Course Details

9630: Race, Trauma, and Home in the Novels of Toni Morrison

February 9-13
11:45 AM - 1:15 PM
In-Person

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This course analyzes two novels by Toni Morrison to discuss the major themes in her works. Specifically, we will examine how her texts reenact and resist racism and patriarchal/postcolonial structures; how they explore the ways in which memory and the past construct identity; and how they present generationally transmitted trauma in the Black community. We will consider socially constructed identity and issues of race, class, and gender. In addition, the class utilizes critical race studies, cultural studies, trauma studies, and psychoanalytic critical approaches to two of Morrison’s novels: The Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon.

Class Type: Reading and Discussion

Class Format: In-Person

Hours of Reading: Reading prior to first session (See Description.)

Study Group Leader(s):

Evelyn Schreiber

Evelyn Jaffe Schreiber, PhD, is Professor Emerita of English at The George Washington University. She is the author of Subversive Voices and Race, Trauma, and Home in the Novels of Toni Morrison, both recipients of the Toni Morrison Society Book Prize and recognized by the MLA. Her edited volume Healing Trauma: The Power of Listening was nominated for the Gradiva Award. Schreiber’s research applies psychoanalytic theory, trauma studies, and cultural analysis to literature, with published work on Morrison, Faulkner, and contemporary theater. She has developed courses on race, identity, trauma, and new plays, and serves as a trained educator at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, working with federal, state, and international groups.

Reading List: