LLST
3056

"The Revelation and the Word": Toni Morrison & Language

Eugene Lang College Lib Arts: Literary Studies

Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students
Toni Morrison and Language
Fall 2023
Taught By: Gabrielle Williams
Section: A

CRN: 14291

Credits: 4

This course explores the life and work of Toni Morrison (1931-2019), focusing on the author’s deft negotiation of what she terms “the problem of language” in conveying renderings of “indisputably black” life. Incomparable in her writerly capacities, Morrison, never ceased to stretch her intellect and imagination to create language (fiction and non-fiction based) capable of arresting easy conflation of her visions of “indisputably black” life with monolithic, grossly drawn visions of black life that run rampant in the U.S, particularly along lines of ability, class, gender, race, and sex. In our course, we will read a selection of Morrison’s essays and novels, and also view a key documentary about the author, in pursuit of understanding not only Morrison’s wonderfully complex relationship(s) with language, but also the complexities of our own.

This course fulfills the Single Author/Text requirement in Literary Studies.
After the first week of the semester, permission of the instructor will be required in order to register for this course.

College: Eugene Lang College Lib Arts (LC)

Department: Literary Studies (LLST)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Seminar (R)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 18

Add/Drop Deadline: September 11, 2023 (Monday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: November 19, 2023 (Sunday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Waitlist*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 12:02am EDT 5/30/2023

Meeting Info:
Days: Monday, Wednesday
Times: 4:00pm - 5:40pm
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 8/28/2023 - 12/11/2023