Minhaj University, Lahore Assignment No.2 Roll No. 22 Subject: Postmodernism Submitted to: Mam kanwal zafar Submitted by: Muhammad Hasib Chishti Class : MA English Topic: Postmodernism came to deconstruct and destabilize the binary oppositions on which western epistemology was based. Do you think Morrison, by writing the novel The Bluest Eye, intended the same? Binary opposition is the structuralist Idea that acknowledges the human tendency to think in terms of opposition. So, Structuralist says that human always understand things by comparing it to something that is opposite to it. Example: If we want to understand the concept of day, we will compare it by something opposite to it which is night! But Deconstructionist refused to accept this idea led by structualist and they said that you cannot specify things in opposition. If you are talking about day and night then what about dawn and dusk. Pir Haseeb Chishti: Deconstructionist also said that in this way structualist had created a hierarchy. They are privileging one thing over another. Example: If i talk about two opposite terms that are rich and poor. We know that these two are negative and positive terms. All the positive qualities are attributed to the term rich and all the negative qualities are attributed to the term poor. Example: In the same way deconstructionist were giving the example of speech and writing. They said that we have attributed to speech all the positive qualities and writing had been given a secondary status. This is what deconstructionist said that this is wrong .we should not privilege one thing over another. And the privilege of speech over writing is called phonocentricism by them. It was all about binary opposition and deconstruction and destabilization of binary opposition Epistemology: . Let’s understand Epistemology.it is a branch of knowledge. The study of nature and scope of knowledge and justified belief is called epistemology. Example! In west knowledge is shaped in such a way that like story, Fiction and everything which were written. Those were based on binary opposition. They compare east and west. According to them Eastern are illiterate and uncivilized people. They can never be come up to the standard of western people. So this binary opposition was maintained by them through their work of literature. So in the age of postmodern literature, The Writers and French theorist worked together and they deconstructed those binaries which were based on the wrong beliefs. There are following binaries discussed in the Novel "The bluest eye": Men/women Black/white Good/Evil attitude Careful/careless behaviour of different families Privileged /unprivileged culture Power /powerlessness Example from the Novel Example of Binary of White and Black which creates racism among the community In the novel of bluest eye Toni Morrison explains her target in writing the novel. She wants to make a statement about the damage that institutionalize racism can do to the most vulnerable Member of a community -A Young girl. She tried to explain these binaries which were based on racism damaging the whole community’s self-esteem and self-respect by giving the example of a young girl pecola who desperately wants to have blue eyes because blue eyes were considered the symbol of beauty and admiration in her society. When the White race was most prominent and dominates the whole society Due to their racist belief and at the Same black people was suffering Due to their racism. Through "Claudia," Toni Morrison breaks down the dichotomy of black versus white. Claudia stands in stark contrast to Pecola because she rejects the mythological norm and the white standard of beauty in American culture, which demands that women be "pretty in an ornamental way." Claudia accepts herself since she is aware that she does not meet the "traditional norms" of beauty, within which "power dwells," and that individuals "who stand outside that power" are subject to preconception and social rejection. AnotherExample:Pecola Breedlove, The main character of the novel confronts Harsh realities of life. She is the prey of such cultural ideologies where every black person was suffering from inferiority complex and they were not having the Real Rights of human being.They were not even considered human but slave due to this racist behaviour which was prevailing in the society And Morrison has tried to deconstruct this binary by giving several example in the novel. Morrison through the character of pecola Breedlove presents such cultural realities which ruin the innocence of a child. She not only exposes false beliefs also reveals the impact of such beliefs on the personality of child. Example: Shirley temple was a child star that was famous for her youthful charm and also for blue eyes. Pecola was lover of shirly eyes because these blue eyes were representing beauty, Power and respect in the society. The given concept of beauty is penetrated in pecola's mind by cultural practices. She has no idea why she asks for blue eyes and how she can achieve the desired blue eyes. This concept of blue eyes has heen captured by children’s mind through the established practices or norms prevailing among the members of society Careful /Careless Behaviour of different families. She has tried to explain this binary by giving the example of Dick and jane and Pecola's families situations. The Novel introduces readers to a pretty green and Whitehouse with a red door and very happy and united family unit there in the story. Dick and Jane stories have given the ideal portrait of American