Professor: Courtney Thorrson
4 credits
Toni Morrison said the best art "is unquestionably political and irrevocably beautiful at the same time"; this is undeniably true of the eleven novels Morrison wrote in her lifetime. In this course, we will read four of those novels—Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1988), and Paradise (1997) in their historical, political, and literary contexts. We will consider Morrison as a novelist, scholar, and editor who lived and wrote within a network of writers and intellectuals. This means that we will read novels by Morrison alongside writings by her friends, her collaborators, and scholars of her work. We will study how textual traits—diction, syntax, plot, character, metaphor, sound, and so on—create meaning. We will consider our readings in relationship to Black feminisms and African American literary traditions.
Graduation Requirement: This class will fulfill an Arts and Letters Colloquium and US: Difference, Inequality, and Agency (US) cultural literacy requirement. If a student already has completed an Arts and Letters Colloquium, this course will fulfill both of the following requirements: an Elective Colloquium and the US: Difference, Inequality, and Agency (US) cultural literacy requirement.