When they hear Toni Morrison’s fiery sermons on race, or read her searing work, people often assume she would have been a fan of modern cancel culture, according to Namwali Serpell, author of the brilliant new deconstruction, “On Morrison.”
On the contrary.
Morrison, in Serpell’s telling, would have had serious problems with the approach to history of many of her own devotees. She didn’t believe in “erasure,” but rather in addition. Add beside the bad statue a better statue. Put a noose the neck of a towering monument to a Confederate general.
This is the kind of idea that has a way of challenging everyone, both the people who still revere those generals and the people who think they have a sacred right not to encounter traces of history that upset them.
It is the kind of challenge great writers make.
We talked this week with May Ink Book Club author Namwali Serpell about her wonderful new book “On Morrison.” We will follow this next week with a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book, each focused on how to read the Nobel Prize winner’s major works. And we’ll discuss why, in Professor Serpell’s view, Morrison relished the role of literary “trickster,” experimenting with style and point of view.
In today’s sit-down, Serpell talked about:
Why Morrison embraced being regarded as “difficult,” and even took this is a compliment
The frustration Morrison felt when the original publishers of her debut novel, “The Bluest Eye,” didn’t do a better job editing that novel, which almost prompted the author to reclaim publishing rights and release a revised edition
Serpell’s “relief” that she never got to meet her subject in person, and Morrison’s desire to “remain a mystery”
Why Morrison’s body of work provides an alternative view of our history as we approach America’s 250th anniversary
You won’t want to miss any of it. Just click on the video player above to watch the entire conversation.
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