Abstract

This paper thrives on the idea that the study of verbal art can and must surpass the division between an abstract formal approach and an equally interpretative ideological approach. Form and content are inextricably interrelated. It is this idea that has urged the appraisal of genre. From this vantage point, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye will be a reference text to cast light on the intersection between the politics of form and the poetics of content. It is worthy to note that The Bluest Eye is a coming-of-age novel, a tragedy, a sermon and a parody. Morrison’s genius lies in mixing genres altogether to render the journey of Pecola, the protagonist of the novel, more vivid and more authentic. Accordingly, this paper will first highlight the poetics of genre relying on Northrop Frye’s theoretical framework reading Morrison’s The Bluest Eye as a novel defying rigid generic classifications. Morrison does not work within generic traditions: rather, she transforms those generic traditions. The Bluest Eye is so charged with pain and wonder that the novel becomes a poem.