Much has been expounded upon Morrison’s exploration of mother-daughter rapport in her novels, whereas not as much attention is paid to male’s presence in her chef d’oeuvre. Generally speaking, the portrayal of the males in Morrison’s works, even those by other black writers, principally falls into two types, either as childish boys, or as violent men and husbands. However, if perused, Morrison’s novels present other kinds of black males that deconstruct and transcend such a rigid dichotomy of black male representations. In other words, black men can be as caring, benevolent, protective culture bearers as black women, among whom the exemplar is Pilate in Song of Solomon, where other male characters also emerge as ancestors. No longer is male masculinity chained to a stringent division between puerility and brutality; rather, a new man as opposed to that epitomized in white patriarchy surfaces in Morrison’s re-envisioning of men in her early novels.


Syllabus
1. Black historical background
2. Black female ancestors
3. Black male masculinity
4. Black family
5. Morrison’s nonfiction ( What Moves at the Margin)
6. Morrison’s Essays (Playing in the Dark, “Unspeakable Things Unspoken”)
7. Conversations with Toni Morrison
8. The Bluest Eye
9. Mid-term exam
10. The Bluest Eye
11. The Bluest Eye
12. Sula
13. Sula
14. Sula
15. Song of Solomon
16. Song of Solomon
17. Song of Solomon
18. Dissertation due


評分方式: dissertation 100%