Value Transmission in an Minority Group: A Thematical Examination Through Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye Novel

Abstract

Values are the abstract representations of thoughts and behaviors that mobilize the person for certain purposes. Each individual and society has its own value priorities (Value Theory; Schwartz, 2006). Parents transfer their values to their children and ensure the variability or continuity of their society. This qualitative study examines the intergenerational transmission of Schwartz's ten fundamental values through Toni Morrison's “The Bluest Eye” novel, which is an outstanding example of a detailed story of a child growing in multi disadvantage circumstances in a developed country. The theoretical and conceptual bases of thematic analysis are; the intergenerational transmission of Schwartz's ten basic values, the values given to the child based on Kağıtçıbaşı’s studies and the "selective continuity" hypothesis in which the intergenerational transfer is explained in connection with the economic and demographic conditions that form the socio-cultural ecology of the child. Results showed that, as expected, parents of minority groups primarily adopted and transferred the values of conservation due to their socioeconomic status and sociodemographic characteristics. These findings will be discussed on the basis of the Family Change Model of Kağıtçıbaşı which deals with the cultural background of families and the effects of lifestyle on value transmission.

Keywords

• basic values
• value transmission
• minorities
• family change model