Song of Solomon (For Further Study)

For Further Study

• Bertram D. Ashe, "'Why Don't He Like My Hair?': Constructing African-American Standards of Beauty in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God," African American Review, Vol. 29, Winter 1995, pp. 579-92.

  Ashe discusses how Black women deal with white standards of beauty by using examples from novels by Morrison and Hurston.

• Susan L. Blake, "Folklore and Community in Song of Solomon," MELUS, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 77-83.

  Blake discusses the tensions between community and individuality in Song of Solomon.

• Joseph A. Brown, "To Cheer the Weary Traveler: Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, and History," The Mississippi Quarterly, Vol. 49, Fall, 1996, pp. 709-26.

  This essay contrasts William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! with Morrison's Song of Solomon.

• David Cowart, "Faulkner and Joyce in Morrison's Song of Solomon," American Literature, Vol. 62, No. 1, March, 1990, pp. 87-102.

  This piece discusses some of the literary influences on Morrison's work.

• Chiara Spallino, "Song of Solomon: An Adventure in Structure," in Callaloo, Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring-Summer, 1985, pp. 510-24.

  This essay maps the structure of Morrison's novel and discusses the differences between the "family past" and the "mythic past" in the novel.

• Gary Storhoff, "'Anaconda Love:' Parental Enmeshment in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon," Style, Vol. 31, No. 2, Summer, 1997, pp. 290-309.

  Storhoff shows how each of Morrison's characters suffer from their dysfunctional family relationships.

• Jean Strouse, "Toni Morrison's Black Magic," Newsweek, March 30, 1981, p. 52.

  Strouse's cover story on Toni Morrison's life and career marks the publication of her fourth novel, Tar Baby.

• Darwin T. Turner, "Theme, Characterization and Style in the Works of Toni Morrison," in Black Women Writers: A Critical Evaluation, edited by Mari Evans, Anchor Press, 1984, pp. 361-69.

  This piece gives a broad overview of Morrison's first four novels.