"You Can't Just Fly Off and Leave a Body": Toni Morrison's Abolitionist Vision of Justice
Creator
Herbst, Erin
Advisor
Hochman, Brian
Abstract
This thesis explores two of Toni Morrison’s novels — Song of Solomon (1977) and Jazz (1992) — alongside a growing body of scholarship and activism surrounding the contemporary prison abolitionist movement. I argue that Morrison can be read not just as a celebrated author, but as a “theorist of justice,” whose fiction highlights the white supremacist origins and practices of the current U.S. Criminal Justice system and consequently advocates for justice that is rooted in healing, accountability, and repair. I also argue that Morrison’s overall literary project can be interpreted as an attempt for readers to understand that every one of us is capable of harm. Morrison’s determination for us to identify with, or at the very least, see the motivations and desires that drive her characters directly combats the “Otherness” that incarcerated people face in their daily lives, both during their time in the prison system and after their release. Throughout the thesis, I connect the literary community of Morrison scholars to people whose work challenges the structures of the U.S. Criminal Justice system and ultimately calls for their destruction while simultaneously envisioning what true justice might look like and how we can best meet the needs of our fellow people.
Description
M.A.
Permanent Link
http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1062334Date Published
2021Subject
Type
Publisher
Georgetown University
Extent
75 leaves
Collections
Metadata
Show full item recordRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Using Organizational Mision, Vision, and Values to Guide Professional Practice Model Development and Measurement of Nurse Performance
Ingersoll, Gail L.; Witzel, Patricia L.; Smith, Toni C. (2005-02)