Haunting Landscapes: Ecogothic Echoes of Trauma and Recovery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

초록

This article explores Toni Morrison’s Beloved from an ecogothic framework, examining how the novel intertwines classic gothic elements with environmental concerns. While Beloved has been extensively analyzed within gothic and ecocritical studies, it has been relatively less studied from an ecogothic perspective, specifically. Morrison employs nature imagery as symbols of the enduring legacy of slavery by representing the ways in which the harrowing results of that legacy are embedded not only into collective memory but also onto the fabric of the environment. Throughout the novel, nature is portrayed as more than just a passive backdrop for human action or a simple metaphor for healing and recovery; rather, it is an active, non-human entity that bears the past scars of slavery and embodies the wrongs inflicted upon both people and the land itself. This article analyzes nature images associated with the color red, such as roses, leaves, and the “chokecherry tree” scars on Sethe’s back to reveal the ways in which these images connect human trauma and environmental degradation. Further, this article explores the image of Paul D’s “red heart” as a related red image that serves as a metaphor for the intrusive nature of trauma, linking human and non-human violence. Beloved thus contributes to the gothic genre but also exemplifies the ecogothic in its portrayal of the interconnectedness of human and environmental trauma, offering a complex understanding of how the past legacy of slavery continues into the present.

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