Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches

The 1993 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Toni Morrison is well established as one of the leading voices in American letters. Even so, her novels are often read narrowly rather than expansively, read as literary artifacts rather than as dynamic cultural texts.

Without ignoring the literary and artistic achievements of Morrison's writing, Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches calls attention to the cultural and political dimensions of her work. Drawing on a diverse range of approaches and theories—from W. E. B. DuBois to deconstruction and postmodernism, from black feminist criticism to reader response—these essays investigate such timely issues as debates about canonization, about race and gender divisions in America, about the founding assumptions of African American identity.

Contributors: Barbara T. Christian, Marianne DeKoven, Dwight A. McBride, Patricia McKee, Richard C. Moreland, Toni Morrison, Rafael Perez-Torres, Nancy J. Peterson, James Phelan, Eusebio L. Rodrigues, Judylyn S. Ryan, Caroline M. Woidat

"These essays exemplify the kinds of issues being addressed in the nineties by scholars of Morrison and by the profession more broadly. The topics of the individual essays vary, but read together, they offer valuable insights into why Morrison has become a much celebrated, widely taught author."—from the Introduction

Drawing on a diverse range of approaches and theories — from W. E. B. DuBois to deconstruction and postmodernism, from black feminist criticism to reader response — Peterson calls attention to the cultural and political dimensions of Toni Morrison's work.

Booknews

Building upon the special double issue of on Morrison (v.39, nos. 3-4), 11 contributors present their analyses of the works of the 1993 Nobel Prize-winning African-American author in four parts: practicing black feminist criticism, Morrison and theories of the post-, narratives as cultural interventions, and readerly and writerly perspectives. Morrison gets in the last word with her Nobel lecture. Bibliography, but no index. Paper edition (unseen), $15.95. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Nancy J. Peterson is assistant professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University. She also serves as assistant editor of Modern Fiction Studies.