Recitatif

This article is about the short story. For the musical form, see recitative.
"Recitatif"
Short story by Toni Morrison
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Short story, fiction
Publication
Published inConfirmation: An Anthology of African American Women
Publication typeBook
PublisherMorrow
Publication date1983

"Recitatif" is Toni Morrison's first published short story. It was initially published in 1983 in Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women,[1] an anthology edited by Amiri Baraka and Amina Baraka, and is the only short story written by the acclaimed novelist. The story was reissued as a stand-alone book, introduced by Zadie Smith, published in February 2022.[2]

"Recitatif" is a story in racial writing, as the race of Twyla and Roberta are debatable.[3] Though the characters are clearly separated by class, neither is affirmed as African-American or White.[4] Morrison has described the story as "the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial".[5]

  1. ^ Sustana, Catherine (January 7, 2019). "What Does Toni Morrison's 'Recitatif' Mean?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Italie, Hillel (January 7, 2022). "Rare Toni Morrison short story 'Recitatif' to publish as book with intro by Zadie Smith". USA Today. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  3. ^ Kumamoto Stanley, Sandra (June 1, 2011). "Maggie in Toni Morrison's 'Recitatif': The Africanist Presence and Disability Studies". MELUS. 36 (2): 71–88. doi:10.1353/mel.2011.0034. ISSN 0163-755X. S2CID 162442576.
  4. ^ Benjamin, Shanna Greene (May 14, 2013). "The Space that Race Creates: An Interstitial Analysis of Toni Morrison's 'Recitatif'". Studies in American Fiction. 40 (1): 87–106. doi:10.1353/saf.2013.0004. ISSN 2158-5806. S2CID 162497875.
  5. ^ Toni Morrison (1992), Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Harvard University Press, Preface, p. xi.