行政院國家科學委員會補助專題研究計畫成果報告
行政院國家科學委員會補助專題研究計畫成果報告
行政院國家科學委員會補助專題研究計畫成果報告
行政院國家科學委員會補助專題研究計畫成果報告
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（
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（結案完整
結案完整
結案完整
結案完整報告
報告
報告
報告）
）
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計畫名稱
計畫名稱
計畫名稱
計畫名稱：從時「差」到時「間」: 童妮‧摩里森的小說時間
計畫類別
計畫類別
計畫類別
計畫類別：
：
：
：一般型研究計畫(個別型)
計畫編號
計畫編號
計畫編號
計畫編號：
：
：
：NSC 97-2410-H-003 -116 -MY3
執行期間
執行期間
執行期間
執行期間：
：
：
：97 年 08 月 01 日至 101 年 7 月 31 日
計畫主持人
計畫主持人
計畫主持人
計畫主持人：
：
：李秀娟
：
執行單位
執行單位
執行單位
執行單位：
：
：
：國立臺灣師範大學英語學系
日期
日期
日期
日期：
：
：中華民國 101 年 10 月 26 日
：
一
一
一
一、
、
、
、 研究內容概述
研究內容概述
研究內容概述
研究內容概述
本計畫以時間理論與摩里森小說為兩大研究主軸。除了鑽研美國當代女作家童妮．摩里
森的著作，深究其作品時間結構，也鑽研當代文學與文化理論中的時間論述，特別是由
精神分析論述所發展出的時間架構與創傷理論中的時間，並將之與個人近年來一直在進
行之亞美文學、美國族裔文學與電影研究結合。以下的研究成果，包括了個人四年來在
摩里森研究、時間理論、與更廣泛之美國族裔文學研究領域所發表之主要期刊論文、演
講、與研討會論文。
二、已出版
已出版
已出版
已出版/發表
發表
發表
發表研究成果目
研究成果目
研究成果目
研究成果目錄
錄
錄
錄
A.
期刊論文
1.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “Historical Distance and Textual Intimacy: How Newness
Enters Toni Morrison’s A Mercy.” Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies 37.2
(2011): 135-155. (THCI-Core).
2.
李秀娟。<從觀影「快」感到創傷時延：史考特．希克斯《雪落香杉》中的
時間倫理>。
。
。《英美文學評論》19 (2011): 1-28。(THCI-Core)
。
3.
李秀娟。<歷史記憶與創傷時間：敘述日裔美國遷徙營>。《中外文學》41.1
(2012): 7-43。(THCI-Core)
4.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “The Remains of Empire and the ‘Purloined’ Philippines:
Jessica Hagedorn’s Dream Jungle.” Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study
of Literature 45.3 (Sept. 2012): 49-64. (A&HCI)
B.
演講
1. “The Other of History and the Future of Time: Toni Morrison as a Case.” 台師大
英語系 Brown Bag Series. Taipei: NTNU, Nov. 23, 2010.
2.〈文字與世界的相遇：從《一種慈悲》看童妮‧摩里森的文學歷程〉。國立台
灣師範大學文化沙龍系列演講之五。希臘左巴師大店：Sept. 17, 2011。
3. 〈記憶的三種方法：童妮‧摩里森《蘇拉》裡的自我、種族、與愛情〉。年
國立台灣師範大學文化沙龍系列演講之六。希臘左巴師大店：Sept. 21, 2011。
4. “Living on through Traumatic Time: A Post-9/11 Rethinking on Japanese
2
Dec. 21, 2011。
C.
研討會論文
1.
“Nation in Temporalities: Popular Documentary Photography on the Japanese
American Internment” Paper delivered at the international conference on
“Persecptives on Migraiton, Nationalhood, and Ethnicity,” National Sun-Yat-sen
University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Nov. 8-9, 2008.
2.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “National Impossible: The “Purloined” Philippines in Jessica
Hagedorn’s Dream Jungle.” Paper delivered at 2009 Association for Asian
American Studies Annual Meeting, Hawaii, USA. April 22-26, 2009.
3.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “Japanese Colonial Legacy and the Rhythmic Everyday: Music,
Time, and History in Cape No. 7.” Paper delivered at the 16th NATSA Annual
Conference, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, USA. April 18-20,
2010.
4.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “Belated Memory as Palimpsests: Trauma and History in Snow
Falling on Cedar.” Paper delivered at the 64th Annual RMMLA Convention,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. October 14-16, 2010.
5.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “An Encounter of World and Letters: The Future of Time in
Toni Morrison’s A Mercy.” Paper delivered at the Sixth Biennial Conference of
the Toni Morrison Society, Paris, France. Nov 4-7, 2010.
6.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “Racial Memories in Baseball Diamond: From the American
Wartime to American Pastime.” Delivered at “War Memories: The Third
International Conference on Asian British and Asian American Literatures,”
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. Dec. 9-10, 2011.
7.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “‘Trafficking in Seeds’: War Bride, Biopower, and Asian
American Subjectivity in Ruth Ozeki’s All over Creation.” Delivered at the 2012
Association for Asian American Studies Conference, Washington D.C., USA.
April 11-14, 2012.
8.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “Asian America in Asia/America Distance and Transference:
Asian American Studies in Taiwan.” Delivered at “Ethnic Literatures and
Transnationalism: 2012 MELUS/USACLALS Conference,” San Jose, USA. April
19-22, 2012.
9.
李秀娟。〈「歐美」與「我們」之間：從亞美研究看美-亞的距離與傳會〉。
發表於「我們的『歐美』：文本、裡論、問題研討會」。台北：中央研究院
歐美所。
10.
Lee, Hsiu-chuan. “‘Posthumous Shock’: Time and Histroy in the Photographic
Representations of Japanese American Internment.” Delivered at the Eighth
Biennial MESEA Conference: “Media and Mediatate Performances of Ethnicity.”
Barcelona: Blanquerna School of Communication, Ramon Llull University, June
13-16, 2012.
三
三
三
三、
、
、
、詳細研究內容
詳細研究內容
詳細研究內容：
詳細研究內容
：
：期刊論文全文
：
期刊論文全文 (共四篇
期刊論文全文
期刊論文全文
共四篇
共四篇
共四篇，
，
，
，依上列篇目順序排列
依上列篇目順序排列
依上列篇目順序排列)
依上列篇目順序排列
(註
註
註
註：
：
：出國發表之
：
出國發表之
出國發表之
出國發表之研討會論文全文附於各年度出國移地研究與
研討會論文全文附於各年度出國移地研究與
研討會論文全文附於各年度出國移地研究與
研討會論文全文附於各年度出國移地研究與
參加國際研討會之心得報告
參加國際研討會之心得報告
參加國際研討會之心得報告
參加國際研討會之心得報告)
Historical Distance and Textual Intimacy:
How Newness Enters !"#$ %"&&$'"#(' A Mercy
Hsiu-chuan Lee Department of English
National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
Abstract
!"#$ %!&&#'!"('$ A Mercy (2008) encourages a meditation$ !"$ )#*+&,*-&+('$ interacti!"$.#*/$/#'*!&01$ 2!3-'#"4$!"$*/+$.,0$#"$./#3/$5"!6+)$*#7+8$!9+&,*+'$ here to challenge the serial, diachronic conception of history, I seek in A Mercy a space to negotiate the historical distance between periods, events, and peoples. The shifting tenses of narrating voices introduced by the novel, along with the linkages that memories create between times, prompt the spreading-out of seventeenth-century American history into a textual network of elastic ligaments and a kind of dialogism. Moreover, challenging the logic of ethnic division and racial segregation, A Mercy elucidates the proximity of different races in early American history. It enacts cross-color intimacy as a new way of conceiving the origins of American culture. %!&&#'!"('$ .&#*#"4$ about history in A Mercy is not simply a return to the past or a retrieval of the repressed. By evoking a lost age and digging out from what has disappeared logics and ideas that resist existent historical lines and racial categorizations, the novel fosters in its textual present an intermediary agency for negotiating the structure of history, thereby ushering in new historical epistemes.
Keywords
Toni Morrison, A Mercy, history, textuality, time, race, intimacy
$:$'/!&*$;&,<*$!<$*/#'$9,9+&$.,'$9&+'+"*+;$,*$5 !"#$%!&&#'!"$,";$=#&3-#*'$!<$*/+$>7,4#",*#!"?$ /+$@#A*/$B#+""#,)$=!"<+&+"3+$!<$*/+$ !"#$%!&&#'!"$@!3#+*0C8$/+);$#"$D,ris, 4-7 November 2010. I benefited greatly from the responses of audience members. I am also grateful to Guy Beauregard and Wen-ching Ho for their reading, advice, and support.
136 37.2 September 2011
!"#$ %!&&#'!"('$ "#"*/$ "!6+)$ A Mercy (2008) opens with its teenage heroine Florens rushing into the woods in search of a freed black manEan unnamed blacksmithEpresumably possessing a cure for both her bedridden mistress and her own lovesick heart. Looking for paths through the dangerous wilderness, she exclaims$,*$!"+$9!#"*$!"$/+&$F!-&"+0?$5>$,7$/,990$*/+$.!&);$#'$G&+,H#"4$!9+"$<!&$-'C$ 0+*$#*'$"+."+''$*&+7G)+'$7+8$IJK1$@+*$#"$*/+$),*+$LMNN'C$./+"$./,*$.,'$"!*$0+*$*/+$ 5O"#*+;$@*,*+'8$.,'$!")0$9,&*)0$3!"*&!))+;$G0$'+6+&,)$P-&!9+,"$9!.+&'$,";$*/+$#;+,$ of race had not yet solidified, A Mercy ushers not only Florens but also its readers into a new world rife with dangers and opportunities. On the one hand, Virginia in LMQR$5.,'$'*#))$,$ 7+''8$ILLKS$#*$ <+,*-&+;$,$.!&);$!<$'/#<*#"4$9!.+&$<!&7,*#!"'$,";$ changing contours,$ ./+&+$ 5),";$ 3),#7'$ .+&+$ ,).,0'$ <)-#;8$ ,";$ 5*-&*)+'$ /,;$ ,$ )#<+$ '9,"$ )!"4+&$ */,"$ *!."'8$ ILTK1$ U"$ */+$ !*/+&$ /,";C$ */#'$.!&);$ 6#G&,*+;$ .#*/$ ,#&$ 5'!$ "+.C$ ,)7!'*$ ,),&7#"4$ #"$ &,."+''$ ,";$ *+79*,*#!"C8$ ./#3/$ 5"+6+&$ <,#)+;$ *!$ #"6#4!&,*+8$,$9+&'!"$ILRK1$ /+$.!&;'$!< Jacob Vaark, a disowned orphan traveling from Europe to inherit a piece of land in America, best spell out the chances for */!'+$ 3&,6#"4$ 3/,"4+$ #"$ */+#&$ '!3#,)$ 9!'#*#!"$ ,";$ ;+'*#"0?$ 5V/+&+$ +)'+$ G-*$ #"$ */#'$ disorganized world would such an encounter be possible? Where else could rank tremble before courage?8$(25).
