Toni Morrison & Narrative Memory

Course Description

Toni Morrison is one of the most influential writers of the last century. Her works, such as The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Sula are a cornerstone for Black literature and for understanding the complexities and dynamics of racism in modern day America, while also deepening the world’s view of inner Black life. This independent study traces the craft and aesthetic vision of Morrison’s landscapes through the gravitational center of Beloved, and how her narrative techniques wherein may be applied to one’s own work.

Course Learning Outcomes

— Students will analyze craft strategies in Beloved, including rememory, haunted landscape, fragmented chronology, and polyphonic voice, with attention to how formal choices enact the ethical work of witnessing and memory.

— Students will evaluate Morrison’s essayistic and critical writing in Playing in the Dark and The Source of Self-Regard as extensions of her fiction’s aesthetic projections, and assess how her theoretical frameworks illuminate Beloved as a craft object and reflect her identity as a Black writer.

— Students will compose an original creative writing piece in conscious dialogue with Morrison’s techniques, synthesizing the course’s engagement with landscape and memory.

Produced Coursework