Section 3: Intertextual interceptions. No system of justice : at the margins with Toni Morrison's intertextual characters / Alice Knox Eaton. The power of witnessing : confronting trauma in God Help the Child / Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber ; Childhood traumas, journeys, and healing in Toni Morrison's God Help the Child / Mar Gallego ; "Let the true note ring out loud" : a mindful reading of God Help the Child / Susana Vega-González -- Section 2: Subverting whiteness : writing beyond the racialized gaze. "What did I do to be so black and blue?" : synesthesia in God Help the Child / Anissa Wardi ; "You not the woman I want" : Toni Morrison's God Help the Child and the legend of Galatea / Maxine Lavon Montgomery -- Section 3: Intertextual interceptions. Return of the repressed: the politics of engraving and erasure and the quest for selfhood in God Help the Child / Justine Tally ; No system of justice : at the margins with Toni Morrison's intertextual characters / Alice Knox Eaton.
Summary:
"Contributions by Alice Knox Eaton, Mar Gallego, Maxine Lavon Montgomery, Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber, Shirley A. Stave, Justine Tally, Susana Vega-GonzaÌlez, and Anissa Wardi In her eleventh novel, God Help the Child, Toni Morrison returned to several of the signature themes explored in her previous work: pernicious beauty standards for women, particularly African American women; mother-child relationships; racism and colorism; and child sexual abuse. God Help the Child, published in 2015, is set in the contemporary period, unlike all of her previous novels. The contemporary setting is ultimately incidental to the project of the novel, however; as with Morrison's other work, the story takes on mythic qualities, and the larger-than-life themes lend themselves to allegorical and symbolic readings that resonate in light of both contemporary and historical issues. New Critical Essays on Toni Morrison's "God Help the Child": Race, Culture, and History, a collection of eight essays by both seasoned Morrison scholars as well as new and rising scholars, takes on the novel in a nuanced and insightful analysis, interpreting the novel in relation to Morrison's earlier work as well as locating it within ongoing debates in literary and other academic disciplines engaged with African American literature. The volume is divided into three sections. The first focuses on trauma-both the pain and suffering caused by neglect and abuse, as well as healing and understanding. The second section considers narrative choices, concentrating on experimentation and reader engagement. The third section turns a comparative eye to Morrison's fictional canon, from her debut work of fiction, The Bluest Eye, until the present. These essays build on previous studies of Morrison's novels and deepen readers' understanding of both her last novel and her larger literary output"-- Provided by publisher. "The first scholarly collection to examine Morrison's most recent work of fiction, God Help the Child"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.