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the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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194<br />

Denver recounts ano<strong>the</strong>r portion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> story <strong>of</strong> her own<br />

birth, and <strong>the</strong> omniscient narrator provides more. The bas~c<br />

details get modified depend<strong>in</strong>g upon who 1s relatrng <strong>the</strong><br />

story to whom. Beloved learns her family history and fills<br />

<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> gaps In her llfe she cannot remember, through her<br />

mot:ler's story<br />

The daughters become <strong>in</strong>heritors <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

mo<strong>the</strong>r's story, <strong>the</strong> black mo<strong>the</strong>r becomes <strong>the</strong> female<br />

precursor who passes on <strong>the</strong> authority <strong>of</strong> authorship to her<br />

daughter and provides a model for <strong>the</strong> black woman's presence<br />

In society.<br />

5.3.7.1. The narratlve structure <strong>of</strong> Beloved eschews<br />

contlnulty and chronolog~cal sequenc<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Past consciousness<br />

and present reallty colllde wlthln <strong>the</strong> text's fragmentary<br />

narrative. The narrat~ve lourney goes forward loaded wlth<br />

memorles <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> past<br />

narratlve. Ann Snltow observes<br />

Wrltlng about thls fractured<br />

Morrlson doesn't really tell <strong>the</strong>se lncldents<br />

Brts and pieces <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m leak out between <strong>the</strong><br />

closed evellds <strong>of</strong> her characters. or between <strong>the</strong>lr<br />

clenched' flngers She twlsts and tortures and<br />

fractures events untll <strong>the</strong>y are little sllvers<br />

that cut She moves <strong>the</strong> lurid materlal <strong>of</strong><br />

melodrama <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> mlddle <strong>of</strong> her people, where ~t<br />

gets sifted and sorted, llved and rellved, untll<br />

~t acquxres <strong>the</strong> enlarg<strong>in</strong>g outllnes <strong>of</strong> myth and<br />

trauma, dream and obsession (Snltow 1990.27)<br />

Out <strong>of</strong> this leak<strong>in</strong>g, twrst<strong>in</strong>g, torturzng, sift<strong>in</strong>g, sortxng<br />

and re-livlng, <strong>the</strong> doubly <strong>in</strong>vlslble black female story comes<br />

to <strong>the</strong> foreground. Although Beloved is specifically Se<strong>the</strong>'s

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