families and teaching children the cultural values like gender and familial roles. Furthermore, Even though we are never told so, we assume that the physical appearance of Dick and Jane is also appropriate for the beauty standards of American society.There is a strong connection among the family memeber of the house. The family of Dick and Jane looks very happy and the whole family is good for the prevailing culture.. The mother is caretaker, and the father is worker and they are always nice, caring and lovely. Morrison has written a kind of these widely known children's stories at the beginning of her novel but she doesn't want us to think that the world of Dick and Jane is better.Because she wanted to deconstruct the binary of white and black which was based on racism.And Due to this one community of the society was suffering a lot. One the other hand: She has associated with the ugly and unhappy life of black people to the values of standardized and idealized world of white culture. By comparing the Dick and jane and Claudia family with Breedlove family.we can see a huge difference between them. Breedlove family suffer a lot due to set norms of society. The poverty and ugliness dominate the house of Breedlove. There is a story of Pecola who is denied love and understanding by both family and the society. Being an irony with their last names the Breedlove. The Breedlove Don't show and love to their daughter and she encounters the rejection by the society because she is black. that's why she is not good.and thats why she don't considered the recognized member of the society.it has created inferiority complex in her. Pecola's loveless mother, Pauline is compared withe the nice mother of jane and her father, Cholly who is alcholic and careless correspond the big and strong father in the society.In these chapters bearing the sentences related to the mother and the father lines, we read the life of Pauline which is full of disappointment and unhappiness and the chaotic childhood and youth of cholly Breedlove. Even though Claudia was also black but she has the inner strength due to her family behaviour with her. Deconstruction of Gender Stereotypes: Binary of Men vs Women Through her novels, Toni Morrison Deconstruct the binary of men and women by examining the ongoing social oppressive cycles against black people, especially the black women who being black, female and poor have been victimized by racism, sexism, and classism" Her Intention to launch harsh accuasation against that oppression of women. In The Bluest Eye, she created a group of women who have the courage to challenge their position in the society controlled by men and oppose the unjust distribution of power. In her portrayal of those independent self-sufficient black females, Morrison deconstructed gender stereotypes. Her new women did not conform to the women norms and behaviors as decided by society and they were not "teachable and submissive to male notions and desires ” and didn't recognize males as powerful rather they revolted against the uneven balance of power and oppressive cycles of patriarchal white racist society . Morrison represented black women as 'complex selves, who went through journeys from the condition of victims' to the control of others and 'realization of personal autonomy. CLAUDIA: The first character that epitomizes Morrison's vision of "emerging consciousness of black women in U.S… Therefore Pauline is the personification of Black females through all her disillusionment and cruel struggle in the racist society. Again in her, Morrison has depicted a brave female among the black who has such kind of inner strength to oppose the norms of the white racist society. Example of THREE PROSTITUTES who deconstructed the norms of the society Power/Powerlessness The prostitutes China, Poland, and Miss Marie portrayed in The Bluest Eye need special attention. They are the lowest at the social order among the black women in a society where the ideal of female beauty is fair skin and chastity. Nevertheless, the three prostitutes are found as happy and satisfied with their life. They are portrayed as 'strong and confident'. Morrison has definitely deconstructed the gender stereotypes by portraying them as "comfortable with their bodies and sexuality”. They are not timid, emotional and conventional but they are endowed with such inner spirit that is scarce in any other female character in The Bluest Eye. Pecola loves them for their attitude… They are not timid, emotional and conventional but they are endowed with such inner spirit that is scarce in any other female character in The Bluest Eye. Pecola loves them for their attitude to life, their cheerfulness, and their strength of character and expects to have that carefree laughter. The narration of their laughing indicates how scorning the society and oppressive social rules, they have created a screaming world for them. The prostitutes can laugh spontaneously and their laughing enlightens Pecola's mind with delight and joy. The prostitutes are not submissive to male dominance rather they oppress their customers. They view males as weak or not powerful enough or superior, rather they use males for their monetary gains.and these women believe that they have gotten the power which the don't have in the past.That means these women have converted their powerlessness into a powerful women of the society by controllig the men of the society . Binay of Priviledged and unprivileged culture in the society The bluest eye by Toni Morrison explores the African and American cultures. and