BLST 325 Toni Morrison and African-American Self-Fashioning

Though best known as a novelist, Toni Morrison has worked in several different capacities - as an editor, essayist, children's book author, teacher, patron, and librettist. Her interventions in all of the fields are marked by a canny awareness of the persona she has established and the authority attached to that identity. This course examines Morrison's multiple roles, in terms of performance and language, and connects these to a long tradition of African-American self-fashioning. Through a study of her written, editorial, and other work, we will examine the author's transformation from "Chloe Wofford" (her birth name) to "Toni Morrison," Nobel Laureate. We will think critically about the connection between form and content, and between utterance and identity. Open to juniors and seniors and to those who have successfully completed AMST 290.