/+$ 5"+.8$ .!&);$ #"*&!;-3+;$ #"$ A Mercy$ #'C$ #&!"#3,))0C$ ,)'!$ ,"$ 5!);8$ .!&);$ ./+"$ &+'*!&+;$ *!$ #*'$ 59),3+8$ #"$ */+$ *+79!&,)$ '+W-+"3+$ !<$ :7+,"$ /#'*!&01$ V/#)+$ the recurring ideas and images of a world still soft, still awaiting forms and formation, arouse readers to a sense of hope and anticipation, it may also be argued, with a clearer historical chronology in mind, that this novel represents, above all, an attempt to commemorate a lost age: whatever chances there were in the 1600s, they have long since been lost. The cartography of America has long been settled, and racial categories polarized into black and white. Interpreting A Mercy from the endpoint of either the novel or the history it deals with, John Updike sees in the text a pessimistic fatalism:
[A]s Morrison moves deeper into a more visionary realism, a betranced pessimism saps her plots of the urgency that hope imparts *!$/-7,"$,;6+"*-&+'1$5:$%+&308$G+4#"'$./+&+$#*$+";'C$.#*/$,$./#*+$ man ca'-,))0$ ,"'.+&#"4$ ,$ '),6+$ 7!*/+&('$ 9)+,C$ G-*$ /+$ ;#+'C$ ,";$ '/+$ <,;+'$ #"*!$ '),6+&0('$ 70&#,;'C$ ,";$ */+$ 3/#);$ 4!+'$ 7,;$ .#*/$ )!6+1$ Varied and authoritative and frequently beautiful though the language is, it circles around a vision, both turgid and static, of a new world turning old, and poisoned from the start.
Given his assumption that history is linear and follows a line of succession, Updike sees this past as one doomed to be overtaken by the present. The world in A Mercy #'$#"+6#*,G)0$5*-&"#"4$!);8$,";$59!#'!"+;$<&!7$*/+$'*,&*8$G+3,-'+$!<$*/+$'-G'+W-+"*C$ more fully-developed role of blackness as a stigma in Western history. The past is held hostage by, inflected by, and subject to our knowledge in the present. Writing ,G!-*$*/+$9,'*$#'$,33!&;#"4)0$,$5*-&4#;$,";$'*,*#38$7!-&"#"4$*/,*$4!+'$"!./+&+1
I ,&4-+$*/,*$O9;#H+('$&+,;#"4$9),3+'$A Mercy in the temporal prison house of /#'*!#'71$ =!"6#"3#"4$ #"$ ,$ .,0C$ #*$ "!"+*/+)+''$ #4"!&+'$ */+$ !9+&,*#!"$ !<$ 5"!6+)$ *#7+8$ #"$ #*'$ &+'#'*,"3+$ *!$ ,";$ "+4!*#,*#!"$ .#*/$3/&!"!)!40.1 Although readers may assume or impose a linear time and history, and give the endpoint of the novel (or the history it speaks of) the greatest weight in their interpretation, the past in/of a novel does not disappear along with our act of reading it. The beginning of the story remains there, on a page one can (re)turn to, coexisting with the ending and any other moments in the story and thus accounting for the everlasting presence of the "!6+)('$<#3*#!",)$*#7+'1$%!&+!6+&C$;+'9#*+$*/+$<,3*$*/,*$,$"!6+)$;&aws materials from the past, the reading act takes place in the present. When the past that is spoken of #"$ ,$ ",&&,*#6+$ *+A*$ #'$ 5&+,;8$ #"$ */+$ 9&+'+"*C$ #*$ #'$ 4#6+"$ 9&+'+"3+$ ,";$ #77+;#,301$ Novels are therefore capable of annexing pasts and presents and thereby giving their rendering of the past a new life. They need not subject the past to our present-;,0$ H"!.)+;4+$ #"$ */+$ .,0$ !<$ "!&7,)$ 5/#'*!&08S$ &,*/+&C$ "!6+)'$ /,6+$ */+$ potential to enable a flow of time through the interchange of temporal points. If modern history is conceived as being composed of concrete events occurring in succession, novels endow our acts of reading with an intermediary agency capable of enacting a temporal repetition, reversal, and realignment.
This paper takes A Mercy as an example to meditate !"$)#*+&,*-&+('$#"*+&,3*#!"$ .#*/$ /#'*!&01$ B0$ <!3-'#"4$ !"$ */+$ .,0$ %!&&#'!"('$ 5"!6+)$ *#7+8$ <-"3*#!"'$ *!$ challenge our linear, diachronic conception of history, I seek in this novel a space in which to negotiate historical distance. Referring to the temporal distance between
1
$ %!&&#'!"$ +A9&+''+;$ #"$ ,"$ #"*+&6#+.$ */,*$ '/+$ -'-,))0$ <!))!.+;$ */+$ 5"!6+)$ *#7+8?$ 5 /+&+$ #'$ something called novel time. If you lay it down too clearly then you are just following a map and you are not letting itE0!-$F-'*$/,6+$*!$)+*$#*$4!C$.,#*$<!&$#*$*!$G+$*/+&+8$IX!-'*!"$RJYS$+79/,'#'$#"$ original). Morrison resists to writing according to a pre-set chronology of plot development. 5Z!6+)$ *#7+8$ +6!)6+'$ ,)!"4$ .#*/$ *+A*-,)#*0$ ,";$ +6!H+'$ */+$ 59,9+&$ *#7+8$ 9&!9!'+;$ G0$ [!),";$ B,&*/+'?$ */+$ *#7+$ !<$ /#'*!,)$ ;#'3!-&'+C$ 5*/+$ 9&+'+"3+C$ #"$ /#'*!,)$ ",&&,*#!"C$ !<$ +A9)#3#*$ speech-,3*$'#4"'8$*/,*$5*+";'$*!$\;+-3/&!"!)!4#]+($*/+$/#'*!,)$\*/&+,;($,";$*!$&+'*!&+C$#<$!")0$,'$,$ reminiscence or a nostalgia, a complex, parametric, non-linear time whose deep space recalls the 70*/#3$*#7+$!<$*/+$,"3#+"*$3!'7!4!"#+'8$ILTNK1
138 37.2 September 2011
/#'*!,)$ 9+&#!;'$ !&$ +6+"*'C$ */+$ *+&7$ 5/#'*!,)$ ;#'*,"3+8$ #'$ -'-,))0$ */!-4/*$ *!$ designate an objective and stable entity measureable by clock-time. In his study of the theory and genres of history, however, Mark Salber Phillips proposes a more elastic conception of historical distance:
Some degree of temporal distance is, of course, a given in historical writing, but temporal distance may be enlarged or diminished by other kinds of commitments and responses. Thus historical distance, in the fuller sense I want to give it, refers to much more than the conventional understanding that the outline of events is clarified by */+$ 9,'',4+$ !<$ *#7+C$ !&$ */,*$ */+$ /#'*!&#,"('$ 9+&'9+3*#6+$ "+3+'',&#)0$ reflects that of his or her generation. . . . [O]ur concept of distance, if it is to be helpful, should not be limited to forms of detachment or estrangement; in its wider sense, distance must take in the impulse to establish proximity as well as separation. Distance, to put this another way, should refer to a whole dimension of our relation to the past, not to one particular location. (217; emphasis in original)
B&+,H#"4$,.,0$<&!7$,$'9,*#,)$7!;+)$*/,*$*,H+'$*/+$9,'*$,'$,$5)!3,*#!"8$.#*/$,$<#A+;$ ;#'*,"3+$<&!7$*/+$9&+'+"*C$D/#))#9'$'-44+'*'$*/,*$5temporal distance may be enlarged !&$;#7#"#'/+;$G0$!*/+&$H#";'$!<$3!77#*7+"*'$,";$&+'9!"'+'18$X#'$5<-))+&$'+"'+8$!<$ historical distance pushes the understanding of distance beyond objective, mechanical temporal measurements, and brings the adjustment of this distanceEadjustments of proximity and separation, intimacy and estrangement between periods, events, and peoplesEto the center of historical writing. By ,''!3#,*#"4$/#'*!,)$;#'*,"3+$.#*/$5,$./!)+$;#7+"'#!"$!<$!-&$&+),*#!"$*!$*/+$9,'*C8$ his argument not only implies that our relation to the past is flexible, but also brings to the fore the importance of negotiating this relation in the formation of histories.
%!&+$ 9&+3#'+)0C$ D/#))#9'('$ "!*#!"$ !<$ ,$ 7,))+,G)+$ /#'*!,)$ ;#'*,"3+$ &+;#&+3*'$ our attention f&!7$ /#'*!&0('$ 3!"*+"*'$ *!$ #*'$ '*&-3*-&+1$ V/#)+$ #"W-#&#+'$ #"*!$ */+$ 3!"3&+*+$,";$9-*,*#6+)0$5,-*/+"*#38$3!"*+"*'$!<$*/+$9,'*$/,6+$)!"4$G++"$3!"'#;+&+;$ !<$ 9,&0$ #79!&*,"3+$ #"$ /#'*!,)$ '*-;#+'C$ D/#))#9'('$ ,",)0'#'$ +79/,'#]+'$ */+$ changeable constitution of historical times and lines. As we know, the modern West tends to organize the meaning and contents of history primarily by breaking time into periods:
between the present and the past. . . . This rupture also organizes the content of history within the relations between labor and nature; and finally, as its third form, it ubiquitously takes for granted a rift between discourse and the body (the social body). It forces the silent body to speak. It assumes a gap to exist between the silent opacity of */+$5&+,)#*08$ */,*$#*$'++H'$*!$ +A9&+''$,";$*/+$9),3+$./+&+$#*$9&!;-3+'$ its own speech, protected by the distance established between itself and its object. (de Certeau 2-3; emphasis in original)
Historical intelligibility as defined by modern Western history is thus generated not only from a temporal rupture but also from the separation of a discursive speaking 9!'#*#!"$ <&!7$ #*'$ !GF+3*$ !<$ &+9&+'+"*,*#!"1$ /+$ 5&#<*8E*/+$ 5;#'*,"3+8$ G+*.++"$ discourse and objectEhas to be carefully regulated and maintained so that the ;#'3!-&'+$ 3,"$ G+$ 59&!*+3*+;8$ ,";$ */+$ 7+,"#"4$ !<$ */+$ !GF+3*$ '*,G#)#]+;1$ %!;+&"$ Western history could therefore be imagined as grounded on a neatly spatialized structure that forbids unregulated temporal fluidity or random conjoining of historical moments. It features a static structure, for modern Western historians in +<<+3*$ &+9),3+;$ 5,"$ ,3W-,#"*,"3+$ .#*/$ *#7+$ .#*/$ */+$ H"!.)+;4+$ !<$ what exists .#*/#"$*#7+8$I^_&,&;$%,#&+*S$W*;1$#"$;+$=+&*+,-$LRS$+79/,'#'$#"$!#",)K1$D/#))#9'('$ emphasis on negotiable historical distance, however, challenges this logic of division and separation. It compels a different imagination of history: histories in plurality are conceived as networks of elastic ligaments and modifiable conjunctures.
