Beloved,: Character Studies

by Nancy J. Peterson

Overview

Beloved is an extraordinary novel: it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1987, and author Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Lterature in 1993. Set in the era of slavery, emancipation, and reconstruction in the United States, Beloved explores essential questions involving freedom, selfhood, love, and responsibility. The novel's intricate narrative strategies, its compelling cast of characters, and its exploration of African American history make Beloved a richly complex and often difficult text. This guide to Morrison's novel will help readers not only to understand the story in depth, but to develop sophisticated skills of literary analysis. Readers who grapple successfully with Beloved's characters will also gain valuable insight into the rich thematics and haunting philosophical questions of the novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826495747
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/21/2008
Series:	Character Studies
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Nancy J. Peterson is Associate Professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University, USA. She is the author of Against Amnesia: Contemporary Women Writers and the Crises of Historical Memory (U of Pennsylvania P) and the editor of Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches (John Hopkins UP).

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Preface1. Introduction: An Overview of Beloved 2. History and Beloved 3. Mothers and Daughters in the Novel 4. The Uncanny Presence of Beloved 5. Reconstructing Black Manhood 6. Whitefolks and Whiteness in Beloved 7. Conclusion: Through the Characters to the Key Themes and Issues 8. Bibliography of Further Reading Index

Editorial Reviews

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"[Nancy J. Peterson] engages anew with the novel's historical depth and, often underestimated, philosophical intensity. Her inspired and inspiring readings of Beloved from a variety of important critical perspectives persistently demonstrate how and why this novel changed the nature of African American discourse." Linden Peach, Professor of English, Edge Hill University, Liverpool

"A splendid meditation on the creative genius of one of America's most treasured writers. Peterson not only taps into the dynamic literary and cultural currents that shore up the richly textured layers of the novel. She synonymously reveals Morrison's ability to challenge the reader to move beyond his or her comfort zone." Dr. Carol E Henderson, Associate Professor of English, University of Delaware

From the Publisher