“Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy
Defining the writing of violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy (2008) means conceiving of a poetics of abandonment in a text where the act of reading must supplement the failings of language. “Buried,” violence is the repressed at the heart of trauma; it is part and parcel of memory. The text mimics th...
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/5053 |
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| author | Claudine Raynaud |
| author_facet | Claudine Raynaud |
| author_sort | Claudine Raynaud |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Defining the writing of violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy (2008) means conceiving of a poetics of abandonment in a text where the act of reading must supplement the failings of language. “Buried,” violence is the repressed at the heart of trauma; it is part and parcel of memory. The text mimics the resurgence of traumatic images, their compulsive repetition to signify the splitting of the subject, between gift and debt against the background of enslavement. The scene of violence with the foundling Malaik replays the insufferable of loss and expulsion, a veritable erasure from language. Florens’s dream “dreams back”: the awakening at the heart of her dream is the very site of trauma (Caruth). Symbolically, like the Native American ritual corn-husk dolls, a faceless daughter faces an inaudible mother. Reading becomes the site of the missed encounter with the Real to “tell” the trauma and performs the mother-daughter link. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-484a8bd76e764b6ebce91c4932a2eb9b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte" |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sillages Critiques |
| spelling | doaj-art-484a8bd76e764b6ebce91c4932a2eb9b2025-01-30T13:47:21ZengCentre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"Sillages Critiques1272-38191969-63022017-03-012210.4000/sillagescritiques.5053“Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A MercyClaudine RaynaudDefining the writing of violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy (2008) means conceiving of a poetics of abandonment in a text where the act of reading must supplement the failings of language. “Buried,” violence is the repressed at the heart of trauma; it is part and parcel of memory. The text mimics the resurgence of traumatic images, their compulsive repetition to signify the splitting of the subject, between gift and debt against the background of enslavement. The scene of violence with the foundling Malaik replays the insufferable of loss and expulsion, a veritable erasure from language. Florens’s dream “dreams back”: the awakening at the heart of her dream is the very site of trauma (Caruth). Symbolically, like the Native American ritual corn-husk dolls, a faceless daughter faces an inaudible mother. Reading becomes the site of the missed encounter with the Real to “tell” the trauma and performs the mother-daughter link.https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/5053TraumaCathy CaruthToni MorrisonA MercyLanguageViolence |
| spellingShingle | Claudine Raynaud “Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy Sillages Critiques Trauma Cathy Caruth Toni Morrison A Mercy Language Violence |
| title | “Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy |
| title_full | “Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy |
| title_fullStr | “Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy |
| title_short | “Living the Dying Inside”: Writing Violence in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy |
| title_sort | living the dying inside writing violence in toni morrison s a mercy |
| topic | Trauma Cathy Caruth Toni Morrison A Mercy Language Violence |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/5053 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT claudineraynaud livingthedyinginsidewritingviolenceintonimorrisonsamercy |