Graduation Year
2005
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
English
Major Professor
John Fleming, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Gurleen Grewal, Ph.D.
Committee Member
William T. Ross, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Ruth Bains, Ph.D.
Keywords
Spaciality, Theory, Exclusion, African-American, Gender studies, African-american
Abstract
Toni Morrison's recovery of the African-American presence in her novels is uniquely tied to the space of the kitchen. The recovery of the African-American presence has been accomplished in various ways for various groups: historians, critics, authors, sociologists. They have named names, recalled incidents, and "discovered" texts. Recovery has been accomplished by reconstructing culture through songs, storytelling, folklore and myth. Morrison establishes a connection between the space of the Garden that represents a white male empowered world in which African-American women have difficulty establishing power to a space of the kitchen where we see how well each character has been able to confront the public sphere (garden) and maintain her sense of self and a sense of empowerment. Each character's interiority is reflected in the activities and her relationship to the kitchen.
Scholar Commons Citation
Chroninger, Betty J., "From Strange Fruit to Fruitful Kitchens: The Space of the Kitchen in Toni Morrison’s Novels" (2005). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/2825
