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ENGL 291: The American Novel Since 1945

Lecture 13 - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye. Professor Hungerford draws a contrast between Toni Morrison and most of the writers studied up to this point in the course by pointing out how, for an African-American woman writer in particular, language is a site of violence. For all of her power to recuperate the voices of the oppressed, the novelist must be wary of the ways that breaking the silence, too, can constitute an act of invasion. As in the case of Pynchon, the word in The Bluest Eye enacts a near-physical touch; this is its pleasure and its danger. With inimitable complexity and grace, Morrison weaves her narrative around a young black girl who, in the void of her social persona, constructs a beautiful and poisonous fiction. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 13 - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Morrison's Politics: The Other Side of the 1960s
[00:07:16] 2. Choosing a Form: Morrison's Use of the Novel
[00:16:40] 3. Complicated Sympathy: Cholly Breedlove
[00:31:15] 4. Negativities: The Other Engine of Narrative
[00:42:56] 5. Reading, Rape and Race: Poison in the Canon

References
Lecture 13 - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Instructor: Professor Amy Hungerford. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introductions
Lecture 02 - Richard Wright, Black Boy
Lecture 03 - Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
Lecture 04 - Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood (cont.)
Lecture 05 - Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Lecture 06 - Guest Lecture by Andrew Goldstone
Lecture 07 - Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (cont.)
Lecture 08 - Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Lecture 09 - Jack Kerouac, On the Road (cont.)
Lecture 10 - J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
Lecture 11 - John Barth, Lost in the Funhouse
Lecture 12 - Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Lecture 13 - Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Lecture 14 - Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
Lecture 15 - Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
Lecture 16 - Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (cont.)
Lecture 17 - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Lecture 18 - Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian (cont.)
Lecture 19 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain
Lecture 20 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Lecture 21 - Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Lecture 22 - Edward P. Jones, The Known World
Lecture 23 - Edward P. Jones, The Known World (cont.)
Lecture 24 - Students'Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Lecture 25 - Students'Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Lecture 26 - Review for Final Exam