ProjectHBW: The Coverage... Of Toni Morrison's Home

Monday, May 14, 2012

[By Kenton Rambsy]

This May, Nobel Prize Winning writer Toni Morrison released her 10^th novel, Home. The relatively short novel (approximately 160 pages) offers alternative visions of American history focusing on racial and social tensions after the Korean War.

Set in the 1950s, the novel disrupts the popular historical narrative that this period in America was characterized by national harmony and prosperity.

Morrison describes the novel as:

“The point was to take the creamy sloppy icing off of the 50’s. We think about the 50’s as some happy ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ Doris Day era. I wanted to write about what it was really like,” Morrison said. “I was sort of annoyed by the nostalgia that had gripped this country … after World War II. Everybody was making money, and they were building houses and fulfilling this so-called dream. But nothing is that pure.”

Certainly, exploring history and rewriting dominant historical narratives may have consequences for how we interpret our current society. The focus on Korean War veterans reintegrating themselves into society after their return “home” from the war certainly has social relevance presently with Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers returning to America to a tense political atmosphere.

Online Coverage of Toni Morrison's Home