Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: A Casebook / Edition 1

by Jan Furman

Overview

The essays in this volume represent the major currents in critical thinking about Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison's widely acclaimed examination of the individual quest for self-knowledge in the context of the African-American experience. This collection offers a broad overview of the scholarship that has emerged in the decades since the 1977 publication of Morrison's third novel. These essays provide a map of the primary themes of Song of Solomon, covering subjects such as self-identity, the rituals of manhood and reading, and the importance of naming, and also explore the novel's incorporation of African myth and African-American folklore. The casebook opens with "The People Could Fly," the African folktale from which Song of Solomon draws important aspects of its plot and major theme, and closes with an interview with Toni Morrison about her life and work as a novelist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195146356
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Series:	Casebooks in Criticism
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	8.38(w) x 5.64(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Jan Furman is Associate Professor of English at the University of Michigan-Flint.

Table of Contents

IntroductionPeople Who Could Fly, Julius LesterPart I: Quest for IdentityThe Quest for and Discovery of Identity in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Valerie SmithThe South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, Healing, and Home, Catherine Carr LeePart II: Myth and Folklore"Unruly and Let Loose": Myth, Ideology, and Gender in Song of Solomon, Michael AwkwardSong of Solomon: Rejecting Rank's Monomyth and Feminism, Gerry BrennerPart III: Narrative InfluenceDoe Hunting and Masculinity: Song of Solomon and Go Down, Moses, John N. DuvallCivilizations Underneath: African Heritage as Cultural Discourse in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Gay WilentzToni Morrison's Song of Solomon: A Blues Song, Joyce M. WegsNames to Bear Witness: The Theme and Tradition of Naming in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Lucinda H. MacKethanPart IV: Historical PerspectivesDead Teachers: Rituals of Manhood and Rituals of Reading in Song of Solomon, Linda KrumholzPart V: An InterviewToni Morrison: The Art of Fiction, Elissa SchappellChronology: African American HistorySelected Bibliography