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The Africa Institute will host Professor Philathia Bolton, its inaugural Toni Morrison Senior Fellow, for her presentation titled, “‘She Speaks Our Language’: Toni Morrison’s Diasporic Resonance” on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 (12:00 noon – 02:00 pm) in The Africa Institute Auditorium (Location Map).
This lecture, based on two works in progress, examines how Toni Morrison’s literature has resonated across the diaspora, particularly among marginalized communities. The phrase ‘she speaks our language,’ borrowed from Dr. Philathia Bolton’s forthcoming chapter in ‘African-American Literature and Culture in Transition’ (Cambridge University Press), originated from a comment made by David Carrasco about an audience in México preparing to hear Toni Morrison. Faced with language barriers, the audience was asked if they desired an interpreter. Their adamant response was a shout from their seats toward the stage: ‘She speaks our language.’
Professor Bolton argues that the visibility Morrison offers to marginalized communities, along with the sense of intimacy she creates in the reader’s interaction with her work, materializes a common diasporic and cultural sensibility. This sensibility parallels the experience of Black people in the U.S. when reading Morrison. The lecture delves into how Morrison achieves this effect and what it is about her storytelling that allows for multiple interpretations and engagement.
Central to the quest to ‘read’ Morrison is her vernacular disposition — her deliberate choice to speak from a racialized perspective with a sovereign, authorial voice that denies the white gaze. ‘She Speaks Our Language’ ultimately encourages the audience to contemplate how Morrison’s global resonance illustrates much of what she articulated in her Nobel Lecture: ‘[Language’s] vitality…lies in its ability to depict the actual, imagined, and potential lives of its speakers, readers, and writers. Although it sometimes displaces experience, it is not a substitute for it. It reaches toward the place where meaning may reside.’ Morrison’s works evoke diverse responses from readers, affirming that storytelling creates its own ‘language,’ where meaning can be discovered among seemingly disparate groups who find common ground.
Dr. Philathia Bolton, the inaugural Toni Morrison Senior Fellow at The Africa Institute, is an Associate Professor of English at The University of Akron in Ohio. Her research focuses on 20th-century African-American literature, the U.S. civil rights movement, and critical race studies. Dr. Bolton has delivered lectures and presented her research at national and international conferences. She has been recognized for her work on colorism in literature and her contributions to understanding the cultural dispositions for writing in African-American literature. Dr. Bolton continues her research at The Africa Institute, revisiting her work on the significance of certain characters in the works of Toni Morrison. She is an alumna of Spelman College, holds a master’s degree, and a doctorate in American Studies from Purdue University-West Lafayette. Read her full profile.
The seminar will be moderated by Elizabeth W. Giorgis, Associate Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism at The Africa Institute. Read her full profile.
Through these lectures and workshops, The Africa Institute reaffirms its mission as a center for the study and research of Africa and its diaspora, and its commitment to the training of a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African Diaspora studies.
The seminar will be in English.
The session is free and open to the public. Registration is mandatory, Click here to book your place.
The Africa Institute will host Professor Philathia Bolton, its inaugural Toni Morrison Senior Fellow, for her presentation titled, “‘She Speaks Our Language’: Toni Morrison’s Diasporic Resonance” on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 (12:00 noon – 02:00 pm) in The Africa Institute Auditorium (Location Map).
The Africa Institute will host Professor Philathia Bolton, its inaugural Toni Morrison Senior Fellow, for her presentation titled, “‘She Speaks Our Language’: Toni Morrison’s Diasporic Resonance” on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 (12:00 noon – 02:00 pm) in The Africa Institute Auditorium (Location Map).
This lecture, based on two works in progress, examines how Toni Morrison’s literature has resonated across the diaspora, particularly among marginalized communities. The phrase ‘she speaks our language,’ borrowed from Dr. Philathia Bolton’s forthcoming chapter in ‘African-American Literature and Culture in Transition’ (Cambridge University Press), originated from a comment made by David Carrasco about an audience in México preparing to hear Toni Morrison. Faced with language barriers, the audience was asked if they desired an interpreter. Their adamant response was a shout from their seats toward the stage: ‘She speaks our language.’
Professor Bolton argues that the visibility Morrison offers to marginalized communities, along with the sense of intimacy she creates in the reader’s interaction with her work, materializes a common diasporic and cultural sensibility. This sensibility parallels the experience of Black people in the U.S. when reading Morrison. The lecture delves into how Morrison achieves this effect and what it is about her storytelling that allows for multiple interpretations and engagement.
Central to the quest to ‘read’ Morrison is her vernacular disposition — her deliberate choice to speak from a racialized perspective with a sovereign, authorial voice that denies the white gaze. ‘She Speaks Our Language’ ultimately encourages the audience to contemplate how Morrison’s global resonance illustrates much of what she articulated in her Nobel Lecture: ‘[Language’s] vitality…lies in its ability to depict the actual, imagined, and potential lives of its speakers, readers, and writers. Although it sometimes displaces experience, it is not a substitute for it. It reaches toward the place where meaning may reside.’ Morrison’s works evoke diverse responses from readers, affirming that storytelling creates its own ‘language,’ where meaning can be discovered among seemingly disparate groups who find common ground.
Dr. Philathia Bolton, the inaugural Toni Morrison Senior Fellow at The Africa Institute, is an Associate Professor of English at The University of Akron in Ohio. Her research focuses on 20th-century African-American literature, the U.S. civil rights movement, and critical race studies. Dr. Bolton has delivered lectures and presented her research at national and international conferences. She has been recognized for her work on colorism in literature and her contributions to understanding the cultural dispositions for writing in African-American literature. Dr. Bolton continues her research at The Africa Institute, revisiting her work on the significance of certain characters in the works of Toni Morrison. She is an alumna of Spelman College, holds a master’s degree, and a doctorate in American Studies from Purdue University-West Lafayette. Read her full profile.
The seminar will be moderated by Elizabeth W. Giorgis, Associate Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism at The Africa Institute. Read her full profile.
Through these lectures and workshops, The Africa Institute reaffirms its mission as a center for the study and research of Africa and its diaspora, and its commitment to the training of a new generation of critical thinkers in African and African Diaspora studies.
The seminar will be in English.
The session is free and open to the public. Registration is mandatory, Click here to book your place.
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