imagined how "white culture" was given more privilege than "black culture." "White people" believe themselves to be superior to "black people." e.g "Maureen Peal" is a new student at the girls high school. She is a wealthy, light-skinned girl with green eyes, perfect hair, and envy-inspiring lunches. Teachers support her, boys stop fighting when she enters the room, white girls put up with her, and black girls submit to her. She "enchants" the school. The complex relationship between value and beauty is personified by Maureen. She is cherished and favoured simply because she is "cute". Despite her arrogant and erratic behaviour, people still adore her. Pecola admires Maureen even after she turns on her and accuses her of seeing her father naked and calling her ugly. In this paragraph , we can see a clear difference How society treat a privileded class people.Even though they are doing wrong deeds like behaving ill manners to unpriviledge class.they are still acknowledged and got all the rights than unprivilege class and unpriviledge class suffer a lot due to this ill behaviour.Their whole personality shattered due to this ill behaviour of priviledge class. Morrison depicts a society in which people's perceptions of white superiority are deeply built in. It demonstrates the ingrained mindset of the conflict between white and black culture. Readers in primary school who enjoy stories like "Dick and Jane" lead to a persistent misperception that affects kids. After determining the cause of this unwell but well-accepted consciousness, Morrison modifies his message for elementary school readers so that the opposition is fully broken. Black individuals themselves doubt their own beauty as a result of the discrimination they face due to this priviledged culture .This is the cause of Cholly's death, Sammy's flight, and Pecola's mental instability. According to Morrison, if they continue to believe it, they will eventually push themselves into a very unpleasant circumstance. Morrison, as represented by Pecola Breedlove offers such cultural truths, destroying a child's innocence. She not only exposes incorrect beliefs but also shows how they affect a child's personality. Cultural customs have a profound impact on Pecola's conception of beauty. The behaviours or customary standards followed by the members have ingrained this idea of blue eyes in children. Binary of Good and Evil attitude In this book, Toni Morrison briefly explores the dichotomy of "Good/Evil" through the idea of black magic, white magic, and male characters. The men's role in this story is to act only immorally, which results in the growth of other characters. Morrison begins the story by describing a masculine character who commits a bad deed. Pecola gets pregnant with her dad's child. At the time, we believed it was because Pecola was pregnant with her father's child, which the marigold failed to develop. This behaviour is against nature and the baby is already impure. On the other hand, Mr. Macteer, "the father of Claudia and Frieda," is hardly ever mentioned as a Good binary. We can infer that he is a sincere, diligent, and devoted father. who makes a concerted effort to support his family and make both ends meet. The only male character that deviates from the norm in the narrative is Mr. Macteer. Morrison emphasises that every person has both positive and negative traits. She argues in her book that society and prevailing ideologies bestow good and evil on individuals. No matter whether he is white, black, a male, or a woman, they are just intertwined. In the book, the bluesteyed many male characters engaged in evil activities like cholly and Soaphead Church, but Mr. Macteer performed good deeds as a result of social prejudice. Do you think Morrison, by writing the novel The Bluest Eye, intended the same? (Deconstruction of binaries) Among Novelists , Toni Morrison excelled because she has deconstructed binary opposition in her novel through the explanation of different characters in which we have seen different binaries and how these binaries affecting their mentality.and how people are suffering due to these binaries which have been created in the society.She exposed the double framework and provided evidence that the distinctions between good and evil, man and woman, and white and black power and powerlessness, privileged and unprivileged culture ,careful and Careless behaviour of different families are ineffective in resolving conflicts. Parallel limitations are then turned upside down within the bluest eye, and the different leveled frameworks of Western thought are revealed to be unimportant. The process of crushing double opposition, which also has an anti-foundational effect, makes the "Outright truth" gradually disappear on itself. Morrison argues in her novel that people's experiences in life, both good and bad, are components of who they are. Toni Morrison uses visuals to illustrate ideas such as the domination of one group over another. According to her, people's environments and the ideas they are exposed to have a big impact on them. It's one of Toni Morrison's best novels overall and the best tool for understanding the binary opposition created by modern civilization. In This novel , Morrison don't only talk about different binaries through the different characters she introduced, but also deconstructed those binaries by the action of those characters who were showing binary opposition. So ,after all above discussion we can say that Toni Morrison deconstructed all the given binaries through her novel "the bluest eye".
