"In a close reading of Morrison's famed story "Recitatif," Serpell examines the ways that "race, often relegated to a visual regime, fundamentally works through language." Enriching her research with letters, draft manuscripts, and other sources, Serpell captures Morrison's "masterful difficulty" without sanding down its edges."
"Reflecting on the meaning of the scale as an object, Nganang draws an ominous historical line from the present to the past, noting that "the scale was the very last instrument Black people stepped onto before boarding the slave ships, before entering the soul-wrenching and dreaded institution of their despair.""
Namwali Serpell's essay collection analyzes Toni Morrison's literary innovations, including her distinctive use of voice, unconventional time structures, and intricate metaphors. Through close readings like her examination of "Recitatif," Serpell demonstrates how Morrison explores race through language rather than visual representation. Using letters and manuscripts, Serpell preserves the challenging complexity of Morrison's work. Patrice Nganang's memoir recounts his Cameroon youth in the 1970s-80s, centered on his work as a scale boy. Through lyrical anecdotes, Nganang traces his intellectual development alongside his nation's colonial history, using the scale as a symbol connecting personal memory to the historical trauma of slavery and the Middle Passage.
Read at The New Yorker
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