D/#))#9'('$ 3!"*+"*#!"$ */-'$ &+'*!&+'$ 3!79)+A#*0$ *!$ /#'*!,)$ 9&,3*#3+'1$ >*$ ,)'!$ paves the way for comparisons and dialogues between history and a range of ",&&,*#6+'C$#"3)-;#"4$)#*+&,&0$!"+'C$*/,*$+"4,4+$.#*/$,";$7,0$53!"*,#"8$,";`!&C$7!&+$ 9,&*#3-),&)0C$ 5G+$ 3!"*,#"+;$ G08$ /#'*!&#+'1$ D&!9!'#"4$ */+"$ */,*$ /#'*!&0$ #*'+)<$ #'$ 5,$ 3)-'*+&$ !<$ !6+&),99#"4$ ,";$ 3!79+*#"4$ 4+"&+'C8$ ;#<<+&+"*$ #"$ *+&7'$ !<$ */+#&$ 5<!&7,)C$ affective, ideological, and cognitive elements that, in balance, shape the$ &+,;+&('$ '+"'+$ !<$ +"4,4+7+"*$ .#*/$ */+$ 9,'*8$ IRLTKC$ D/#))#9'$ ;&aws attention to the forms, emotional designs, ideological contrivances, and cognitive mapping that underlie the production of each history. He blurs the division between histories and fictional genres such as the (historical) novel, memoir, biography, etc. This inclusion of creative literary writing with the wider spectrum of historical writing helps to +A9),#"$ <#3*#!"('$ 3,9,3#*0C$ "!*$ F-'*$ *!$ ;&,.$ !"$ /#'*!,)$ 7,*+&#,)'$ <!&$ #7,4#",*#6+$ creation but to intervene into and have a real impact on historical epistemes. If at one end of the historical-writing spectrum lies the conventional historiography that
140 37.2 September 2011
'#)+"3+'$*/+$9,'*$.#*/$5'3	*-&,)$*!7G'8$I;+$=+&*+,-$RKC$,*$*/+$!*/+&$+";$9+&/,9'$)#+$ novels that play on their various proximities with the past through their own fictional elasticity.
A Mercy would seem, then, to help us elaborate on this issue of negotiable
historical distance because in her novel Morrison has introduced provocative and intricate takes on history. Noted for her interest in the old and in the past, she has set each of her novels in a specific period of the American past. Indeed she claims */,*$,))$/+&$/!9+'$#"$/+&$3&+,*#6+$)#*+&,&0$.!&H$,&+$5#"$*/+$9,'*8$I%3=)-'H+0$aNK1$b+*$ she says this not out of a sense of nostalgia or a pessimistic belief in the impossibility of the future, nor because of her passive submission to the return of those repressed memories, those revenants, those ever-haunting pasts. On the contrary, Morrison has actively sought the future and the new in her every effort of .&#*#"4$,G!-*$*/+$9,'*1$V/+"$,'H+;$./+*/+&$5,"0$!<$0!-&$3/,&,3*+&'$4+*$,.,0$<&!7$ */+#&$9,'*C8$'/+$&+9)#+d:
>$/!9+$"!*1$Z!1$>$;!"(*$.,"*$,"0G!;0$*!$4+*$!<<$'3!*-free.
I think what I want is not to reinvent the past as idyllic or to have the past as just a terrible palm or fist that pounds everybody to death, but to have happiness or growth represented in the way in which people deal with their past, which means they have to come to terms, confront it, sort it out, and then they can do that third thing. (Hackney 128-29)
/+$9,'*$#"$%!&&#'!"('$"!6+)'$#'$"+#*/+&$,$&+<-4+$.+$7,0$&+*-&"$*!$"!&$,$/!&&!&$.+$ may escape from; it rather offers a temporal space for us to explore, one that somehow fosters$*/+$;!#"4$!<$5*/,*$*/#&;$*/#"418$>*$#'$"!*$*/+$9,'*$#"$#*'+)<$!&$*/+$9,'*$ in its being-already-9,'*C$#*'$59,'*$*+"'+8$*/,*$"++;'$*!$G+$&+3!6+&+;C$G-*$&,*/+&$*/+$ possibility of our own encounter with this past, our own potential confronting and dealing-with it, which may have a generative or transformative effect on our lives.
Morrison spells out more clearly the permanent presence of the past in another passage:
The past for my characters, I believe, isEI was going to say more #"*#7,*+C$G-*$ >$;!"(*$ 7+,"$#"*#7,*+1$V/0$;!"(*$.+$9-*$#*$*/#'$.,0?$ >$ understand that in many African languages there is an infinite past, and very few, if any, verbs for the future, and a major string of verbs for the continuous present. So that notion of its always being now,
even though it is past, is what I wanted to incorporate into the text, because the past is never something you have to record, or go back to. Children can actually represent ancestors or grandmothers or 4&,";<,*/+&'1$ >*('$ ,$ 6+&0$ )#6#"4-in-the-moment, living now with the 9,'*C$ '!$ */,*$ #*('$ "+6+&E3,)3-),*+;S$ #*('$ +<<!&*)+''1$ @!7+*#7+'$ */,*$ causes a great deal of trouble to some of the characters. (Hackney 130)
Drawing on African linguistic features, Morrison explains the close connection of the past and the present in her writing. There is no need for one to travel across temporal gaps in order to reach the past as the past is already part of the present, an #"*+4&,)$ 9,&*$ !<$ !-&$ 5)#6#"4-in-the-7!7+"*18$ =-&#!-')0C$ #"$ */+$ ,G!6+$ 9,'',4+$ Morrison started to use the wor;$5#"*#7,*+8$*!$;+'3&#G+$/+&$3/,&,3*+&'($&+),*#!"'/#9$ *!$ */+$ 9,'*$ ,";$ */+"$ &+F+3*+;$ #*1$ 5>"*#7,*+8$ #'$ 9&!G,G)0$ "!*$ */+$ /*$ .!&;$ #<$ #*$ denotesEnarrowlyEa strong emotional attachment or affectionate relationship, 4#6+"$ */,*$ !"+('$ &+),*#!"'/#9$ .#*/$ */+$ 9,'*C$ ./#3/$ 3!-);$ 3,-'+$ 5,$ 4&+,*$ ;+,)$ !<$ *&!-G)+C8$#'$<,&$7!&+$3!79)#3,*+;$*/,"$*/#'1$b+*$*/#'$%!&&#'!"#,"$')#9$!<$*/+$*!"4-+$ 7#4/*$)+,;$-'$*!$9!";+&$*/+$.#;+&$3!""!*,*#!"'$!<$*/#'$,;F+3*#6+?$5#"*#7,*+8$&+<+&'$*!$ */+$ 5#"*+&#!&8$ ,";$ */+$ 5#""+&7!'*C8$ /+"3+$ *!$ */e past as that which is integrally .!6+"$ .#*/$ */+$ 9&+'+"*S$ !&C$ #*$ #";#3,*+'$ 53)!'+8$ ,";$ 5"+,&8$ #"$ *+&7'$ !<$ ;#'*,"3+C$ /+"3+$%!&&#'!"('$+3/!#"4$!<$D/#))#9'('$+79/,'#'$!"$,$7,))+,G)+$/#'*!,)$;#'*,"3+1$ B0$9!&*&,0#"4$/+&$3/,&,3*+&'($,7G#6,)+"*$ &+),*#!"'/#ps with their past, Morrison is perhaps coming to terms with the various degrees of her own intimacy with history, and/or with the various kinds and degrees of intimacy within history itself.2
%!&&#'!"('$ 9),0$ !" historical distance finds an illustration in A Mercy. In terms of its historical setting, A Mercy traces the depth of American history farther */,"$,"0$!<$%!&&#'!"('$9&+6#!-'$"!6+)'$#"*!$*/+$LMNN'1$ /#'$+<<!&*$*!$;#4$;++9+&$#"*!$ /#'*!&0$ "+6+&*/+)+''$ 3!7+'$ ,)!"4$ .#*/$ #*'$ 9&!*,4!"#'*$ 2)!&+"'('$ <#&'*$ 9+&son narrating voice in the present tense. The novel thus takes place in a time both far away and in the present. Morrison attests$*/,*$,7!"4$*/+$6!#3+'$!<$/+&$3/,&,3*+&'($#"$ this novel, she
2
$ /+$ 3!"3+9*$ !<$ 5#"*#7,*+8$ !&$ 5#"*#7,308$ ,'$ +79)!0+;$ #"$ */#'$ 9,9+&$ #'$ ,)'!$ #";+G*+;$ *!$ c#',$ c!.+C$./!$#;+"*#<#+'$*/&++$7+,"#"4'$!<$5#"*#7,308?$ILK$#"*#7,30$,'$5'9,*#,)$9&!A#7#*0$!&$,;F,3+"*$ 3!""+3*#!"8$ILdTKS$IRK$#"*#7,30$,'$,''!3#,*+;$.#*/$59,30C$!<*+"$<#4-&+;$,'$3!"F-4,)$,";$<,miliar &+),*#!"'$ #"$ */+$ G!-&4+!#'$ /!7+8$ ILdJKS$ ITK$ #"*#7,30$ ,'$ +7G!;#+;$ #"$ 5*/+$ 6,&#+*0$ !<$ 3!"*,3*'$ among slaves, indentured persons, and mixed-G)!!;$<&++$9+!9)+'8$IRNRK1$%!&+$,G!-*$3&!''-racial intimacy will be discussed later.
