Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Uma dentada na Big Apple: Jazz, amor e pecado em Toni Morrison

2005; Catholic University of Portugal; Volume: 14; Issue: 14 Linguagem: Inglês

0872-0215

João de Mancelos,

Literature, Culture, and Criticism

The novel Jazz (1992), by black author Toni Morrison, depicts the existence of African Americans in multi-ethnic Harlem, in New York, during the roaring twenties. In this essay, I show how the African American experience in the city differs from their life in the rural area; I analyze the reconfiguration of the community’s habits and values; I explore the theme of the reconstruction of the family and the improvisation of the black identity in Harlem. For that purpose, I resort to the analysis of the novel and to the opinion of several essayists.