James Baldwin and Toni Morrison: Comparative Critical and Theoretical Essays

This collection of comparative critical and theoretical essays examines James Baldwin and Toni Morrison's reciprocal literary relationship. By reading these authors side-by-side, this collection forges new avenues of discovery and interpretation related to their representations of African American and American literature and cultural experience.

"In James Baldwin and Toni Morrison: Comparing Critical and Theoretical Essays, the first book-length study of this literary dialogue, Lovalerie King and Lynn Orilla Scott offer an unprecedented range of approaches and lines of inquiry, making it essential reading for scholars." - MELUS"The relations among/between artists and writers are extremely important for any full understanding of the process of culture. King and Scott set out to explore in considerable depth one of the most fascinating and understudied connections in African American literature, that between James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. This collection is useful and necessary." - Joseph T. Skerrett, Jr., Director of American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"James Baldwin and Toni Morrisonis a most welcome examination of the connections between two of the most significant authors of the 20th century. The original and often provocative essays contained here shed new light not only on these two great writers but on the cultural and aesthetic fellowship that underlies African-American literature." - David Leeming, author of James Baldwin: A Biography (1994) and secretary/assistant to Baldwin (l964-67)

"This new collection maps out and explores the literary relationship between Baldwin and Morrison and sheds new light on each. It also opens up new avenues of discussion on the themes of race, religion, gender and sexuality more generally in African-American culture. This is a useful contribution to Baldwin and Morrison studies and African-American literature more broadly." - Dr. Douglas Field, Lecturer in Contemporary Literature and Culture, Staffordshire University

"This collection of diverse essays offers a long over-due exploration of rich thematic connections, narrative consonances, theoretical crosscurrents, and ideological contentions in the two writers who have redefined twentieth-century American letters. It reaffirms the brilliance of Morrison s works while illuminating her indebtedness to Baldwin, and teases out the lessons that she taught him as a black woman writer. Its insights into Baldwin s neglected later works help us to see anew the complex artistic trajectory that has led him to become our black queer ancestor and witness." - Magdalena J. Zaborowska, University of Michigan

LOVALERIE KING is Assistant Professor of African American Language and Literature at Pennsylvania State University-University Park, USA.    LYNN ORILLA SCOTT is Visiting Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, USA.