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Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination Paperback – July 27, 1993
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Morrison shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires. According to the Chicago Tribune, Morrison "reimagines and remaps the possibility of America." Her brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition.
Written with the artistic vision that has earned the Nobel Prize-winning author a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark is an invaluable read for avid Morrison admirers as well as students, critics, and scholars of American literature.
- Print length91 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateJuly 27, 1993
- Dimensions5.2 x 0.31 x 7.95 inches
- ISBN-100679745424
- ISBN-13978-0679745426
- Lexile measure1260L
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"By going for the American literary jugular...she places her arguments...at the very heart of contemporary public conversation about what it is to be authentically and originally American. [She] boldly...reimagines and remaps the possibility of America." --Chicago Tribune
"Toni Morrison is the closest thing the country has to a national writer." --The New York Times Book Review
From the Publisher
From the Inside Flap
Toni Morrison's brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition. She shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires.
Written with the artistic vision that has earned Toni Morrison a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark will be avidly read by Morrison admirers as well as by students, critics, and scholars of America
From the Back Cover
Toni Morrison's brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition. She shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly "unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires.
Written with the artistic vision that has earned Toni Morrison a pre-eminent place in modern letters, Playing in the Dark will be avidly read by Morrison admirers as well as by students, critics, and scholars of American literature.
"By going for the American literary jugular...she places her arguments...at the very heart of contemporary public conversation about what it is to be authentically and originally American. [She] boldly...reimagines and remaps the possibility of America."
"--Chicago Tribune
"Toni Morrison is the closest thing the country has to a national writer."
"The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Vintage; Reprint edition (July 27, 1993)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 91 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0679745424
- ISBN-13 : 978-0679745426
- Lexile measure : 1260L
- Item Weight : 3.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.2 x 0.31 x 7.95 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #76,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She is the author of several novels, including The Bluest Eye, Beloved (made into a major film), and Love. She has received the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize. She is the Robert F. Goheen Professor at Princeton University.
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You had to love her novels. To read them was to live them.
The first of her nonfiction I have read is her recent Playing in the Dark. Her analysis, her perspective, her depth of thinking is what I would expect from her - brilliant. To read it is to learn.
We used to exchange Christmas cards; but my many moves have now precluded that. So, it is good to hear from you again, Toni. Thank you again.
- John Gibson
Playing in the Dark also examines the use of blacks in literay works. it explores how black characters are somewhat a non entity. They are used somewhat as a prop, a filler, though, the story and/or the story line, in many cases could not exist without these characters.
the book explores how the authors do not know how to develop these characters because the authors themselves have a preconceived opinion of blacks, therefore it would be almost impossible for them to understand how to utilize these characters in a way that enriches their story.
Top reviews from other countries
PoeやHemingwayを読んだときに感じるわだかまりも、ある意味すっきりしました。
短いのですぐに読める。余分なことが書いてない。







