MYTH CRITICISM AS AN APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF MYTHOLOGY, MYSTICISM AND MADNESS IN THE SELECTED NOVELS OF TONI MORRISON AND BESSIE HEAD
MYTH CRITICISM AS AN APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF MYTHOLOGY, MYSTICISM AND MADNESS IN THE SELECTED NOVELS OF TONI MORRISON AND BESSIE HEAD
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Date
2013-04
Authors
KOFOWOROLA, KAYODE GBOYEGA
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Abstract
This study provides a comparative approach to illustrate how two female authors; Bessie
Head and Toni Morrison from different literary and historical traditions have
appropriated the novel genre as a medium for explicating the issues of mythology,
mysticism and madness. In particular, the study unearths their portrayal of the symbiosis
between mythology, mysticism and madness to explore human experience in fragmented
social contexts. This study establishes the veracity of myth criticism as a tool for
excavating certain archetypes that underline the writings of these authors and in the
process broaden the understanding of our common humanity and enables us cross the
boundaries of time, place, nationalities, languages and cultures. This thesis, which
employs myth criticism as a framework for the analysis of mythology, mysticism and
madness in the novels of Head and Morrison, is broken into five chapters. This thesis
deconstructs Bessie Head’s use of mythology and exegetes the depiction of madness in
her writings. It establishes that Head utilizes mythology and mysticism as essential
ingredients of human existence and foregrounds madness as necessary for humanity to
come to a point of self acceptance. It submits therefore, that myth or mythology is
essentially the foundation of most thematic and stylistic discourse in the works of Bessie
Head. Through various examples it shows that Head’s discourse on mythology,
mysticism and madness is inter-textually woven and thus explores the inter-relatedness of
these themes as a synchronization of mythology. In addition, this study argues that
nature, nurture and the absence of nativity are crucial to the psychosis, mythopoesis and
mysticism of Toni Morrison’s early novels. It affirms that Morrison’s concern with
mythology, mysticism and madness can aptly be excavated by an intense attention to
how she balances the contentions between nature, nurture and nativity as key
ingredients for the construction and deconstruction of myths which is the structure of her
narratology. Finally, the study establishes that areas of divergences and convergences
which ultimately bear significance on the presentation of mysticism and madness exist in
Morrison and Head’s pee-occupation at either constructing or deconstructing myths in
their writings. The study submits that mythology mysticism and madness for both
authors were not just themes but were also in fact instruments of style in the rigorous
exploration of human complexities. The insight which this study provides about how
invaluable myth criticism, an otherwise neglected critical tool, is for in-depth comparative
analysis of literature by writers from different backgrounds and continents is a boost to
existing literature on myth criticism. By providing a basis for further investigation into the
impact and significance of myths and mythology as a structural organizing principle in
many writers narrative structure today, this study is considered a step further away from
previous attempts towards the balkanization of existing writings and writers into rigid
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, AHMADU
BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT
FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D) IN
LITERATURE
APRIL 2013
Keywords
MYTH CRITICISM,, APPROACH,,, STUDY,, MYTHOLOGY,, MYSTICISM,, MADNESS,, SELECTED,, NOVELS,, TONI,, MORRISON,, BESSIE,, HEAD