insights on pursuit for meaningful life in selected works of toni morrison (sum)

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Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines

Ph.D CANDIDATE: VU THI QUYNH DUNG (DZUNG)

INSIGHTS ON PURSUIT FOR MEANINGFUL LIFE IN SELECTED WORKS OF TONI MORRISON

Specialty: English Language and Litera ture

DISSERTATION SUMMARY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

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INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAMS, THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

Scientific supervisor: Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez The peer review Í: {c2 The peer reVi€W 2: cà se cẰ The peer review Ổ: cà se cằ

The dissertation is defended to the Panel of Experts at:

Dissertation can be found at: - National Library

- Learning Resource Center, Thai Nguyen University - Library of International Training and Development Center

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Pursuing a meaningful life is a fundamentally important goal for anyone who lives on earth Whether the meaning of life is formulaic and what should we do to gain the significance of life are really complicated questions The answers are different from cultural and ideological backgrounds

Different people hold different views about meaningful life In general, if an average person possesses these five things, their life will be significant: a faith in God, a meaningful family life, a meaningful career, bosom friendship, and the positive contribution to the society Those five important components foster one another to strengthen the life of the being

For women, a part of a meaningful life derives from the liberation of their own Throughout the world, governments have committed to achieve the equality between men and women However, their status in many countries remains considerably inferior of men in many aspects of life In developed countries, women are still suffering from unequal wage in the workplace, from sexual harassment; the prevalence of men in political, economic field, and others

Similarly, the status of Vietnamese women has been greatly improved since the foundation of the country in 1945 Women are more respected in families and in society Nevertheless, in many parts of Vietnam, women are victims of discriminations, violence, obstacles and gender disparities That 1s the reason why the search for a meaningful life of Vietnamese women is an endless struggle

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and complex lives of black women within the black community as well as holding that community responsible for its own The wisdom embodied in the selected works of Toni Morrison could be one of the motivating factors that could help the Vietnamese students re-examine their lives and values when they become aware of her genuine philosophical dimension

With this thought in mind, the theme “Insights on pursuit for meaningful life in selected works of Toni Morrison” is chosen to study

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CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM 1.1 Statements of Problem

The study seeks answers to the following questions: 1 How do the selected works of Toni Morrison manifest the sufferings of Black women in terms of: 1.1 racial oppression; 1.2 gender inequality; 1.3 emotional abandonment; and 1.4 women’s sufferings? 2 How are the sources of strengths and motive of women’s resistance shown in:

2.1 love between mother and children; 2.2 husband and wife relationship; 2.3 freedom and equality; and 2.4 self identity?

3 In what manner do the women in the world portrayed in the novels express resistance to the different forms of violence?

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1.2 Scope, Delimitation and Limitations of the Study

This study analyzes the insights on pursuit for meaningful life in selected works of Toni Morrison namely Song of Solomon and Tar Baby, pointing out the events and situations which show honest implications of the themes pursued in the novels to the study of meaningful family life among Vietnamese students Likewise, this paper tries to present how the selected works manifest the sufferings of black women in terms of racial oppression, gender inequality, emotional abandonment, and women’s sufferings; the sources of strengths and motive of women’s resistance as shown in the love between mother and children, husband and wife relationship, freedom and equality, and self-identity; and the manner how the women in the world portrayed in the novels express resistance to the different forms of violence

The representative literary works of Toni Morrison entitled Song of Solomon and Tar Baby were constituted the primary and twining sources of the study to analyze The said selections were chosen because of including the themes in the statements of problem Likewise, these works have been taken up in critical analysis far less frequently than Morrison’s other popular novels entitled “Beloved, The Bluest Eyes, Sula, A Mercy, Peeny Butter Fudge, and many more 1.3 Significance of the Study

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academic community of the beneficial outcomes of contemplating and aiming for a meaningful family life to all people regardless of gender, race, nationality and religious backgrounds

Working Professionals the analysis may showcase how they could to explore their journey into a meaningful family life and lifestyle and the positive implications of eschewing excess stuff in favor of focusing on life’s more important aspects: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution

Media Practitioners This study may inspire them to introduce an intervention strategy known as entertainment education on the media to change cultural attitudes, norms and behaviors that would benefit audiences

College Instructors of Literature This analysis will be helpful in the instructor’s methodology in teaching literature as an inquiry into using the appropriate literary theories and approaches in literary analysis In addition, this will provide them with opportunities to touch the concept of meaningful family life in their literature classes and open their students’ mind and hearts to the meaning of life as a philosophical and spiritual question concerning the significance of life or existence in general that maybe drawn from the selections