142 37.2 September 2011
/+,&;$ 2)!&+"'('$ <#&'*C$ */+$ 4#&)1$ :";$ '/+$ ,99&!,3/+'$ ),"4-,4+$ #"$ , slanted way. She can read and write; she learned from a Catholic 9&#+'*$-";+&$'3,&0$3#&3-7'*,"3+'1$:";$'/+('$*,H+"$'!7+9),3+$+)'+S$'/+$ ;!+'"(*$ H"!.$ ./,*$ */+0(&+$ *,)H#"4$ ,G!-*1$ V/+"$ '/+$ .,'$ .#*/$ /+&$ mother she spoke Portuguese. She knows Latin. So I just put all her language together and gave her an individual voice that was 5>8Efirst personEand very visual. But also, once I realized that I could make her speak only in the present tense, it gave the narrative an immediacy. . . . (Smallwood 37)
2)!&+"'('$ /0brid linguistic upbringing reflects the geographical and cultural porosity characteristic of the world she grows up in. And as if carrying this cultural and linguistic fluidity into her narrating voice, Florens speaks in a perpetual present tense that resi'*'$*+79!&,)$;#6#'#!"'?$5P6+&0*/#"4$#'$"!.$.#*/$/+&8$I !!7+&$RLK1$A
Mercy$#'$'*&-3*-&+;$'!$*/,*$2)!&+"'('$6!#3+$,99+,&'$+6+&0$!*/+&$3/,9*+&1$>"-between
her first person narratives are inserted chapters in a third-person voice in the past tense that feature'$G0$*-&"'$!*/+&$7,#"$3/,&,3*+&'($9+&'9+3*#6+'1$ /+$'/#<*'$G+*.++"$ 9&+'+"*$ *+"'+$ ,";$ 9,'*$ *+"'+C$ 3!79)#3,*+;$ G0$ */+$ ",&&,*#6+('$ 7!6+7+"*$ G,3H$ ,";$ <!&*/$G+*.++"$7!7+"*'$!<$3/,&,3*+&'($)#6+'C$<!&4+$,$3!)),4+$!<$*#7+'1
Certainly, not all reviewers appreciate A Mercy('$ &+'#'*,"3+$ *!$ '+W-+"*#,)$ storytelling. Amy Frykholm observes$ */,*$ 5*/+$ ),3H$ !<$ ,$ 3!/+&+"*C$ 3!"*#"-!-'$ 9)!*$ will frustrate some readers. Just as you think the story is taking off, you turn back again to the past, to the history of another in the m+",4+&#+$!<$3/,&,3*+&'8$IaMK1$B1$[1$ Myers further asserts that A Mercy$ #'$ 5),&;+;$ .#*/$ ,",3/&!"#'7'8?$ ;-+$ *!$ %!&&#'!"('$ 5,))-too-3!"*+79!&,&0$ 9&!'+$ '*0)+C8$ ,'$ .+))$ ,'$ /+&$ 5G,3H$ ,";$ <!&*/8$ 4!#"4$5!6+&$*/+$',7+$9+&#!;8$G0$+6!H#"4$;#<<+&+"*$3/,&,3*+&'($7+7!&#es, the novel 5"+6+&$ '++7'$ *!$ '+**)+$ #"*!$ ",&&,*#6+$ \&+,)$ *#7+(8$ ILNaK1$ My contention is that the ,**+"*#!"$*!$%!&&#'!"('$5,",3/&!"#'7'C8$7!&+$9&+3#'+)0$A Mercy('$refusal to settle into a specific historical temporality in style and language, instead of invalidating %!&&#'!"('$.&#*#"4C$,3*-,))0$3,'*'$#"*!$&+)#+<$*/+$<-";,7+"*,)$;#<<+&+"3+$G+*.++"$*/+$ *+79!&,)#*0$ !<$ %!&&#'!"('$ *+A*$ ,";$ */,*$ ,;6!3,*+;$ G0$ 7!;+&"$ V+'*+&"$ /#'*!&01$ Firstly, #"$ ,$ .,0$ */,*$ 3!"*&,'*'$ .#*/$ */+$ 5/#'*!&08$ */,*$ ,99+,)'$ *!$ ,$ 3!"6+"*#!",) '+"'+$!<$&+,)#'7C$%!&&#'!"('$.&#*#"4C$./#3/$+",3*'$,"$+"3!-"*+&$!<$.!&);$,";$.!&;'C$ .!&H'$ *!.,&;$ ,$ 5*+A*-,)#],*#!"8$ !<$ */+$ .!&);$ */&!-4/$ ,$ ;#'#"*+4&,*#!"$ !<$ */+$ so-called reality into disparate yet intersecting narratives and memories. Moreover, %!&&#'!"('$5*+A*-,)#]+;$.!&);8$&+'#'*'$,"$,&G#*&,&0$;#6#'#!"$G+*.++"$*/+$9,'*$,";$*/+$ present. A Mercy$ ,))!.'$ *#7+$ *!$ 5<)!.8$ G0$ +A9++"*#"4$ .#*/$ the circular
interchanges of different temporal points. While one may wonder whether textuality here is achieved at the expense of historical depth or truth, it is important to note that the violence of history is usually associated with a fixed and authoritative past !&$ 9+&#!;#],*#!"1$ B0$ *&,"'<!&7#"4$ */+$ .!&);$ !<$ +6#;+"3+$ #"*!$ 5,$ .!&);$ !<$ .!&;'C8$ %!&&#'!"$ 7#4/*$ '++7$ *!$ 5<),**+"$ -98$ /#'*!&0S$ 0+*$ #"$ ;!#"4$ '!$ '/+$ ,)'!$ ),-"3/+'$ ,$ &/+*!,)$ ,";$ +9#'*+7!)!4#3,)$ 7!6+7+"*$ ,.,0$ <&!7$ 5./,*$ .,'8$ *!$ */+$ 9,'*$ 3!";#*#!",)$!<$5./,*$7#4/*$/,6+$G++"C8$+6+"$*!.,&;$*/+$<-*-&+$9&!F+3*#6+$!<$5./,*$ 3!-);$G+18
Instead of arguing that A Mercy tells the story of what happenedErealisticallyEin the late seventeenth century, I suggest that it is more accurate to interpret A Mercy as exploring, and, furthermore, restructuring the ways in which we read and understand pre-revolutionary America.3 The lines and ligaments of textualityEthat is, the networks set up between readers and the past which the text tries to recall and reason withEare given a central position. From the 6+&0$G+4#""#"4$!<$*/+$"!6+)C$2)!&+"'('$",&&,*#"4$6!#3+$,;;&+''+'$,";$-'/+&'$,$50!-8$ #"*!$/+&$'*!&0*+))#"4?$5e!"(*$G+$,<&,#;1$%0$*+))#"4$3,"(*$/-&*$0!-$#"$'9#*+$!<$./,*$>$ have done and I promise to lie quietly in the darkEweeping perhaps or occasionally seeing the blood once moreEbut I will never again unfold my limbs to rise up and ba&+$*++*/1$>$+A9),#"8$ITK1$ /+$50!-8$*!$./!7$2)!&+"'$,;;&+''+'$/+&$",&&,*#6+$#'$*/+$ free blacksmith with whom she falls in love. Yet there is a strong suggestion she is also addressing to %!&&#'!"('$ &+,;+&'$ ,*$ */+'+$ 7!7+"*'1$ :99,&+"*$ */&!-4/!-*$ #'$ 2)!&+"'('$ #"*+"*#!"$ *!$ ;#&+3*$ */+$ ,**+"*#!"$ !<$ */+$ 50!-8$ <&!7$ */+$ &+,)$ .!&);$ !<$ 6#!)+"3+$,";$G)!!;C$./+&+$'/+$5-"<!);f'g$/+&$)#7G'$*!$&#'+$-9$,";$G,&+$*++*/C8$*!$*/+$ world of wordsEthe world of her storytelling and explanation. This urgency for the 50!-8$*!$&+,;$/+r text instead of the world is brought to the fore again toward the end of her narrative, where Florens calls to mind the fact that the blacksmith is #))#*+&,*+1$X+$/,'$*!$)+,&"$#"$!&;+&$*!$&+,;$/+&$.!&;'?$5b!-$&+,;$*/+$.!&);$G-*$"!*$*/+$ letters of talk. Y!-$;!"(*$H"!.$/!.$*!1$%,0G+$!"+$;,0$0!-$.#))$)+,&"8$ILMNK1
3
Although many critics hav+$ '!-4/*$ #"$ %!&&#'!"('$ *+A*$ 7!&+$ 5,-*/+"*#38$ 6+&'#!"'$ !<$ /#'*!&0$ (versus the whites-dominated version), it has to be noted that Morrison has resisted the idea that her writings make any absolute claims to truth. In her Nobel Prize reception lecture she commented on the need for language to be humble in face of historical reality. Not only must one &+3!4"#]+$*/+$<,3*$*/,*$5),"4-,4+$3,"$"+6+&$)#6+$-9$*!$)#<+$!"3+$,";$<!&$,))8$,";$53,"$"+6+&$\9#"$ ;!."($'),6+&0C$4+"!3#;+C$.,&C8$G-*$),"4-,4+$'/!-);$"+6+&$50+,&"$for the arrogance to be able to ;!$'!8$IRYNK1$ /+$9!.+&$!<$),"4-,4+C$%!&&#'!"$3!"*#"-+;C$)#+'$"!*$#"$*/,*$#*$#'$,G)+$*!$3,9*-&+$*/+$ ./!)+$ !&$ *!$ <#",)#]+$ */+$ /#'*!&0C$ G-*$ #"$ #*'$ ,G#)#*0$ *!$ 5&+,3/$ *!.,&;$ */+$ #"+<<,G)+8$ IRYNK1$ /+'+$ issues will be discussed later on in more depth.
