“The anecdote seemed to me redolent of the proud hopelessness of love mourned and championed in blues music, and, simultaneously, fired by the irresistible energy of jazz music. It asserted itself immediately and aggressively as the seed of a plot, a story line.” (Morrison, xvi)
This epiphany on behalf of Toni Morrison on the manner in which she would begin writing the experience of Jazz immediately brought to mind the discussion our class held on creating a new mode of expression for experiences we ourselves have not been through. Just as it is impossible to express a disaster, the expression of experience of another entity must be done in an indirect manner. In this case–and this is just a prediction, I’ve only read through the “Foreword”– Morrison clings to an ideal that can be juxtaposed with the one which she is striving to express. Implementing the “beat” in which jazz music is written and experienced, she creates a “beat” for her novel, changing the tone and message as she goes, much like in a song.
It isn’t surprising that music would be a method of thought in which to create a new form of writing. Differing types of art intrinsically all work to express the same ideals and experiences, just with slightly differing modes, appealing to varying senses and awarenesses on our part as the reader. In our struggle to invent a mode of thought and expression, this is something significant to consider.
