A SHATTERED WORLD: SUSAN ABULHAWA’S APPROPRIATION OF TONI MORRISON’S THE BLUEST EYE IN THE BLUE BETWEEN SKY AND WATER

Majd Alkayid Assisstant professor, Applied Science Private University. Amman, Jordan. m_alkayed@asu.edu.jo
Amal Riyadh Kitishat Associate professor in Literature, Al-Balqa Applied University-Ajloun University College, Jordan. Dr.amal.kitishat@bau.edu.jo
Murad Al Kayed Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt, Jordan. murad.alkayed@bau.edu.jo

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why Susan Abulhawa is influenced by Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and how she appropriates it particularly in her representation of the character Nur as a subverted version of Morrison’s character; Pecola. Both novels expose the traumas of rejection, humiliation, sexual abuse and oppression and make a statement about the damage that these traumas can do to the most vulnerable members of society; young girls. Abulhawa rewrites the passive and schizophrenic Pecola into the stronger and more independent Nur. She rewrites The Bluest Eye’s characterization, themes and tropes to challenge, subvert and resist the canonical narrative of Morrison. While Morrison dramatizes the trauma of racism and oppression of whites against blacks in America, Abulhawa dramatizes the trauma of racism and oppression of Israelis against Palestinians in Palestine. The study explains these issues depending on Harold Bloom’s theory of anxiety of influence.

Keywords:

appropriation, anxiety of influence, Morrison, Abulhawa


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References



• Abulhawa, S. (2015). The Blue Between Sky and Water. London: Bloomsbury Circus. • Allen, G. (2011). Intertextuality. London: Routledge. • Bloom, H. (1997). The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press. • Morrison, T. (1999). The Bluest Eye. London: Vintage. • Sanders, J. (2006). Adaptation and Appropriation. London: Routledge.

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