In-Between spaces and the contact zone in toni morrison’s a mercy (2008)
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Date
2021
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Université Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
The present work aims to analyze Toni Morrison's A Mercy (2008) through the concepts of Mary Louise Pratt's "contact zone" and Homi K. Bhabha's "in-between spaces". In this novel, Morrison returns back to late 17th century, the days before institutionalizing slavery in America. By doing so, she does not only criminate slavery but also provides insights into the complex texture of the New World in terms of politics, economy, and particularly culture and identity. This picture becomes more intricate when America turns into a contact zone where different characters from different backgrounds - Europeans, Native Americans, enslaved and free Africans- meet and are seen divided in two separate sides: the white dominant master and the obedient other. However, A Mercy shows that within the contact zone the others do not accept easily the mainstream culture and find themselves living in in-between spaces. Interestingly; the contact zone presents many acts of resistance and negotiating one's identity in the novel. Namely, Florens, Lina, Sorrow, Rebecca, and Florens' mother provide an example of a crisis at the level of identity and living in-between spaces. The novel does not only give voice to these silenced characters over history - colonized subjects, Blacks and Natives, but also sheds light on hybridity as a main characteristic of the contact zone and in-between spaces. So, this research seeks to argue that the very original character of American identity depends mostly on the interactions and negotiation of cultures in the contact zone where the two Manichean sides are accomplice and complementary and America is the new home for both of them. This research also aims to show that though the new home/the mainstream forcibly imposed terms on the other, the writer brings into light a side of the story where all are interrelated and influence each other and should find peace. By the end, it is worthy to mention that the novel provides an insightful projection on nowadays America, especially in the post-racial era.
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Contact zone, Hybridity, Between Space