Circles of Sorrow, Lines of Struggle: The Novels of Toni Morrison

by Gurleen Grewal

This study of the first six novels of Toni Morrison situates her as an African American writer within the American literary tradition who interrogates national identity and reconstructs social memory. 'Circles of Sorrow, Lines of Struggle' portrays Nobel laureate Morrison as a historiographer attempting to bridge the gap between emergent black middle-class America and its subaltern origins, between dominant America and its signifying other. Her novels are seen afresh as imagining a black community while revising the project of cultural nationalism from a black feminist perspective. The decolonizing The Bluest Eye -- Freedom's absent Sula -- Redeeming the legacy of the Song of Solomon -- On the rocking loom of history, a net to hold the Beloved -- A hearing of Jazz. Includes bibliography and index.

154 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1998