144 37.2 September 2011
2)!&+"'('$ W-+'*#!"$ ,G!-*$ */+$ G),3H'7#*/('$ ,G#)#*0$ *!$ &+,;$ 5*/+$ )+**+&'$ !<$ *,)H8$ points to A Mercy('$ 3!"3+&"$ ,G!-*$ */+$ #''-+'$ !<$ &+,;#"4$ ,";$ *+A*-,)#*01$ 2)!&+"'$ actually poses two main questions to 50!-8?$ 5@*&,"4+&$ */#"4'$ /,99+"$ ,))$ */+$ *#7+$ everywhere. You know. I know you know. One question is who is responsible? :"!*/+&$#'$3,"$0!-$&+,;h8$ITK1$U<$9,&0$#79!&*,"3+$#'$"!*$!")0$5./,*$/,99+"+;8$ but also whether the blacksmith can read what happened. And this question can be ;#&+3*+;$ *!$ %!&&#'!"('$ &+,;+&'$ ,'$ .+))?$ #"$ ./,*$ .,0$ ,";$ *!$ ./,*$ +A*+"*$ /,6+$ */+$ &+,;+&'$!<$%!&&#'!"('$*+A*$3!79&+/+";+;$*/+$/#'*!&0$!<$9&+-revolutionary America? What are the possible readings introduced through the characters in A Mercy? Into what forms of textuality does Morrison guide her readers, and how do they change our way of approaching American history or history in general?
The narratives of A Mercy, put simply, evolve around the establishment and collapse of the white tr,;+&$i,3!G$j,,&H('$ /!-'+/!);1$ :$5&,**0$ !&9/,"8$ ,G,";!"+;$ by his family in Europe, Jacob becomes a landowner and a trader after he inherits 120 acres from a distant uncle in Milton, Virginia (12). Over time he sets up a household that develops into a makeshift home and a place of encounter for the following persons: Rebekka (a European escaping religious savagery and limited opportunity, *&,6+)#"4$ *!$ :7+,$ #"$ ,"'.+&$ *!$ i,3!G('$ ,;6+&*#'+7+"*$ <!&$ ,$ .#<+KC$ Lina (a Native American woman purchased by Jacob after her tribespeople were wiped out by a smallpox epidemic), Florens (a black girl given away at the age of +#4/*$G0$/+&$'),6+$7!*/+&$*!$'+**)+$/+&$!."+&('$;+G*$*!$i,3!GKC$@!&&!.$I,$6#A+"-eyed and red-haired survivor of a shipwreck with unknown ancestry accepted into i,3!G('$/!-'+/!);KC$,";$V#)),&;$,";$@3-))0$I*.!$./#*+$#";+"*-&+;$),G!&+&'$/#&+;$G0$ Jacob to build his house). The increased size of his household and his accumulation !<$.+,)*/C$7!'*)0$<&!7$/#'$&-7$#"6+'*7+"*'$#"$B,&G,;!'C$*+'*#<0$*!$i,3!G('$4&,;ual rise in status and fortune in the new world. But Jacob is heirless, and his sudden death in the midst of building his grand house leaves Rebekka, Lina, Florens, and @!&&!.$ #"$ */+$ 3!";#*#!"$ !<$ 5-"7,'*+&+;$ .!7+"8$ ./!'+$ '+)6+'$ ,";$ )#6+'$ ,&+$ 3,'*$ into jeopardy (58).
!);$ #"$ ./,*$ %!&&#'!"#,"$ '3/!),&'$ #;+"*#<0$ ,'$ ,$ 5\3/!&-'($ 7+*/!;$ !<$ '*!&0*+))#"48$#"$./#3/$;#<<+&+"*$3/,&,3*+&'($7+7!&#+'$,";$9+&'9+3*#6+'$,&+$9&+'+"*+;$ G0$*-&"'$IX!!9+&$JKC$*/+$&#'+$,";$<,))$!<$i,3!G('$/!-'+/!);$'+&6+'$,'$,$"!;,)$9!#"*$ around which sprawl layers of intersecting narratives, hence the generation of a textual space that allows contacts and connections of historical points and lines. For example, the story of an early European immigrant such as Jacob, who comes to the new world with$*/+$/+&!#3$,7G#*#!"$*!$G-#);$5,$9),3+$!-*$!<$"!$9),3+C$,$*+79+&,*+$ )#6#"4$ <&!7$ &,.$ )#<+8$ ILRKC$ #'$ 3!-9)+;$ #"$A Mercy with a telling of the importation
and exploitation of slave laborers in the Americas. On the one hand, Jacob insists */,*$5<)+'/8$#'$"!*$5/#'$3!77!;#*08$IRRK1$ &,;#"4$!")0$!"$54!!;'$,";$4!);8$IRJKC$/+$ looks down on slave traders such as Sehor e(U&*+4,$ ,";$ '"++&'$ ,*$ 5.+,)*/$ ;+9+";+"*$ !"$ ,$ 3,9*-&+;$ .!&H<!&3+8$ IRQK1$ U"$ */+$ !*/+&$ /,";C$ ,)*/!-4/$ i,3!G$ #'$ ;+*+&7#"+;$*!$59&!6+$*/,*$/#'$!."$#";-'*ry could amass the fortune, the station, . . . .#*/!-*$ *&,;#"4$ /#'$ 3!"'3#+"3+$ <!&$ 3!#"8$ IRQKC$ /#'$ #"6+'*7+"*$ #"$ ,$ '-4,&$ ,";$ &-7$ business in the West Indies makes him complicit, albeit from a distance, in the development of slavery. This is revealed in another passage:
Knowing full well his shortcomings as a farmerEin fact his boredom with its confinement and routineEhe had found commerce more to his taste. Now he fondled the idea of an even more satisfying enterprise. And the plan was as sweet as the sugar on which it was based. And there was a profound difference between the intimacy of slave bodies at Jublio and a remote labor force in Barbados. Right? Right. (35)
Jacob assuages his initial horror at the slave trade by convincing himself of the innocuousness of his investment. He attempts to comprehend the slave trade undertaken in Jublio, a plantation established by e(U&*+4, in Maryland, as distinct from the recruitment of a labor force in the geographically more remote Barbados. V/#)+$ */+$ 5#"*#7,308Ethe emotional proximity and physical nearnessEbetween European settlers and the slave bodies in continental colonies is considered immoral, i,3!G$F-'*#<#+'$*/+$5&+7!*+8$*&,;#"4$,";$+A9)!#*,*#!"$!<$'),6+'$#"$*/+$V+'*$>";#+'$,'$ a separate and harmless story. A Mercy 3/,))+"4+'$ i,3!G('$&+,'!"#"4C$ /!.+6+&C$ G0$ bringing the two lines of history together within one (con)text.
A Mercy restructures American history by playing upon the separation or
connection of historical lines. Another example is its conjoining of the rise of European settlers and the ravaging of native and natural life. The epidemic disaster that nearly exterminated the native population, embodied most specifically through c#",('$7+7!&0$!<$*/+$.#9+!-*$!<$/+&$*&#G+$G0$'7,))9!AC$#'$!"+$#"'*,"3+1$:"!*/+r is */+$ ')!.$ ;+'*&-3*#!"$ !<$ ",*-&+$ ,)!"4$ .#*/$ */+$ +A9,"'#!"$ !<$ ./#*+'($ 9!.+&1$ Intriguingly, Jacob is introduced in A Mercy ,'$ ,$ 9+&'!"$ .#*/$ ,$ 59-)'+$ !<$ 9#*0$ <!&$ !&9/,"'$,";$'*&,0'8$ITTK1$X+$.!-);$;#'7!-"*$/#'$/!&'+$*!$5<&++$*/+$G)!!;0$/#";)+4$ of a young r,33!!"$ '*-3H$ #"$ ,$ *&++$ G&+,H8$ ILLKC$ ,";$ 5f<g+.$ */#"4'$ ,"4+&+;$ i,3!G$ 7!&+$ */,"$ */+$ G&-*,)$ /,";)#"4$ !<$ ;!7+'*#3,*+;$ ,"#7,)'8$ IRQK1$ 2)!&+"'('$ 7!*/+&$ decides to entrust her daughter to Jacob also because Jacob sees 2)!&+"'$ 5,'$ ,$
146 37.2 September 2011
human child, not pieces of eigh*8$ILMMK1$:'$7+&3#<-)$,'$i,3!G$7,0$,*$*#7+'$,99+,&C$ /+$ #'$ "!"+*/+)+''$ 9+&3+#6+;$ *!$ G+$ #"$ 6#!),*#!"$ !<$ ",*-&+('$ ),.'$ ./+"$ /+$ ;+3#;+'$ *!$ build his third house. Lina comments: 5f*g/,*$*/#&;$,";$9&+'-7,G)0$<#",)$/!-'+$*/,*$ Sir insisted on building distorted su")#4/*$,";$&+W-#&+;$*/+$;+,*/$!<$<#<*0$*&++'8$IaTK1$
Reading the house-building project from another perspective, Rebekka further ,**&#G-*+'$i,3!G('$3/,"4#"4$&+),*#!"'/#9$.#*/$",*-&+$*!$/#'$9!'#*#!",)$3/,"4+'$<&!7$,$ farmer to a trader and then to a squire:
It was some time before she noticed how the tales were fewer and the gifts increasing, gifts that were becoming less practical, even whimsical. . . . Having seen come and go a glint in his eye as he unpacked these treasure so useless on a farm, she should have anticipated the day he hired men to help clear trees from a wide swath of land at the foot of a rise. A new house he was building. Something befitting not a farmer, not even a trader, but a squire. (88)
Indeed, Jacob dissociates himself not only from the land and nature but also from his servants as he ascends in class. As Lina observes, of the three houses Jacob builds, the first oneE5;#&*$ <)!!&C$ 4&++"$ .!!;8Eis too weak to accommodate a /!-'+/!);$IaTK1$@*&!"4$.#*/$5.!!;+"$<)!!&'C8$5<!-&$&!!7'C8$5, decent fireplace and .#";!.'$.#*/$4!!;$*#4/*$'/-**+&'8$IaTKC$*/+$'+3!";$/!-'+$#'$,)'!$*/+$!"+$*/,*$,))!.'$ Lina and Florens to stroll in and out at will and gives Sorrow a place to sleep every "#4/*1$ B0$ 3!"*&,'*C$ */+$ */#&;$ /!-'+$ 7,&H'$ i,3!G('$ #"3&+,'#"4$ ;#stance from his mixed-&,3+$ /!-'+/!);1$ /!-4/$ 5G#44+&8$ ,";$ 5;!-G)+-'*!&#+;C8$ */+$ */#&;$ /!-'+$ #'$ 5<+"3+;$,";$4,*+;8$IaTK1$ /+$'+&6,"*'($+"*&,"3+$#"*!$#*$#'$+6+"$3!79)+*+)0$<!&G#;;+"$ G0$[+G+HH,$,<*+&$i,3!G('$;+,*/1
And inseparable from this emergence of class demarcation is the formation of racism. Morrison once declared that the central question she wanted to ask in writing A Mercy$ #'?$ 5X!.$ ;#;$ &,3#'7$ ;+6+)!9$ #"$ */+$ O"#*+;$ @*,*+'h8$ I@*+#"$ LYQK1$ The setting of her story against the historical moment not long ,<*+&$ B,3!"('$ Rebellion clearly spells out an institutional origin of racism against blacks in relation to class conflicts:
Half a dozen years ago an army of blacks, natives, whites, mulattoesEfreedmen, slaves and indenturedEhad waged war against local ge"*&0$)+;$G0$ 7+7G+&'$!<$*/,*$ 6+&0$3),''1$V/+"$*/,*$59+!9)+('$ .,&8$)!'*$#*'$/!9+'$*!$*/+$/,"47,"C$*/+$.!&H$#*$/,;$;!"+$1$1$1$'9,."+;$
a thicket of new laws authorizing chaos in defense of order. By eliminating manumission, gatherings, travel and bearing arms for black people only; by granting license to any white to kill any black <!&$ ,"0$ &+,'!"S$ G0$ 3!79+"',*#"4$ !."+&'$ <!&$ ,$ '),6+('$ 7,#7#"4$ !&$ death, they separated and protected all whites from all others forever. (10)
While tracing the birth of racism in American laws, this passage conveys a provocative message. I*$ '-G*)0$ 3,))'$ ,**+"*#!"$ *!$ */+$ <,3*$ */,*$ 5G),3H$ 9+!9)+$ !")08$ were picked up as scapegoats in what initially was a war between classes. The color lines were drawn as a convenient legal solution toEor a distraction fromEclass divisions. Indeed, if racial discrimination was not juridically institutionalized until 5a thicket of new laws8$ 9,''+;$ ,<*+&$ B,3!"('$ [+G+))#!"C$ &,3#'7$ I#"$ */+$ .,0$ .+$ know it) is by no means natural or innate in the Americas. While admitting to the <,3*$ */,*$ &,3#'7$ ,4,#"'*$ G),3H'$ /,'$ +A#'*+;$ 5<!&+6+&8$ '#"3+$ B,3!"('$ [+G+))#!"C$ */+$ passage above also conjures up a time during and before Bacon(s Rebellion, a time when races were not clearly delimited and blacks could ally with natives, whites, and mulattos$#"$,$59+!9)+('$.,&8$,4,#"'*$)!3,)$4+"*&0.
