This essay examines Toni Morrison’s "Jazz" and Walter Mosley’s novel "Devil in a Blue Dress" with regard to the significance of place and travel. Many people nowadays deliberately choose their place of residence according to their personal priorities and, as more opportunities and different preferences evolve, may move several times. According to statistics by the UN, more and more people are migrating into urban areas. A city beckons with a broad range of possibilities, anonymity and jobs. On the other hand, ever since bigger cities developed, people have also been idealising the countryside and its picturesque and peaceful quality. This indicates that both cities and rural areas have different effects on people and trigger certain emotions, depending on previous experiences and personal relations. However, not only the choice between towns and countryside, but also the setting on the meso- and micro-level affects people just as much. This includes their actual houses and homes as well as institutions and social structures. Some fiction authors purposely let a certain setting and place shape their characters.
Table of Contents
1. Travel and place in Morrison’s Jazz and Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress
2. Analysis of Jazz
3. Analysis of Devil in a Blue Dress
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper examines the significance of place and travel in Toni Morrison’s Jazz and Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress, specifically analyzing how urban migration influences the identities of African American characters and their struggles with assimilation in a racialized landscape.
- The role of "the City" (Harlem) and Los Angeles as spaces of both opportunity and danger.
- The impact of migration from the South on personal identity and cultural memory.
- The dichotomy between white-dominated spaces and black community spaces.
- The metaphor of the home as a symbol of dignity and the American Dream.
- The psychological effects of failed or partial assimilation in urban environments.
Excerpt from the Book
Travel and place in Morrison’s Jazz and Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress
Many people nowadays deliberately choose their place of residence according to their personal priorities and, as more opportunities and different preferences evolve, may move several times. According to statistics by the UN, more and more people are migrating into urban areas. (UN, 2018) A city beckons with a broad range of possibilities, anonymity and jobs. On the other hand, ever since bigger cities developed, people have also been idealising the countryside and its picturesque and peaceful quality. This indicates that both cities and rural areas have different effects on people and trigger certain emotions, depending on previous experiences and personal relations.
However, not only the choice between towns and countryside, but also the setting on the meso- and micro-level affects people just as much. This includes their actual houses and homes as well as institutions and social structures. Some fiction authors purposely let a certain setting and place shape their characters. Striking examples for that are Toni Morrison’s Jazz and Walter Mosley’s novel Devil in a Blue Dress, which I will examine in the following with regard to the significance of place and travel.
Summary of Chapters
1. Travel and place in Morrison’s Jazz and Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress: This introductory section establishes the sociological framework of macro-, meso-, and micro-levels and introduces the central theme of how urban settings shape identity in the selected novels.
2. Analysis of Jazz: This chapter explores how Harlem represents both a site of freedom and an environment of failed assimilation for the protagonists Joe and Violet, emphasizing the persistent emotional connection to their Southern roots.
3. Analysis of Devil in a Blue Dress: This chapter investigates how Easy Rawlins navigates the racially fragmented landscape of 1940s Los Angeles, where his home serves as a symbol of his struggle for a dignified black identity within a white-dominated society.
Keywords
Migration, Urbanization, Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, Jazz, Devil in a Blue Dress, African American Literature, Assimilation, Harlem, Los Angeles, Identity, Space, Race, Culture Shock, American Dream
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper explores the significance of place and the impact of urban migration on characters in two prominent African American novels, Toni Morrison’s Jazz and Walter Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress.
What are the primary thematic fields covered?
The study covers themes of migration, the psychological impact of city life, cultural assimilation, the racialization of space, and the importance of home as a foundation for identity.
What is the central research objective?
The objective is to analyze how the transition from the South to urban centers like Harlem and Los Angeles influences the characters' self-perception and their ability to navigate society.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, drawing upon sociological concepts—specifically the macro-, meso-, and micro-level distinctions—to interpret the settings and characters in the novels.
What is the focus of the main section?
The main section provides a comparative literary analysis of how characters in both novels experience "the City," negotiate their memories of the South, and deal with the challenges of living in fragmented urban environments.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include migration, urbanization, assimilation, identity, racialized space, the American Dream, and cultural memory.
How does Joe and Violet's apartment in Jazz function as a symbol?
The apartment functions as a contradiction: while the City offers outward freedom, the apartment acts as a self-made prison that keeps the characters trapped in their painful memories of the South.
Why does Easy Rawlins agree to work for the white gangster Albright?
Easy agrees to the job primarily to pay his mortgage and secure his house, which he views as his private retreat and the physical embodiment of his American Dream.
How does the author describe the difference between Harlem and Los Angeles?
While Harlem in Jazz is depicted as a "black capital" offering a sense of shared identity and safety, the black neighborhoods in Los Angeles in Devil in a Blue Dress are presented as having a more brutal and dangerous atmosphere.
What role does the "invisible black man" concept play for Easy Rawlins?
Easy uses his perceived invisibility to navigate white-dominated spaces, allowing him to enter various communities and gain information that he would otherwise be denied due to his race.
- Citar trabajo
- Teresa Fischler (Autor), 2020, Travel and Place in Toni Morrison’s "Jazz" and Walter Mosley’s "Devil in a Blue Dress", Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1119576
