Transcending dichotomies and challenging black womanhood and motherhood stereotypes in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

Abstract EN

This paper proposes to explore the treatment of the issues of black womanhood and motherhood as part of Morrison's portrayal of female characters in her novel the bluest eye (1970).

it takes as a core argument the stereotyping of black women in white hegemonic discourse and the way Morrison combats it through the elaboration of a counter narrative that relies on the use of paradox and ambiguity to defy easy categorization.

a backward glance at the roots of black female stereotypes is briefly evoked for the sake of underscoring Morrison's approach to female characterization as a challenge to reductive critical views that underlie a biased discourse that seeks to perpetuate a negative vision of black women.

the character of Pauline in the bluest eye serves as an example to illustrate this challenge.