Literature grants many authors the freedom to express themselves through their works, particularly, black authors. Black literature had been confined for a specified period to certain writing restrictions that limited the imagination and potential of black writers to express themselves with fear of oppression. Yet, in current contemporary times, we see the rising of black female writers creating their own style of writing. They are finally at liberty to decide what they want to write and not be constrained by societal norms. This paper will focus on Toni Morrison, a black female writer who has gone against white/ black men societal standards because it is essential to her to focus on her culture's history, the oppression/inequality of black women and the importance that wisdom contributes to choices in writing and life.
Chloe Ardelia Wofford later best known as Toni Morrison, born on February 18, 1931, made a name for herself. Despite being born in the United States and away from her place of origin, she has taken great pride in recognizing her ethnicity. To many, she is considered the voice of
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According to Jane Foress Bennett (1994), "She tells the stories we need like water: the meaning of child sexual abuse, of motherhood, of living African-American lives beyond the constraints and deathliness of white U.S. policies and ideas, of women's loving," (Bennett, 66). Many stories are hidden from readers because of the fear of critics making it harder for some audiences to be able to relate to their own lives. Fortunately, Morrison has made her greatest efforts in creating a new form of magical writing in which she uses different forms of styles and narratives that grab black women's attention. Lanser acknowledges that Morrison selectively decided to reject empirical and psychological realism in favor of "magical" represented in such works like Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude (Lanser,
Mat Johnsons novel, Pym challenges readers not only to view his work with a new set of eyes but also the work of all American literature with the understanding that the idea of Whiteness still has a very strong power over literature today. It is unfortunate that in today’s society, the pathology of Whiteness still holds a very strong presence in literary world. Literature from American authors versus literature from African American authors still continues to be segregated and handled with two different sets of criteria. Johnson’s novel engages in different aspects of the argument presented in Toni Morrison’s work entitled Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. One of the main ideals that Pym engages in is the thought that “…a figuration of impenetrable whiteness … surfaces in American literature whenever Africanist presence is engaged” (29). Through the character Chris Jaynes, Johnson’s novel focuses much attention on the Whiteness seen in the literary world and how it still affects literature today. Mat Johnson’s Pym addresses Morrison’s argument by challenging the reader to identify the pathology of whiteness as well as encourages readers not to only identify the problem but try to find new ways to combat it.
Butler-Evans,Elliott. Race,Gender,and Desire:Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara,Toni Morrison,and Alice Walker. Philadelphia:Temple UP,1989.
In the 223 years our country has been instituted, the way black people are perceived in society has always been less than acceptable. Great leaders and motivators like Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have come and gone, their voices and action have attempted to change the role of black people in society. However, even in today times, equality is still far off, and there is no voice comparable to what blacks relied on in those days. Instead of marches in Alabama, or speeches in Washington, the plight of the blacks are heard through literature. Small voices in literature that makes a big impact on society. Toni Morrison and bell hooks use words to motivate people of all color. Morrison and hooks open eyes to this so-called free country we live in with the purpose of showing society's condemnation of black life, interracial relationships and black woman in a traditionally men's roles. In the two stories by Toni Morrison titled, "On the Backs of Blacks" and "Friday on the Potomac," she strives to prove the effects of racism in America, the oppression of African Americans in society, and the racial and sexist aspects of the Anita Hall and Clarence Thomas Hearings. In "Sorrowful Black Death Is Not a Hot Ticket" and "Seduction And Betrayal" bell hooks criticizes the way black life is depicted the movies: Crooklyn, The Bodyguard, and The Crying Game.
Gates, Henry Louis and Appiah, K. A. (eds.). Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York, Amistad, 1993.
Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.
Morrison, Toni, "Recitatif." African American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Al Young. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. 209-25.
Without thinking twice race is often something most people use to identify and classify individuals by. In the short story, “Recitatif,” Toni Morrison provides us with evidence of how we unconsciously use race to identity, define, and categorize individuals, showing how prevalent the use of stereotypes are in a society. She uses different ambiguous encounters between the two characters of different race to convey her purpose. Her goal was to force the reader to stop and think about what truly defines someone in the end giving them a new perceptive on why judging an individual based upon stereotypical standards in usually incorrect. By Morrison making this conscious decision not to disclose which character was which race, she calls attention
In the story, “Recitatif,” Toni Morrison uses vague signs and traits to create Roberta and Twyla’s racial identity to show how the characters relationship is shaped by their racial difference. Morrison wants the reader’s to face their racial preconceptions and stereotypical assumptions. Racial identity in “Recitatif,” is most clear through the author’s use of traits that are linked to vague stereotypes, views on racial tension, intelligence, or ones physical appearance. Toni Morrison provides specific social and historical descriptions of the two girls to make readers question the way that stereotypes affect our understanding of a character. The uncertainties about racial identity of the characters causes the reader to become pre-occupied with assigning a race to a specific character based merely upon the associations and stereotypes that the reader creates based on the clues given by Morrison throughout the story. Morrison accomplishes this through the relationship between Twyla and Roberta, the role of Maggie, and questioning race and racial stereotypes of the characters. Throughout the story, Roberta and Twyla meet throughout five distinct moments that shapes their friendship by racial differences.
In 1983, Toni Morrison published the only short story she would ever create. The controversial story conveys an important idea of what race is and if it really matter in the scheme of life. This story takes place during the time period of the Civil Rights Movement. The idea of civil rights was encouraged by the government but not enforced by the states, leaving many black Americans suffering every day. In Morrison’s short story Recitatif, Morrison manipulates the story’s diction to describe the two women’s races interchangeably resulting in the confusion of the reader. Because Morrison never establishes the “black character” or the “white character”, the reader is left guessing the race of the two main characters throughout the whole story. Morrison also uses the character’s actions and dialogue during the friend’s meetings to prove the theme of equality between races.
A book which is most celebrated for its tale about friendship is found to have a more important theme and role in literature. "In Search of Self: Frustration and Denial in Toni Morrison's Sula," the author Maria Nigro believes Sula has much more important themes in modern literature. "Sula celebrates many lives: It is the story of the friendship of two African American women; but most of all, it is the story of community" (1).
Samuels, Wilfred D., and Clenora Hudson- Weems. Toni Morrison. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers, 1990. 53-78. Print.
Work Cited PageCentury, Douglas. Toni Morrison: Author New York: Chelsea Publishing, 1994Childress, Alice. "Conversations with Toni Morrison" "Conversation with Alice Childress and Toni Morrison" Black Creation Annual. New York: Library of Congress, 1994. Pages 3-9Harris, Trudier. Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison Knoxville: The university of Tennessee press, 1991Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Plume, 1973Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Plume, 1970Stepto, Robert. "Conversations with Toni Morrison" Intimate Things in Place: A conversation with Toni Morrison. Massachusetts Review. New York: Library of Congress, 1991. Pages 10- 29.
Toni Morrison has been called America's national author and is often compared with great dominant culture authors such as William Faulkner. Morrison's fiction is valued not only for its entertainment, but through her works, she has presented African-Americans a literature in which their own heritage and history a...
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., and K. A. Appiah, eds. Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad P, 1993.
“Toni Morrison.” American Women Writers. Taryn Benbow - Pfalzgrat. 2nd ed. of the book.