本书以托妮·莫里森的代表作——历史三部曲《宠儿》、《爵士乐》、《天堂》为中心，联系莫里森的其他作品，系统地探讨莫里森重访历史、关注文化协商、指向混杂化，不懈地探索非裔美国人从个体的身份重建到群体和国族身份重建的文化身份建构，具有较高的学术价值和现实意义。

序

前言

Introduction/1

  Ⅰ. Biographical and Critical Contexts of Toni Morrison's Literary Texts/2

  Ⅱ. The Guiding Principle and Structure of This Book/18

Chapter One The Concept of Identity and Its Significance in African American Literary Works/24

  Ⅰ. The Concept of Identity and Identity-Building/24

  Ⅱ. The Quest for Identity in African American Literature/35

  Ⅲ. The Quest for Identity in Toni Morrison's Works/47

Chapter Two Identity-Building through "Rememory" of the Unspoken History in Beloved/53

  Ⅰ. Objectification and Othering of Black People in Slavery Discourse/55

  Ⅱ. Black (Ex-) Slaves' Counter-Discourse in "Claiming Ownership of that Freed Self" /65

  Ⅲ. Beloved as a Trope of Identity-Building for African Americans/77

Chapter Three Identity-Building through Jazzified Musical/Narrative Discourse in Jazz/85

  Ⅰ. Fragmented S.tories of Displaced People: Profound Cultural Dislocations the Great Migration Entailed/86

  Ⅱ. Jazzified Negotiations of Identity/99

Chapter Four Identity-Building through Cultural Hybridity in Paradise/114

  Ⅰ. Paradise: a Critique of Essentialism and Manichaeism in Communal Historiography and Identity-Building/114

  Ⅱ. Paradise: Towards Building a Hybrid Identity/127

  Ⅲ. Reimagining Paradise/138

Chapter Five Toni Morrison's Identity-Building as an African American Woman Writer/142

  Ⅰ. Toni Morrison's Racial Identity/143

  Ⅱ. Toni Morrison's Gendered Identity/145

  Ⅲ. Toni Morrison's Aesthetic Identity/147

Conclusion/155

  Ⅰ. From Being Imagined "Other" to Being "Choices": Toni Morrison's Identity-Building for African American People/155

  Ⅱ. Toni Morrison's Exploration of the Relationship between Identity-Building and Rememory, History, and Storytelling/158

  Ⅲ. Toni Morrison's Liminality/159

  Ⅳ. Toni Morrison's Paradoxical Authoritative Position in the American Literary and Cultural World/162

Works Cited/165

  Primary Sources/165

  Secondary Sources/168

Acknowledgements/180