Jazz

Each of the three novels which comprise the Beloved trilogy utilize American space and historical context to develop narrative. In a 1993 interview with Charlie Rose, before completing the third novel in the series, Morrison described her writing process (“Toni Morrison.” Charlie Rose. PBS, 7 May 1993). She explained that she began with a question. For both Beloved and Jazz, her question was the same; she wanted to discover the identity of the person inside that could be trusted, the “beloved.” Who was this “best thing”? To prepare for the writing of Jazz, Morrison immersed herself in the culture and history of the Harlem Renaissance. As Black people moved from the South to New York City at the turn of the 20th century in what is often referred to as the Great Migration, the Harlem neighborhood of New York City became an explosive site of Black cultural innovation and art. Figures like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Louis Armstrong were at the forefront of this cultural revolution. Jazz evolved from work songs, blues, and spirituals. This new musical genre was a form of expression for Black Americans and served as a catalyst for social revolution. Morrison’s Jazz uses techniques of the musical genre to explore lives of Black men and women during the Jazz Age. In her research of the era, Morrison immersed herself in newspapers written for Black readers from the year 1926 and was inspired by the image of a young girl who had bled to death because she refused to seek help for fear her lover who shot her might be arrested.

The structure of Morrison’s work mirrors the qualities of jazz music in many ways, including its improvisational and informal tone. When a work uses techniques from another medium, it is called intermedial. Morrison’s work incorporates characteristics of jazz to inform the structure and format of the book itself and to tell the stories of its characters. Morrison’s other works utilize structure to support the meaning of the text, but Jazz has a structure that presents its own context and meaning. For example, each chapter is accompanied by a blank page, requiring the reader to pause and turn before continuing the narrative. In a jazz performance, the band pauses or breaks to allow a soloist to improvise. In Morrison’s novel, the break gives the reader the opportunity to improvise thought and reflect upon the chapter.

Additionally, the narration mirrors the conversational and improvisational nature of jazz music. This improvisational quality is continued in the way the narration switches from character to character and the stream-of-consciousness style of writing. The reader learns the thoughts and histories of Dorcas, Violet, Joe, the city, and many other neighbors and friends. This speaks to the ensemble element of jazz music. Each character has a part to play in the collective composition. Polyphony is a musical term which describes how distinct parts play different melodies, coming together to form a type of harmony. Morrison’s use of different characters’ perspectives gives a sense of a greater musical structure. Each character has a set of thoughts, individual traumas, and opinions which contribute to a larger understanding about how culture and violence impact love. Morrison presents a text that, in every way, mirrors the culture and complexity of the Harlem Renaissance.