After flying with a newly licensed student, I shared passages on flying from Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.”
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Tag Archives: Toni Morrison
When Hate Groups Devour Their Own
Conspiratorial hate is feeding on itself. Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates both describe the process.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2020 election, Capitol Hill insurrection, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Joyce Carol Oates, Song of Solomon Comments closed
Harris’s Literary Favs Reveal a Vibrant Soul
Kamala Harris’s favorite lit reveals a woman engaging in foundational exploration, especially regarding race and gender.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Amy Tan, C. S. Lewis, immigrants, Joy Luck Club, Kamala Harris, Khaled Hosseini, Kite Runner, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Native Son, race relations, Richard Wright, Song of Solomon Comments closed
Specter of Racial Violence Haunts Faulkner
Faulkner’s depiction of racial violence shows America’s dark side. Faulkner’s own racial views are less important than the truths that he shows.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Absolom Absolom, Light in August, racism, segregation, Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner Comments closed
Toni Morrison’s Black Gothic
If the Southern Gothic grows out of white denial about white terrorism, what are we to make of black gothic? Morrison’s “Beloved” offers some answers.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beloved, gothic literature, return of the repressed, Southern Gothic Comments closed
Use Lit to Combat Racism
My thoughts about a racial book burning at a southern college–and how literature can help.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged book burnings, Jennine Capo Crucet, Make Your Home Among Strangers, privilege, racism, Song of Solomon Comments closed
Trump’s Wall, Symbolic or Literal?
Monday Literature majors will find their training useful in understanding why Donald Trump has chosen to shut down the government. It has to do with the difference between the symbolic and the literal. A literal wall makes very little sense, with the $5.5 billion dollars that Trump is demanding from American taxpayers (not from Mexico) […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beloved, Donald Trump, magical realism, Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie, symbolic vs literal thinking, Trump's wall Comments closed
Lit as a Survival Toolkit
Thursday Friend and occasional guest blogger Carl Rosin alerted me to a heartfelt Commonweal article by an English professor describing how literature helped her confront and work through childhood abuse. Cassandra Nelson’s difficult history leads to some remarkable insights into trigger warnings, which she opposes. Nelson’s view on trigger warnings is pretty much my own […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Bluest Eye, Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Bruno Bettelheim, childhood trauma, Dante, Inferno, Junot Diaz, King Lear, sexual abuse, sexual assault, William Shakespeare Comments closed