Towards an understanding of BELOVED: Feb-Mar 2021

Towards an understanding of BELOVED by Toni Morrison
Tuesdays, February 2; March 2 at 7-9 pm | All sessions will be via Zoom | Facilitated by UCE member Barbara Hiles Mesle

If you see Toni Morrison’s novel BELOVED as daunting, that’s all the more reason it’s appropriate to discuss with friends. If you happen to have read all or parts of it before, or other novels by Ms. Morrison, you will see many connections on this re-reading. If you are new to Ms. Morrison’s works, prepare to be dazzled by this beautiful and brilliant writer. My exploratory approach– in the limited time we have– will be to focus on the ways this novel suggests that Traumas (both individual and collective) might be faced and stared down. Why do some characters develop resilience and even healing? What can we learn about facing our own traumas and the traumas of the United States? How might an introductory understanding of traditional African religions help us think about this novel? What did Morrison mean when she said her lifelong project was to write the story of African American girls and women back into American history? Why did Morrison win the Nobel Prize for literature (the first African American woman to do so) for this work? This important and compelling storytelling is worth your attention

Who is Barbara Hiles Mesle?

As a college professor of literature, (MA University of Chicago, Ph.D the University of Kansas), I taught a seminar in the novels of Toni Morrison for more than a decade. Ms. Morrison, in my opinion, may be considered the Shakespeare of the 21st century. I have a lot of experience making her novels more accessible and seeing connections within her impressive body of work. I think of Toni as a friend of my heart and mind (though I never met her in person).

I loved my job as an English teacher for more 40 years, most of them at a small university. But I was often reluctant to tell strangers that I was a professor of literature and writing. Why? Because sometimes this pall would come over their face, as if I was silently correcting their grammar, undangling their participles, and looking for “hidden meaning.” I promise you that is not me! After a lifetime of discussing literary texts, I have developed great respect for the insights of readers. You have things to teach me too! Let’s work together to begin to unpack this lovely novel.