Metanarratives and minor narratives in toni morrison's the bluest eye

Subsequent to modernism, postmodernism is skeptical about the ideas concerning certainty, determination, and universality. Among postmodern thinkers, Jean-François Lyotard is the one who believes in incredulity and skepticism toward certainty, authority, and uniformity of grand narratives or metanarratives of the modern era. Lyotard, states that postmodern era is the time when metanarratives and standards of major societies have lost their own credibility and authority. Discouraging the metanarratives of dominant societies, Lyotard believes in the minor narratives and local standards of minor communities. Accordingly, Toni Morrison, the African-American she-novelist, implies that the black people's standards and doctrines of life and beauty, being considered as minor narratives in the white grand society of America, are as important as the white standards – metanarratives – of life and beauty. This essay attempts to deal with study and explanation of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye based on Lyotard's idea of metanarratives and minor narratives.