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Members of the Community This paper will make them understand that life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose For most people in the community, feeling happy and finding life meaningful are both important and related goals

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CHAPTERH

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter 1s presented with the end view of identifying the constructs of the study

2.1 Conceptual Literature

The review of the conceptual literature yields four types of constructs, which are used in the analysis and interpretation of the literary pieces dissected These constructs include: Literature and Philosophy, Toni Morrison and her Significant Works, Meaningful Family Life in Vietnam, and Sociological and Philosophical Approaches in Literary Criticism

2.2 Research Literature

This section presents the published and unpublished researches that are related to the present study

2.3 Synthesis of Literature Reviewed

This section justifies the direct bearing of the conceptual literature to the present study followed by the presentation of the similarities and differences of the cited research literature to the present study

2.4 Conceptual/T heoretical Framework

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design

This study employed the qualitative method of research in analyzing the tenets of black women’s pursuit for meaningful life in the representative literary works chosen

Likewise, this study involved content analysis, which is a systematic technique in analyzing message content and message handling The data analysis in this research centered on pattern seeking and the extraction of meaning from Toni Morrison’s selected linguistic or visual data Much effort was directed toward task of recording data through different methods like coding and categorizing; attaching concepts to the categories, linking and combining abstract concepts; creating theory from emerging themes, and writing an understanding

Textual criticism was employed in this research to examine in the texts the idea that literature can be a writer’s channel for conveying his philosophical dimension of searching for a meaningful life Likewise, philosophical approach, and sociological approach were applied in this study

3.2 Treatment of Materials

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In subjecting the materials to internal and external criticism and analysis, the meaning and trustworthiness of the statements in the aforecited primary sources were carefully chartered and analyzed

To attain congruency between the theories used in explaining the black women’s’ insights on pursuit for the meaning of life, coding and categorization were conducted In this study, the categories which served as coding units include the following: manifestations of black women’s sufferings; sources of strengths and motive of women’s resistance; manner in which the “women in the world” express resistance to the different forms of violence; and the implications of the themes to the study of meaningful family life among Vietnamese students

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CHAPTER IV

INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 1 The manifestation of the sufferings of Black women in the selected works of Toni Morrison

1.1 Racial oppression

The novels reflect the hard life that Black women experienced as being colored The oppressive forms derive from externalized force such as violence, maltreated behavior, mistreatment by the white or even by the black ones They also suffer from the internalized force such as hatred of the physical appearance of the black, the desire to become white-like women

1.2 Gender inequality

The analysis shows that black women were oppressed by the conventions of the patriarchal society about the role of women at home, in marriage and in relationships with men The society put on their shoulders the burden of responsibility for the bulk of child bearing and rearing, of housework.Their world was restricted within the family These conventions considered black women as submissive, passive group They wounded black women physically and emotionally

1.3 Emotional abandonment

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characters 1n her novel that led these characters to became oppressed In the world of the works, men took control in relationships When they no longer felt those interesting, they tried to give up their partner Then women became the victims of the abandonment They suffered from both physical and emotional abandonment

1.4 Women’s sufferings

Black women in the selected works suffered from hundreds of humiliation in life, from domestic violence to suspicion, alienation of their closest people and the community They were bruise wounded or even killed by their husbands Their spouses mistrusted their faithfulness Their effort to satisfy the husbands were not properly appreciated What they said or did were always made fun of or decried They could not have a normal life because they were black and they were women in the male-dominance society

2 The sources of strengths and motive of women’s resistance 2.1 Love between mother and children

Mothers in the novels showed their unconditional love in different ways They suffered from the violence of the husband, from the prejudice of the community since the child was inside their womb They sacrificed their life to be enslaved provided that their beloved had respectable education Their love for their own child was obvious, but nobody else was able to show disaffection to theirs If they did so, they would hurt the mothers Their unfailing love was the source of strength to protect their off springs from troubles

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Husband and wife relationship was also a strong motive that led to the rebellion of women in the two novels Being ignored, they tried to gain the love of the man of their life by cheating him with magical medicine, beautifying themselves to attract him, or even attempting to kill him The call of love also made a smart, urban woman like Jadine to come back to Eloe, a typical place of blackness with old-fashioned values It was for him that she struggled in New York to support his education Those women were strongly motivated in maintaining their conjugal relationship

2.3 Freedom and equality

Women in those selected novels were found to search for freedom and equality within the context of oppressions and violence Being women in a white-dominated society, they experienced double jeopardy The white discriminated and men maltreated them at home and at work They were considered to be dependent, marginalized group of the society They also suffered from mental and physical violence Those were the driving force that encouraged them to stand up to gain the equal status and liberty

2.4 Self identity

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black The toughness of life could not put out but inspired the fire to seek for self identity in those women

3 In what manner do the women in the world portrayed in the novels express resistance to the different forms of violence?

