This compelling study explores the inextricable links between the
Nobel laureate’s aesthetic practice and her political vision,
through an analysis of the key texts as well as her lesser-studied
works, books for children, and most recent novels.
* Offers provocative new insights and a refreshingly original
contribution to the scholarship of one of the most important
contemporary American writers
* Analyzes the celebrated fiction of Morrison in relation to her
critical writing about the process of reading and writing
literature, the relationship between readers and writers, and the
cultural contributions of African-American literature
* Features extended analyses of Morrison’s lesser-known
works, most recent novels, and books for children as well as the
key texts
Cuprins
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 The Bluest Eye and Sula 19
2 Song of Solomon and Tar Baby 41
3 Beloved 61
4 Jazz and Paradise 77
5 Books for Young Readers, Love and A Mercy 99
Epilogue: Home 131
Further Reading 137
Works Cited 141
Index 147
Despre autor
Valerie Smith is Dean of the College, Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature, and Professor of English and African American Studies at Princeton University, USA. Her numerous awards include fellowships from the Alphonse G. Fletcher Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Smith has written many essays and articles, and is author or editor of five books, including Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative (1988) and Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings (1998).