Race, Trauma, and Home in the Novels of Toni Morrison

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Black, American
Cover of the book Race, Trauma, and Home in the Novels of Toni Morrison by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber, LSU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber ISBN: 9780807146910
Publisher: LSU Press Publication: December 1, 2010
Imprint: LSU Press Language: English
Author: Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
ISBN: 9780807146910
Publisher: LSU Press
Publication: December 1, 2010
Imprint: LSU Press
Language: English

In this first interdisciplinary study of all nine of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's novels, Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber investigates how the communal and personal trauma of slavery embedded in the bodies and minds of its victims lives on through successive generations of African Americans. Approaching trauma from several cutting-edge theoretical perspectives -- psychoanalytic, neurobiological, and cultural and social theories -- Schreiber analyzes the lasting effects of slavery as depicted in Morrison's work and considers the almost insurmountable task of recovering from trauma to gain subjectivity.
With an innovative application of neuroscience to literary criticism, Schreiber explains how trauma, whether initiated by physical abuse, dehumanization, discrimination, exclusion, or abandonment, becomes embedded in both psychic and bodily circuits. Slavery and its legacy of cultural rejection create trauma on individual, familial, and community levels, and parents unwittingly transmit their trauma to their children through repetition of their bodily stored experiences. Concepts of "home" -- whether a physical place, community, or relationship -- are reconstructed through memory to provide a positive self and serve as a healing space for Morrison's characters. Remembering and retelling trauma within a supportive community enables trauma victims to move forward and attain a meaningful subjectivity and selfhood.
Through careful analysis of each novel, Schreiber traces the success or failure of Morrison's characters to build or rebuild a cohesive self, starting with slavery and the initial postslavery generation, and continuing through the twentieth century, with a special focus on the effects of inherited trauma on children. When characters attempt to escape trauma through physical relocation, or to project their pain onto others through aggressive behavior or scapegoating, the development of selfhood falters. Only when trauma is confronted through verbalization and challenged with reparative images of home, can memories of a positive self overcome the pain of past experiences and cultural rejection.
While the cultural trauma of slavery can never truly disappear, Schreiber argues that memories that reconstruct a positive self, whether created by people, relationships, a physical place, or a concept, help Morrison's characters to establish subjectivity. A groundbreaking interdisciplinary work, Schreiber's book unites psychoanalytic, neurobiological, and social theories into a full and richly textured analysis of trauma and the possibility of healing in Morrison's novels.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this first interdisciplinary study of all nine of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's novels, Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber investigates how the communal and personal trauma of slavery embedded in the bodies and minds of its victims lives on through successive generations of African Americans. Approaching trauma from several cutting-edge theoretical perspectives -- psychoanalytic, neurobiological, and cultural and social theories -- Schreiber analyzes the lasting effects of slavery as depicted in Morrison's work and considers the almost insurmountable task of recovering from trauma to gain subjectivity.
With an innovative application of neuroscience to literary criticism, Schreiber explains how trauma, whether initiated by physical abuse, dehumanization, discrimination, exclusion, or abandonment, becomes embedded in both psychic and bodily circuits. Slavery and its legacy of cultural rejection create trauma on individual, familial, and community levels, and parents unwittingly transmit their trauma to their children through repetition of their bodily stored experiences. Concepts of "home" -- whether a physical place, community, or relationship -- are reconstructed through memory to provide a positive self and serve as a healing space for Morrison's characters. Remembering and retelling trauma within a supportive community enables trauma victims to move forward and attain a meaningful subjectivity and selfhood.
Through careful analysis of each novel, Schreiber traces the success or failure of Morrison's characters to build or rebuild a cohesive self, starting with slavery and the initial postslavery generation, and continuing through the twentieth century, with a special focus on the effects of inherited trauma on children. When characters attempt to escape trauma through physical relocation, or to project their pain onto others through aggressive behavior or scapegoating, the development of selfhood falters. Only when trauma is confronted through verbalization and challenged with reparative images of home, can memories of a positive self overcome the pain of past experiences and cultural rejection.
While the cultural trauma of slavery can never truly disappear, Schreiber argues that memories that reconstruct a positive self, whether created by people, relationships, a physical place, or a concept, help Morrison's characters to establish subjectivity. A groundbreaking interdisciplinary work, Schreiber's book unites psychoanalytic, neurobiological, and social theories into a full and richly textured analysis of trauma and the possibility of healing in Morrison's novels.

More books from LSU Press

Cover of the book Black, White, and Southern by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Small Disasters Seen in Sunlight by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book The Last Battle of the Civil War by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Civil War Senator by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Modernizing Tradition by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book The Rise of Middle-Class Culture in Nineteenth-Century Spain by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book American Narratives by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Tomorrow is Another Day by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Undaunted Radical by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Two Civil Wars by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Eon by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Blood Image by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book The Complete Antislavery Writings of Anthony Benezet, 1754-1783 by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Staff Picks by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
Cover of the book Yankee Dutchman by Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy