Arts and Humanities Commons^™

What’S In A Name? Rhetorical And Political Naming In Toni Morrison’S Song Of Solomon, Kristen V. Edwards

Theses

This thesis aims to examine the usage and history of the various racial labels attributed to Black Americans and how the cyclical usage of Negro, Black, Colored, and African American are a haunting that Black people will most likely face again. As these terms do not fulfill a nationalistic identity, the quest for a satisfactory term still exists. To illustrate this journey, examining the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison will expose how her text subtly charges the reader to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Not only is the reader charged to “know thy self”, but they are …