If the development of the Americas has come along with the production of lines and separations between humans and nature, between classes, as well as between races, clearly Morrison does not simply trace the emergence of these lines and separations but also evokes a time and place before and beyond the codification of differences. Instead of offering a unidirectional narrative that mimics the progressive line of history, the narrative of bifurcating memories in A Mercy &+'*&,#"'$ <&!7$ #79!'#"4$ !&;+&$ !"$ */+$ 57+''8$ !&$ */+$ 5.#);+&"+''8$ 3/,&,3*+&#'*#3$ !<$ pre-revolutionary America. In a way, seventeenth-century America was chosen as a productive setting for the novel not as much because it offers a temporal point of origin for the subsequent development of American history as because it provides a *#7+$ G+<!&+$ */+$ /#'*!&0$.#*/$ ./#3/$ .+$ /,6+$ G++"$ <,7#)#,&$ *,H+'$ '/,9+1$ %!&&#'!"('$ writing evokes a lost age and digs out from what has disappeared logics and ideas that resist existent lines and separations.
When asked about why she was drawn to seventeenth-century America for her "!6+)C$%!&&#'!"$-**+&+;$*/,*$*/#'$+&,$#'$7,&H+;$G0$5.#);+&"+''8$*/,*$,))!.'$#"*#7,30$ across color lines: the seventeenth century is 5&,.C$ ,;$ /!31$ P6+&0G!;0$ .,'$ /+&+8$ (Toomer 21). The Spanish, the Dutch, the French, the British, the Portuguese, the @.+;+'C$+*31C$,33!&;#"4$*!$%!&&#'!"C$.+&+$,))$*/+&+?$+6+&0G!;0$.,'$53),7G+&#"4$<!&$ space and resources. . . . And you want to know what were all these people running
148 37.2 September 2011
<&!78$I>"*+&6#+.$by Charlie Rose). In A MercyC$i,3!G('$/!-'+/!);$3!-);$G+$&+,;$,'$ a microcosm of the colonial settlement that brings people of different racial origins and cultural backgrounds together. Although the death of Jacob leaves the cross-racial community on the verge of collapse, characters in different chapters G&#"4$&+,;+&'$&+3-&&+"*)0$ *!$*/+$9&+'+"3+$!<$*/+$3!77-"#*01$ >"$ 2)!&+"'('$",&&,*#6+C$ for example, the image of four womenELina, Rebekka, Florens, and Sorrow, each with a different skin color and 5+,3/$ /!);#"4$ ,$ 3!&"+&$ !<$ ,$ G),"H+*8$ ./+&+!"$ )#+'$ i,3!GC$./!$#'$5')++9#"4$.#*/$/#'$7!-*/$.#;+$!9+"$,";$"+6+&$.,H+'8 (37)Etestifies *!$*/+'+$.!7+"('$7-*-,)$"++;$,";$'-99!&*$!<$+,3/$!*/+&1$>"$c#",('$3/,9*+&C$2)!&+"'C$ Rebekka, ,";$ c#",$ ,&+$ ;+'3&#G+;$ ,'$ 5,$ -"#*+;$ <&!"*$ #"$ ;#'7,08$ ./+"$ F!#"+;$ G0$ @!&&!.$IJTK1$>"$<,3*C$c#",$5/,;$<,))+"$#"$)!6+8$.#*/$2)!&+"'$/*$,.,0C$5,'$'!!"$,'$ '/+$',.$/+&$'/#6+&#"4$#"$*/+$'"!.8$IMNK1$:";$,)*/!-4/$'/+$,";$[+G+HH,$/,6+$'++"$ @!&&!.$ ,'$ 5-'+)+''8$ IJT), a person who 5dragged misery like a t,#)8$ IJJKC$ */+0$ ,33+9*$ @!&&!.$ #"*!$ */+#&$ /!-'+/!);$ ,";$ ,))!.$ /+&$ *!$ 5')++9$ G0$ */+$ <#&+9),3+$ ,))$ '+,'!"'8$ IJaK1$ %!&+!6+&C$ ,'$ #<$ +3/!#"4$ c#",('$ &+7+7G&,"3+$ */,*$ */+$ #"#*#,)$ ,"#7!'#*0$G+*.++"$[+G+HH,$,";$/+&'+)<$#'$5-**+&)0$-'+)+''$#"$*/+$.#);8$,";$5;#+;$#"$ */+$.!7G8$IJTKC$[+G+HH,$#"$/+&$3/,9*+&$&+,'!"'$*/,*$5f9g+&/,9'$G+3,-'+$G!*/$.+&+$ alone without family, or because both had to please one man, or because both were /!9+)+'')0$#4"!&,"*$!<$/!.$*!$&-"$,$<,&7C8$'/+$,";$c#"a$5G+3ame what was for each ,$3!79,"#!"8$IYJK1
:7!"4$ */+$ <!-&$ .!7+"C$ @!&&!.$ ,99+,&'$ *!$ +A9&+''$ 59),3#;$ #";#<<+&+"3+$ *!$ ,"0!"+8$+A3+9*$ .#"C$/+&$#7,4#",&0$;!-G)+$ILRaK1$b+*$c#",$/,'$9,#;$3)!'+$,**+"*#!"$ *!$/+&1$>*$#'$c#",$5./!$*!);$@!&&!.$'/+$.,'$9&+4","*8$(122), which makes Sorrow flush 5.#*/$9)+,'-&+$,*$*/+$*/!-4/*$!<$,$&+,)$9+&'!"$1$1$1$4&!.#"4$#"'#;+$/+&8$ILRTK1$ Besides, the fact that Sorrow has been saved by different men through her life makes her a figure bridging genders: she is first saved by the sa.0+&('$ '!"'$ ,";$ then Jacob after the shipwreck; the blacksmith cures her smallpox; the two white indentured laborers, Williard and Sully, further help her deliver a baby daughter.
