Reading Jazz From The Perspective Of Migration Narrative

The Great Migration has been the focus of Toni Morrison’s works, which is fully reflected in her sixth book, Jazz (1992). This thesis investigates Morrison’s Jazz from perspective of migration narrative. The study in question has been neglected in existing criticism.The thesis is composed of introduction, the body and conclusion. The introduction focuses on the literary survey of Jazz, research objective and research methods of the thesis.The body consists of three chapters. The first chapter discusses how Morrison presents migration motifs in Jazz. Based on the experience of the three generations of the migrants, Morrison deals with two classical motifs of migration:motif of necessity and motif of extravagance, which propels the migrants to achieve ascent in the city. The investigation emphasizes the point that migrants move to the city are just finding ways to get rid of their tragic or unsatisfactory lives.The second chapter approaches migrants’ conflicts with the city, including environmental conflict and emotional conflicts. The environmental conflict is embodied in the great change from pastoral rural life to modern city life. As for the emotional conflicts, they are involved in the young couple’s marital problems and the tensions within the black community. The study points out that the living conditions in the city for migrants are very hard, which gives rise to disconnection with ancestors and the lack of communication.The last chapter offers a final vision of migrants in the city. Most migration narratives are concerned with the consequences of migration, such as return to the South or stay in the Northern city, but they usually end in tragedy. However, most of the characters in Jazz have managed to settle in the city. Such a treatment indicates that Toni Morrison adopts a positive attitude towards possibilities of migrants in the city. Communication with each other and connection with the past and ancestors can be best remedies for black migrants to adapt to city lives.The detailed analysis of Jazz from different perspectives enables to see the features of migration narrative and Morrison’s contribution to the genre. Therefore, Jazz is not only considered to be the paradigm of migration narrative but also predicts a new direction for the genre.