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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
My copy is heavily marked up, highlighted, and tabbed. A book that invites further research, discussion, and has changed the way I will read books!
This book was ok. I liked many of the ideas Morrison presented about race, but I haven't read many of the novels she cites, so some of it was lost on me.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Definitely a more academically rigorous text than I’m used to, but wow, a necessary read! I probably could’ve gotten more out of it if I’d read more of the stories referenced by Morrison, but she described characters and scenes pretty succinctly. It’s a short book but I’m glad I took my time reading this one.
Morrison writes about writers in this one. She explores the use of black characters by America's most celebrated authors, and raises questions as to the silence on this topic in the critical studies of those authors' works. Erudite and precise, Morrison fleshes out the symbolism and narrative uses of black characters in the formative works of American literature, and makes the argument that racial difference in American writing served to construct systems of meaning around skin color. She argues that often times the freedom expressed and applauded in white characters stands against the backdrop of the ultimate un-freedom of slavery experienced and represented by black characters. Really really great book that investigates meaning making mechanisms through culturally significant texts.
Such an important work on the presence of Africanism in American literature. It moves beyond racism to focus on representation. I am so grateful that I got to read this.
informative
reflective
challenging
informative
medium-paced
While dense at times, this book is a must read for writers wishing to write characters who are different from them. Morrison will give you much to think about. Makes me want to read more literary criticism.
It's one of those books/critics you read and can't help but apply it to every media you consume. Necessary reading in this era of media illiteracy.