasis on literary elements such as
metaphor, metonym or symbols, literary psychoanalysis has contributed to the exploration
of repressed thoughts, motives and feelings and their uses as narrative techniques. This to a
very large extent determines individual behaviours. In this study, a Psychoanalytic Reading
of „the Unconscious‟ and Trauma in Toni Morrison‟s A Mercy and Gloria Naylor‟s The
Women of Brewster Place and Mama Day; Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung psychoanalytical
critical models are employed in the analysis of the selected texts. Each of them has
addressed human personality from different directions. While for Freud, most human
behaviour traits are motivated by factors which the individuals are not even aware of which
he calls „the unconscious‟, such as the childhood experience; For Jung, human personality
and identity can be revealed when we pay significant attention to myths and other similar
symbols that reoccur in our history which he calls archetypes. Using these psychoanalytical
postulations, this study establishes that though socio-political, historical and cultural
factors influence personality traits (motives and actions) of characters in the selected texts,
the unconscious which is not easily discernable equally plays significant roles to establish a
more complete and fuller process of human behaviour. These characters are significantly
„types‟ as they represent individuals or collectives in the African American society. Hence,
their portrayal in this study is ultimately aimed at revealing the individual/collectives‟
personality of the African America women and their experiences. Finally, this research has
arrived at the finding that conflicts involving characters‟ behaviours or actions can be
psychoanalyzed and resolved if transformed into narratives and storytelling. This is known
as “talking/writing cure”.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE
STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A
MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE (M.A) IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES,
FACULTY OF ARTS,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA, NIGERIA
Keywords
PSYCHOANALYTIC, READING, PSYCHOANALYTIC READING, TONI, MORRISON, TONI MORRISON‟S, MERCY, GLORIA, NAYLOR‟S, GLORIA NAYLOR‟S, WOMEN, BREWSTER, BREWSTER PLACE, MAMA DAY