Women reacted differently in different context of violence, but the three most popular forms of resistance were found in the novels were acquiescence, non-violence and violence On another perspective, resistance includes three other forms: verbal, physical and armed resistance Ruth conformed with the pressure her husband put on her; Lena cried; Jadine quarreled; but Hagar revenged with weapons Depending on the situation, each woman had their own choice of confrontation

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SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION This chapter presents the summary, findings, conclusions and recommendations of the study

5.1 Summary

By employing qualitative method with philosophical and sociological approaches of literary criticism to analyze the content of two selected novels namely Song of Solomon and Tar Baby of Toni Morrison, the analysis has dealt with the following issues: the sufferings of black women in terms of racial oppression, gender inequality, emotional abandonment, and women’s sufferings; the sources of strengths and motive of women’s resistance as shown in the love between mother and children, husband and wife relationship, freedom and equality, and self-identity; and the manner how the women in the world portrayed in the novels express resistance to the different forms of violence Likewise, the analysis shows the implications of the themes pursued in the novels to the study of meaningful family life among Vietnamese students

5.2 Findings

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2 To gain a meaningful life, Morrison's black female characters learn to craft significant identity by challenging all racial stereotypes Black women have always resisted every sort of oppression; apparently they learn to wear the mask of conformity but this mask does not destroy this inner strength and power to resist They have always pulled together their power of resistance, sometimes, by destroying the so- called established tradition and cultural norms and sometime by daring to do something which is forbidden in white patriarchal society

3 The result of the study also indicate that oppressed women resisted and revolted in various ways, such as verbal, physical, and armed resistance Other forms of resistance included violence, non-violence or acquiescence Hartman’s subject-object theory clearly delineates the psychological rationality behind the relationship between oppression, resistance and revolt Because these women were oppressed by being treated as objects, their actions were a way of expressing their individuality as agents or subjects of their actions

4 It is the interest of this study to open up the gate of wisdom to the students to understand the destiny of African American women in the white patriarch society By reviewing values through the tenets of literature by a black woman writer, they may realize that their present life is precious That will change the way they think and behave, and foster students to hold campaigns and propaganda focusing on promoting the values of a meaningful family life, a life of prosperity, equality, happiness, progress, a life without prejudice and violence 5.3 Conclusions

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1 Toni Morrison's selected works depicted black women's quest for cultivating a real life is often complicated by the intersecting oppression of race, gender oppression, sufferings as well as emotional abandonment Through these novels, the writer wants to show the truth of black women’s life

2 Morrison’s selected works manifest the sources of strength and motive of women’s resistance to different forms of oppression in terms of love between mother and child, husband and wife, freedom and equality and self-identity The primary reason of women’s resistance through these is to protect their offsprings or protect themselves from abuses of men, oppression of the convention on the role of female in the society It is their desire to define their own self, free from all the conventions of the male dominated world that urges them to struggle endlessly

3 The selected novels of Morrison shows various manners of women’s resistance to different forms of violence, against oppressive opponents to their lives Although some conform with the oppressions, most of them resist, either in non-violent or ferocious way The final goal for such rebel is to achieve a meaningful life of their own

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5.4 Recommendations

From the foregoing findings and conclusions, the researcher offers the following recommendations:

1 That the academic managers utilize this study as a frame of reference when they prepare developmental priorities, programs, projects and policies in the educational institutions to ensure that insights on pursuit of meaningful life are integrated in the academe and spawn activities in the curricula that will educate the academic community of the beneficial outcomes to all people That the working professionals employ this study in the mainstream of their disciplines, their lives and the world and when they organize workplace initiatives to nurture and challenge people of all ages working in various sectors of society to live meaningful or purpose-driven lives

That media practitioners be inspired to develop an intervention strategy that incorporates educational messages on meaningful family life into soap operas and other media programming on the television and radio to change cultural attitudes, norms and behaviors that would benefit audiences

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allow them to crystallize and synthesize what philosophy of life is best to learn and to live by

That the students of literature realize the significance of meaningful life and may be inspired to treat literature as a work of art distinguished from other texts through content and form, and intensify their appreciation of novels as well as inspire them to engage in literary analysis as an academic activity

That the members of the community may realize, through this paper, that meaningful life is most effective when it highlights the positive interdependence existing among the people, groups, organizations and nations