{"id":5227,"date":"2025-06-19T23:54:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T23:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/a-necessary-ethics-bakhtin-and-dialogic-identity-construction-in-four-morrison-novels\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T06:17:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T06:17:41","slug":"a-necessary-ethics-bakhtin-and-dialogic-identity-construction-in-four-morrison-novels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ijssass.com\/journal\/a-necessary-ethics-bakhtin-and-dialogic-identity-construction-in-four-morrison-novels\/","title":{"rendered":"A Necessary Ethics: Bakhtin and Dialogic Identity Construction in Four Morrison Novels"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: <strong>A Necessary Ethics: Bakhtin and Dialogic Identity Construction in Four Morrison Novels<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Original Article Link: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/803' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Read Original Article<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Download PDF: <a href='https:\/\/journals.dut.ac.za\/index.php\/ajims\/article\/view\/803\/647' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Click Here to Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Abstract<\/h2>\n<p>Reading Morrison\u2019s The Bluest Eye, Tar Baby, Paradise and A Mercy through the lens of Bakhtin reveals identity construction as a dialogic endeavour. While this method may be necessary for character development, it serves the further purpose of making an ethical case for the self\u2019s responsibility to others. This paper considers key theoretical instruments, as enabled by Bakhtin, in relation to Morrison\u2019s treatment of naming and other character constructing elements. It is ultimately Morrison\u2019s construction of identity as dialogical which enables the argument that Morrison\u2019s fiction offers an ethics in the interest of the other. Writing about the marginalised, the abused and the voiceless reveals Morrison\u2019s oeuvre is unmistakably an ongoing engagement with the injustice of slavery and its political, economic, social and psychological aftermath. The relevance of this article lies in its analysis of Morrison\u2019s fiction as an antidote which challenges the self\u2019s \u201cself-interest\u201d, which is at the heart of injustice. This study\u2019s primary contribution is in articulating Morrison\u2019s portrayal of the self\u2019s identity construction as an inescapable dialogism that forms the foundation to a philosophy that promotes greater humaneness, given the other is not separate from the self, but in fact, integral to the self.<\/p>\n<h2>Authors<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Vida  de Voss (Namibia University of Science and Technology)<\/li>\n<li>Jairos  Kangira (University of Namibia)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Keywords<\/h2>\n<p>Keywords not available.<\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p>References not available for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published as: A Necessary Ethics: Bakhtin and Dialogic Identity Construction in Four Morrison Novels Original Article&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[2153],"class_list":["post-5227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-ajims","wpcat-124-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - 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