The Deep Dynamics of Violence in Samuel Cartwright in Toni Morrison's Beloved

Abstract

The contribution analyzes the concept of "immaterial violence" and its impact on the dynamics of gender power, exploring how words and cultural structures can generate forms of oppression that translate into concrete violence. Through an analysis of the works of Mary Wollstonecraft, Toni Morrison, and Laura Bates, the essay aims to demonstrate how verbal and symbolic violence, linked to race and masculinity, serves as a mechanism to maintain power relations between men and women. Drawing from Samuel Cartwright's theorization of "immaterial violence", it highlights how these forms of oppression have historically been, and continue to be, instruments of marginalization. The contribution concludes with a reflection on the translation of this violence into physical forms of persecution, as illustrated in Toni Morrison's novel Beloved.