"Paradise": A Schism Between Premodern, Modern and Postmodern Cultural Conception

The objective of this research paper is to trace the elements of pre- modern, modern and postmodern cultural practices in Ruby, the isolated all-black town which is the setting of the book "Paradise" (Morrison, 1997), while delimiting the definition of the three concepts as theoretical basis for "cultural practices". After successfully tracing the simultaneous presence of all three cultural conceptions the paper reports on how this mix of cultures turns into schism and contributes towards the main conflict of the book and causes the extraordinary events which follow because of the rift between the three cultures. The paper also discusses the postmodern concepts of "metanarratives" and "magic realism" in relation to "Paradise". Morrison's use of both modern and postmodern literary conventions is also traced to further support the claims of this research.