what is the symbolic significance of the title jazz
what is the symbolic significance of the title jazz
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what is the symbolic significance of the title jazz
This introduction to the article cited below says it all:
"Toni Morrison’s Jazz is a simply titled novel, but this simplicity belies the complexity of the narrative structure to which the word “jazz” alludes. Toni Morrison’s novel "Jazz" is experimental in that it challenges the conventions of the American canonical literary narrative. Toni Morrison incorporates elements of the genre of jazz music as a way of both honoring African American modes of expression and creative and cultural production, as well as creating new, hybrid forms of expression. The result is a novel that can be frustrating and difficult, at times, for the reader to follow. Morrison’s narrative is, by turns, tangential, digressive, and improvisational and like other novels by Morrison reliant on symbols, it can never be taken at face value. Nevertheless, understanding the underlying structural and thematic significance of this narrative approach by analyzing the novel’s structure through the lens of jazz music helps the reader to not only develop a tolerance for the novel, but to adapt himself or herself to its expressive power. As a result, new possibilities open not only for Toni Morrison as an author, but for the reader as well."
"Toni Morrison’s Jazz is a simply titled novel, but this simplicity belies the complexity of the narrative structure to which the word “jazz” alludes. Toni Morrison’s novel "Jazz" is experimental in that it challenges the conventions of the American canonical literary narrative. Toni Morrison incorporates elements of the genre of jazz music as a way of both honoring African American modes of expression and creative and cultural production, as well as creating new, hybrid forms of expression. The result is a novel that can be frustrating and difficult, at times, for the reader to follow. Morrison’s narrative is, by turns, tangential, digressive, and improvisational and like other novels by Morrison reliant on symbols, it can never be taken at face value. Nevertheless, understanding the underlying structural and thematic significance of this narrative approach by analyzing the novel’s structure through the lens of jazz music helps the reader to not only develop a tolerance for the novel, but to adapt himself or herself to its expressive power. As a result, new possibilities open not only for Toni Morrison as an author, but for the reader as well."
Source(s): http://www.articlemyriad.com/jazz_morrison_symbol_1.htm
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