Toni Morrison and the ghostly past: a rereading of the role of the ghost in beloved

Abstract EN

The gothic novel has always been viewed through the lens of conventions, typically referring to the essential elements that characterize it as gothic in light of writers like Horace Walpole and Mary Shelley, to name some.

However, these elements have differed completely in contemporary writings.

They have also differed in the deviation from the outward expression to stir terror to the inward psychological experiences and the society for which these novels are written.

In contrast, the American novel turned more to different gothic concerns to depict the psychological reality that is more terrifying than their traditional counterparts.

In light of this shift, the gothic in African American novels has deviated even more from both the British and Americans.

The African American authors used the accumulated trauma, which in their view, is the cause of all societal and psychological problems and terror.

This served as well as contributed to change the function of the ghost in such novels.

The ghost does not become merely a frightening element or a provocation of a historical fact to reveal the elements of a crime, but it has become a familiar element resorted to by the authors to solve social issues.

Thus, the study argues that the ghost has got different functions in modern gothic novels.

Similarly, the study claims that the new function of the ghost requires the continuity of its participation in the events until the end of the story.

Moreover, the current study tries to prove that the ghost in Beloved contributes to reconcile the present with the past to achieve a better future.

Therefore, this study aims to identify the ghost's function in Toni Morrison's novel Beloved.

In this way, the current study explores how the role of the ghost has been expanded in the modern gothic novel to achieve social reconciliation rather than increasing isolation and loneliness.

The study adopts a qualitative method, and the interpretations of the texts are constructed mainly by using the textual analysis to support the desired outcomes.