The Aesthetics of Toni Morrison: Speaking the Unspeakable

Contents

CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Aesthetics and the African American Novel ix "Aesthetic" and "Rapport" in Toni Morrison's Sula 3 Barbara Johnson Language That Bears Witness: The Black English Oral Tradition in the Works of Toni Morrison 12 Yvonne Atkinson Toward the Limits ofMystery: The Grotesque in Toni Morrison's Beloved 31 Susan Corey From the Sublime to the Beautiful: The Aesthetic Progression of Toni Morrison 49 MarcC. Conner Toni Morrison's Beauty Formula 77 Katherine Stern Contentions in the House of Chloe: Morrison's Tar Baby 92 Maria DiBattista Sensations of Loss 113 Michael Wood Meditations on a Bird in the Hand: Ethics and Aesthetics in a Parable by Toni Morrison 125 Cheryl Lester Works Cited 139 Contributors 149 Index 151 ...