Metaphor of Flight in Toni Morrison's Novel „Song of Solomon“
Metaphor of Flight in Toni Morrison's Novel „Song of Solomon“

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the metaphor of flight in Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon. The author uses the myth of Flying Africans to emphasize the duality of the metaphor of flight and subversive undertones which allow for different interpretations. Due to the complexity of the metaphor of flight in Morrison's novel, the paper will employ the theoretical frameworks of magic realism, the praxis of Othering proposed by Edward Said in his Orientalism and Jungian concept of archetype as it refers to flight and flying. The focus is particularly on the way Morrison employs magical realism to fuse master narratives of the Western civilization with the ones pertaining to African American community and in turn questions the process of construction of history and community. Morrison's insistence on commonality of flight, as a universal human impulse, that can be found both in African (American) and Western lore, gives credence to her characters' ability to fly.

• Details
• Contents