c#H+$ @!&&!.C$ V#)),&;$ ,";$ @3-))0$ '++7$ *!$ !33-90$ */+$ 7,&4#"$ !<$ i,3!G('$ househ!);1$ b+*$ */+0$ ,&+$ '/,&9$ !G'+&6+&'$ !<$ !*/+&$ /!-'+/!);$ 7+7G+&'?$ 5V#)),&;$ F-;4+;$9+!9)+$<&!7$*/+#&$!-*'#;+?$@3-))0$)!!H+;$;++9+&8$ILJLK1$>"$*/+#&$3/,9*+&C$*/+0$ 3!77+"*$!"$*/+$<!-&$.!7+"$,";$*/+#&$3/,"4+'$,<*+&$i,3!G('$;+,*/1$V#)),&;$9!#"*'$ *!$ */+$ 57+),"3/!)08$ ,;;+;$ *!$ [+G+HH,('$ 5"+.)0$ '*+&"$ <+,*-&+'8$ ILaJKC$ *!$ ./#3/$ Scully appends$ */+$ <,3*$ */,*$ -";+&"+,*/$ [+G+HH,('$ 9#+*0$ #'$ 5'!7+*/#"4$ 3!);$ #<$ "!*$ 3&-+)8$ILJTK1$c#",('$)!0,)*0$*!$%#'*&+''$!&$2)!&+"'$#";#3,*+'$*!$*/+7$"!*$'!$7-3/$/+&$ 5'-G7#''#!"8$,'$5,$'#4"$!<$/+r own self-.!&*/8$ILJLK1$2)!&+"'$/,'$3/,"4+;$#"$*/+#&$ +0+'$ <&!7$ */+$ 53!7G#",*#!"$ !<$ ;+<+"'+)+''"+''C$ +,4+&"+''$ *!$ 9)+,'+C$ ,";$ 1$ 1$ 1$ ,$
.#))#"4"+''$*!$G),7+$/+&'+)<$<!&$*/+$7+,""+''$!<$!*/+&'8$#"*!$,$5<+&,)8$.!7,"$,<*+&$ her journey through the woods (152, 146). Besides, they disagree with Lina and ,''+&*$ */,*$ @!&&!.$ #'$ "!*$ 5*/+$ !;;$ !"+8$ ILJRK1$ 2!&$ */+7C$ @!&&!.$ #'$ */+$ !")0$ !"+$ ./!'+$3/,"4+$'++7'$5,"$#79&!6+7+"*8$ILaMK1
:'$ '/,))$G+$ '++"C$ ,$ 53/!&-'8$ #"$ A Mercy occurs as characters speak to, read, and memorize ea3/$ !*/+&1$ :)*/!-4/$ i,3!G('$ /!-'+/!);$ #'$ "+6+&$ &+)+,'+;$ <&!7$ #*'$ temporary nature and fragile structure when put back in historical reality, a sense of community, if not sustainable through the flow of time, is achieved and preserved in textuality. On the one hand, A Mercy narrates the inevitable disintegration of a cross-racial community in historical progressivism: c#",$ 7,0$ /,6+$ 5&+)#'/+;$ /+&$ 9),3+$#"$*/#'$'7,))C$*#4/*$<,7#)0C8$G-*$'/+$/,'$*!$,;7#*$*/,*$*/#'$5<,7#)08$#'$"!*/#"4$ G-*$5,$'.,))!.('$"+'*8$IJQK1 Likewise, Willard and Scully confess toward the end of */+#&$3/,9*+&$*/,*$5*/+$<,7#)0$ */+0$#7,4#"+;$*/+0$/,;$G+3!7+$.,'$<,)'+1$V/,*+6+&$ +,3/$ !*/+&$ )!6+;C$ '!-4/*$ !&$ +'3,9+;C$ */+#&$ <-*-&+'$ .+&+$ '+9,&,*+$ ,";$ ,"0!"+('$ 4-+''8$ ILJMK1$ U"$ */+$ !*/+&$ /,";C$ /!.+6+&C by writing about the cross-racial #"*#7,30$ */,*$ !"3+$ +A#'*+;$ !&$ #'$ #7,4#"+;$ G+*.++"$ i,3!G('$ /!-'+/!);$ 7+7G+&'C$ A
Mercy$/,'$&+4#'*+&+;$,$*+A*-,)$9&+'+"3+$!<$*/#'$#"*#7,301$ /+$"!6+)('$4&,77,*#3,))0$
striking title, in which mercy is represented as countable and singular, attests to the fact that$i,3!G('$57+&308$*/,*$7,H+'$/#'$/!-'+/!);$9!''#G)+$7#4/*$"!*$G+$3!77!"$ in pre-revolutionary America.4$ b+*$ +6+"$ #<$ i,3!G('$ /!-'+/!);$ #'$ "!*$ ,$ *09#3,)$ &+9&+'+"*,*#!"$!<$5./,*$.,'C8$G0$&+3!&;#"4$,";$;+9)!0#"4$#*'$9&+'+"3e A Mercy has ),-"3/+;$,"$#7,4#",&0$9&!F+3*#!"$!<$5./,*$3!-);$G+C8$G,'+;$!"$*/+$)!4#3$!<$3/,"3+$ encounters and racial mixings characteristic of what Morris!"$ *+&7+;$ 59&+-&,3#,)8$ America (Interview by Charles Rose).
The cross-racial intimacy evoked in A Mercy$3,&&#+'$,"$+3/!$!<$*/+$5#"*#7,308 Lisa Lowe describes$ #"$ /+&$ 9&!F+3*$ !"$ 5*/+$ #"*#7,3#+'$ !<$ <!-&$ 3!"*#"+"*'18$ U"+$ problem of Western historical studies Lowe points to is the lack of comparative perspectives:
Europe is rarely studied in relation to the Caribbean or Latin America, and U.S. history is more often separated from studies of the larger Americas. Work in ethnic studies on comparative U.S. racial formation is still at odds with American history that disconnects the study of slavery from immigration studies of Asians and Latinos or
4
As Stein notes, A Mercy$ .,'$ #"#*#,))0$ *#*)+;$ 5%+&30C8$ G-*$ %!&&#'!"$ 53/,"4+;$ #*$ *!$ A Mercy G+3,-'+$*/+&+$#'$!")0$!"+8$ILYdK1
150 37.2 September 2011
that separates the history of gender, sexuality, and women from these '*-;#+'$!<$5&,3+18$IRNa-05)
Based on the tenet of demarcation and separation, modern Western history may allow a parallel existence of different histories under the banner of multiculturalism, G-*$ <,#)'$ *!$ +A9)!&+$ 5*/+$ G&,#;+;$ &+),*#!"'8$ G+*.++"$ *hem (Lowe 205). Lowe thus calls for the study of cross-racial intimacy in the formation of the Americas, with a view to teasing out the political and economic knowledge$*/,*$5might link the Asian, African, creolized Americas to the rise of European and North American bourgeoisie$'!3#+*#+'8$IRNaK1
/+$&+)+6,"3+$!<$c!.+('$,&4-7+"*$#"$*/+$&+,;#"4$!<$A Mercy becomes evident if we take note of the fact that Morrison has been concerned with the crisscrossing relations between people of different colors from an early point of her career onward. When editing The Black Book in the seventies as a Random House editor, she already commented on the interconnection of black and white histories.5 In
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (1993), Morrison
+A9)!&+;$ <-&*/+&$ ,";$ #"$ 4&+,*+&$ ;+*,#)$ */+$ #79!&*,"*$ 9!'#*#!"$ !<$ 5*/+$ four-hundred-year-!);$ 9&+'+"3+8$ !<$ :<,"'$ ,";$ :<,"$ :7+,"'$ #"$ */+$ formation o<$*/+$:7+,'$IJK1$%!&&#'!"('$,&4-7+"*$is twofold. First, she suggests, it has been a misconception in terms of historical chronology to think that white people have come earlier than Africans or African Americans to the Americas. Morrison elaborates that$5,$G),3H$9!9-),*#!"$accompanied (if one can use that word) ,";$#"$7,"0$3,'+'$9&+3+;+;$*/+$./#*+$'+**)+&'8$IQK1$%!&+!6+&C$%!&&#'!"$notes that */+$G),3H$9!9-),*#!"$5has always had a curiously intimate and unhingingly separate existence within the dominant o"+8$ ILRK1$ c#H+$ c!.+C$ '/+$ argues$ */,*$ ,$ 59,&,))+)$ #"3)-'#!"8$ !<$ :<,"$:7+,"$ 3-)*-&+$ #"*!$ */+$:7+,"$ 3-)*-&+$ #'$ #",;+W-,*+$ #"$ tackling the much more complicated racial structure, which prescribes separation yet remains susceptible to intimacies across color lines.
@/,&#"4$ c!.+('$ ,**+"*#!"$ *!$ */+$ #''-+$ !<$ 3&!''-racial intimacy, Morrison nonetheless has focused her study not on the nineteenth century which Lowe investigates, but on a much earlier time, the late seventeenth century. More importantly, while Lowe draws insight mostly from historical and anthropological
5
$ %!&&#'!"$'*,*+'$#"$5[+;#'3!6+&#"4$B),3H$X#'*!&08?$5>"$'9#*+$!<$*/#'$*+";+"30$*!$/,6+$!"+$'+*$ of rules for black history and another for white history, I was, in completing the editing of The
Black Book, overwhelmed with the connecting tissue between black and white history. The
evidence, Morrison has taken literary creation as a crucial site upon which to experiment with different logics of racial formation. As the work of anthropologists and historians is driven pri7,&#)0$ G0$ ,$ &+,)#'*$ ;+'#&+$ <!&$ ,$ 7!&+$ 54+"-#"+8$ !&$ 53!79)+*+8$ 6+&'#!"$ !<$ */+$ 9,'*C$ )#*+&,*-&+('$ )!"4$ '-#*$ #'$ "!*$ '!$ 7-3/$ *!$ 9&!6#;+$ ,$ first-hand sociopolitical record as to introduce to the past a textual immediacy and, if possible, a dimension of futurity. Indeed, as if foreseeing her writing project in A
Mercy, Morrison meditated, as early as 1974, upon the insights colonial America
3!-);$ )+";$ *!$ !-&$ #7,4#",*#!"$ !<$ &,3#,)$ &+),*#!"'/#9'1$ >"$ 5[+;#'3!6+&#"4$ B),3H$ X#'*!&0C8$'/+$9!#"*+;$*!$*/+$9!''#G)+$6,)-+$!<$5'9+3-),*f#"4g8$,$)#"+$!<$/#'*!&0$!-*$!<$ its absence in the past:
Just as it is interesting to speculate on what Africa might have become had it been allowed to develop without the rapacity of the West, it is wondrous to speculate on what black Americans might have been had we moved along at the rate and in the direction we seemed to be going in New York in the sixteen-hundreds. During that time, the Dutch had given large tracts of land to blacks of various homelands and descriptions. (53-54)
What does the racial and cultural logic once existing in early America inspire us to think beyond the logic of ethnic division and racial segregation? >'$ )#*+&,*-&+('$ function not to provide an imaginary grounding for exploring possibilities that have not been carried out? Instead of providing a history of affirmation, literature as Morrison urges works toward a history of speculations and possibilities.
%!&&#'!"('$ 9,'',4+$ !"$ ./0$ '/+$ .&!*+$ Beloved (1988) most vividly captures )#*+&,*-&+('$<-"3*#!"$*!$'-77!"$#"*!$9&+sence a history of absence:
There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves; nothing that reminds us of the ones who made the journey and of those who did not make it. There is no suitable memorial or plaque or wreath or .,))$!&$9,&H$!&$'H0'3&,9+&$)!GG01$ /+&+('$"!$*/&++-hundred-foot tower. There is no small bench by the road. There is not even a tree scored, an initial that I can visit or you can visit. . . . And because such a 9),3+$;!+'"(*$+A#'*$I*/,*$>$H"!.$!<KC$*/+$G!!k had to. (The World 44)
152 37.2 September 2011
"!*$+A#'*1$>"$*/#'$.,0$#*$4+"+&,*+'$,$5*+A*-,)8$)#<+$<!&$/#'*!&0$*!$9-&'-+$,$;#&+3*#!"$#*$ did not take. Following this line of thinking in the way that it does, does A Mercy "!*$ 7,&H$ %!&&#'!"('$ +<<!&*$ *!$ '-77!"$ #"*!$ *+A*-,)$ 9&+'+"3+$ ,$ 3&!''-racial community, be it existent or non-existent in early America? While Updike, as mentioned in the beginning o<$ */#'$ 9,9+&C$ #'$ 3!&&+3*$ #"$ 9!#"*#"4$ !-*$ */,*$:7+,('$ 5"+.8$ .!&);$ #'$ ;+'*#"+;$ *!$ 5*-&"$ !);C8$ G0$ .&#*#"4$ /+&$ "!6+)$ %!&&#'!"$ "!"+*/+)+''$ transforms the absent or the disappeared into textual existence.
