The Modality of Toni Morrison's Jazz
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5246147 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chad Jewett (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 445-456 |
| Publication date | 2015-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African American Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1062-4783 • E-ISSN: 1945-6182 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/afa.2015.0052 |
| OpenAlex | W2192542271 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
This article examines Morrison's novel through the tenets of modal jazz and John Coltrane's 1965 album A Love Supreme . Both Morrison's novel and the modal form of jazz performed by Coltrane resist the format of the novel/song as a future-oriented teleological entity. Instead Morrison's novel reflects modal jazz's focus on the improvisation of the "riff" and a focus on present-tense performance over anticipated resolution. This article investigates the ways in which both works use experimental jazz as a vessel for diverted expectation and new attempts at expression and aesthetic value, and, ultimately, new ways of remembering
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Epistemology · Improvisation · Jazz · Literature · Modal · Teleology · Visual arts · Computer Science · Music History and Culture · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy · Poetry Analysis and Criticism
| Highly cited | No |
|---|