"Toni Morrison stands as one of the most powerful and influential voices in American Literature—not just for her command of language, narrative, and character, but also for her keen understanding of the literary landscape she wrote in. Morrison’s novels provide intimately layered depictions of Black life, love, and community, and her work is oft regarded as exemplary of 'authentic' depictions of blackness. In Playing in the Dark she turns that lens around to dissect how whiteness itself is constructed through, and in opposition to blackness in American literature. If you were looking to read some of Morrison’s non-fiction, or to learn about the history of race in American literature, this book is an excellent place to start.
Morrison’s voice and wisdom remains with us. May she rest in power."
Publisher Vintage
Publication Date 1993-07-27
Section Literary Crit & Biography / All Staff Suggestions / Nonfiction Suggestions / Read D.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9780679745426
An immensely persuasive work of literary criticism that opens a new chapter in the American dialogue on race—and promises to change the way we read American literature.
Morrison shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires. According to the Chicago Tribune, Morrison "reimagines and remaps the possibility of America." Her brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition.
Written with the artistic vision that has earned the Nobel Prize-winning author a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark is an invaluable read for avid Morrison admirers as well as students, critics, and scholars of American literature.