One dramatic episode in A Mercy is that Florens cover'$ */+$ .,))'$ !<$ i,3!G('$ 4&,";$/!-'+$.#*/$/+&$",&&,*#6+1$e+'#4"+;$.#*/$,$5'9+3*,3-),&8$4,*+$*/,*$'+9,&,*+'$#*'$ 5#79&+''#6+8$+"3)!'-&+$<&!7$*/+$!-*'#;+$ILadKC$i,3!G('$*/#&;$/!-'+C$,'$7,;+$3)+,&$#"$ the discussion above, best symbolizes the emergence of lines and demarcations in */+$"+.$.!&);1$:<*+&$i,3!G('$;+,*/C$*/+$/!-'+$#'$)+<*$#"3!79)+*+$,";$+79*0C$*-&"#"4$ from the symbol of white wealth and status into an embodiment of a disintegrated household. Yet the meaning of the house changes again after Florens sneaks into it at night and carves her words, with a nail, into the walls of one room. From being a /!-'+$.#*/$,"$#&!"$4,*+C$#*$4&,;-,))0$*&,"'<!&7'$#"*!$,$5/!-'+-qua-*+A*8$*/,*$G+4'$,$ &+,;#"4$G0$50!-18$>";++;C$#'$*/#'$/!-'+-qua-text not a metaphor of Morrison('$*+A*$ as a monument? Is A Mercy$ "!*$ ,$ 5*+A*-qua-/!-'+8$ */,*$ /,'$ G++"$ 3&+,*+;$ ,'$ ,$ '-G'*#*-*+$ <!&$ */+$ ;#',99+,&,"3+$ !<$ i,3!G('$ /!-'+/!);h$ The makeshift family ;+'3&#G+;$#"$*/+$"!6+)$7#4/*$;#',99+,&$,'$*#7+$7!6+'$!"C$G-*$*/+$5/!-'+-qua-*+A*8$ remains in Mor&#'!"('$"!6+)$*!$G+$I&+K6#'#*+;1
Perhaps not too surprisingly, Morrison once compared a novel to a house in an interview. Reading a novel, according to her, is like exploring an unknown house.6 In A MercyC$*/+$5/!-'+-qua-*+A*8$#'$3!"3+#6+;$G0$2)!&+"'$,'$, space that is capable of generating conversations and connections. Through textual threads and )#"+'$ #*$ 3!"*#"-+'$ <!&7'$ !<$ #"*#7,30$ "!.$ <!&G#;;+"$ #"$ */+$ .!&);?$ +6+"$ #<$ 50!-8$ 3,""!*$ &+,;$ */+$ *+A*C$ 2)!&+"'$ !G'+&6+'C$ */+'+$ 53,&+<-)$ .!&;'C$ 3)!'+;$ -9$ ,";$ .#;+$ open, will talk to themselves. Round and round, side to side, bottom to top, top to G!**!7$,))$,3&!''$*/+$&!!78$ILMLK1$B+'#;+'C$,'$2)!&+"'$*&,"'<!&7'$*/+$/!-'+$#"*!$,$ *+A*C$ */+$ 5.#);+&"+''8$ ,)'!$ 4&,;-,))0$ #"6,;+'$ ,";$ ')!.)0$ *,H+'$ !6+&$ */+$ /!-'+?$ 5@9#;+&'$&eign in comfort here and robins make nests in peace. All manner of small
6
Morrison elaborated this novel-as-/!-'+$3!79,&#'!"$#"$,"$#"*+&6#+.?$5><$0!-$.!-);$F-'*C$,'$,$ &+,;+&C$!9+"$*/+$;!!&$!&$'++$,"$!9+"$;!!&C$'*+9$#"C$,";$)!!H$,&!-";1$Z!C$0!-$;!"(*$H"!.$./!$*/#'$ #'$/*$,.,0C$"!C$0!-$;!"(*$H"!.$./!$*/,*$#'C$"!C$0!-$7,0$"ot know what that room is for. If you )#H+$ #*C$ 0!-())$ 4!$ <-&*/+&1$ ><$ 0!-(&+$ ,<&,#;$ !<$ #*C$ 0!-())$ '*+9$ !-*1$ %,0G+$ 0!-())$ 4!$ G,3H$ #"$ ),*+&$ #"$ ,"!*/+&$ *#7+1$ :";$ */+"$ 7,0G+$ 0!-())$ &-"$ ,&!-";$ */+$ ./!)+$ /!-'+$ ,";$ 4+*$ */+$ ),0$ !<$ */+$ ),";8$ (Silverblatt 222).
life enters the windows$ ,)!"4$ .#*/$ 3-**#"4$ .#";8$ ILJQK1$ /+$ ,33+9*,"3+$ !<$ 5,))$ 7,""+&$ !<$ '7,))$ )#<+8$ #"*!$ !"+$ /!-'+$ G+'9+,H'$ ,$ 7+&30$ 4#6+"$ G0$ */+$ *+A*$ #*'+)<1$ Perhaps the act of mercy that Morrison means .#*/$/+&$"!6+)('$*#*)+ is not Jacob(s acceptance of Florens. Perhaps it is by giving American history an open memory that Morrison delivers a true mercy.
>$'*,&*+;$*/#'$9,9+&$G0$3#*#"4$2)!&+"'('$+"*&,"3+$#"*!$*/+$5"+.8$.!&);1$>*$*-&"'$ !-*$*/,*C$./#)+$2)!&+"'$5'++f'g$,$9,*/$,";$+"*+&[s]8$*/+$9&+'-7,G)0$9,*/)+''$.!!;'$ ILNMKC$ %!&&#'!"('$ &+,;+&'$ ,&+$ "!*$ '#79)0$ )+;$ #"*!$ ,$ &+7!*+$ 9,'*Ethe historical era already superseded by the development of Western modernityEbut also guided into a textual labyrinth of times and encounters that project newness into our #7,4#",*#!"$!<$ /#'*!&0('$ <-*-&+1$ >"$ /+&$ )+3*-&+$ 5 /+$ 2-*-&+$ !<$ #7+?$ c#*+&,*-&+$ ,";$ e#7#"#'/+;$PA9+3*,*#!"'8 (1996), Morrison suggests$,$*-&"#"4$*!.,&;$5)#*+&,*-&+$#"$ general and narrative fic*#!"$ #"$ 9,&*#3-),&8$ #"$ '+,&3/$ !<$ 5*/+$ <-*-&+$ !<$ *#7+8$ ILYQK1$ /+$ 5<-*-&+$ !<$*#7+8$ ,'$ ;+<#"+;$ G0$ %!&&#'!"$ #'$ "!*$ +W-,)$ *!$ *#7+$ #"$*/+$ <-*-&+$ I,'$ differentiated from the time of the past or that of the present). Nor does it connote a linear progress achieved through a breakage from the past. Rather, it refers to a temporal dimension that brings newness to history. Morrison makes this clear: the 5<-*-&+$!<$*#7+8$G+3!7+'$,6,#),G)+$./+"$5!"+$)!!H'$*/&!-4/$/#'*!&0$<!&$#*'$'#4"'$!<$ &+"+.,)8$ ILQJK1$ /+$ /#'*!,)$ 9,'*$ #'$ "!*$ 59,'*8$ ./+"$ *,H+"$ ,'$ ,$ &+'+&6!#&$ !<$ the 5'#4"'$ !<$ &+"+.,)18$ %!&&#'!"('$ *+A*'$ 3+,'+)+'')0$ +6!H+$ */+$ 9,'*('$ 9&!A#7#*0$ *!$ */+$ present and the future, as well as the affective force it exerts upon them.
To conclude, if modern Western history generates meaning by producing orderEboth temporal and epistemicEA Mercy casts the temporal breakage and epistemic delimitations into flux for unregulated intimacy to become conceivable. The textual present, where the temporal points and historical lines are played out ,";$&+'*&-3*-&+;C$#'$./+&+$5"+."+''8$#'$,G)+$*!$+"*+&$A Mercy. In fact, when Homi Bhabha seeks$ #"$ 5*/+$ '#4"$ !<$ */+$ 9&+'+"*8$ !<$ 7!;+&"#*0$ ,"$ +79!.+&#"4$ 3!";#*#!"$ for newness to enter the world, does he not also foreground the textual nature of the present? Rejecting the idea of the present as a transparent point of temporal measurement, Bhabha casts it$,'$,$5'#4"8$7,;+$!<$5;#'F!#"+;$'#4"#<#+&'8$IRRNK1$:"$ 5#"-G+*.++"8$'9,3+$./+&+$*+79!&,)$9!#"*'$3!"F!#"$,";$5<!&+#4"8$+)ements converge, the present is d+'3&#G+;$ G0$ B/,G/,$ ,'$ ,$ 5*+A*#)+$ '-9+&<)-#*0$ !<$ <!);'$ ,";$ .&#"H)+'8$ (227). Perpetually splitting, it heralds newness by enacting postcolonial cultural *&,"'),*#!"1$>"$+"3!-"*+&#"4$%!&&#'!"('$5*+A*-,)$9&+'+"*8$,)!"4$.#*/$B/,G/,('$5'#4"$ !<$*/+$9&+'+"*C8$.+$-"3!6+&$,$3)+,&+&$#;+,$!<$*/+$5"+.8$,'$#"'+9,&,G)+$<&!7$*/+$9,'*$ and the old, and experience its production as entangled with the negotiations with historical lines and cultural differences. Like Morrison, Bhabha looks for /#'*!&0('$
154 37.2 September 2011
5#"*+&7+;#,308$ that 5poses */+$ <-*-&+$ 1$ 1$ 1$ ,'$ ,"$ !9+"$ W-+'*#!"8$ IRTJK1$ >*$ #'$ */+$ textual present that fosters an intermediary agency to negotiate the structure of /#'*!&0$,";$-'/+&$#"$5"+."+''8$#"$/#'*!,)$+9#'*+7+'1
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E1$ 5[+;#'3!6+&#"4$ B),3H$ X#'*!&018$ 1974. Toni Morrison: What Moves at the
