Works Cited

DuCille, Ann. The Coupling Convention: Sex, Text, and Tradition in Black Women’s Fiction. Oxford University Press, 1993.

• This book compares the patterns of white and African American writers. It draws an historical account of the black literary tradition, focusing mostly on black female writers, in order to examine their use of tropes, such as the marriage plot, popularized by white authors, and how they rejected and reworked such tropes to the end of reclaiming their sexuality. It further sketches out cultural attitudes towards non-traditional relationships throughout history.

Malmgren, Carl D. “Texts, Primers, and Voices in Toni Morrison’s the Bluest Eye.” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Janet Witalec, vol. 173, Gale, 2003. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/apps/doc/QKPMSE517876176/GLS?u=cuny_hunter&sid=GLS&xid=04d83dce. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019. Originally published in Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 41, no. 3, Spring 2000, pp. 251-262.

• This article looks at how Morrison uses a variety of diverse voices and perspectives in The Bluest Eye. From a much more technical perspective than many of the other sources, it analyzes the text to determine Morrison’s intent in using her many different techniques.

Moses, Cat. “The Blues Aesthetic in Toni Morrison’s the Bluest Eye.” African American Review, vol. 33, no. 4, 1999, pp. 623–637. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2901343.

• This article looks at the ways in which The Bluest Eye acts as a piece of music. In the course of doing so, it analyzes the characters of the three prostitutes, coming to find that they represent reclaimance of female sexuality as opposed to victimhood, as many others  argue.

Pal, Payel and Neelakantan, Gurumurthy. “Morrison’s Prostitutes in The Bluest Eye.” Notes on Contemporary Literature. Volume 44. Pages 4-7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261527825_Morrison’s_Prostitutes_in_The_Bluest_Eye

• This article analyzes the role of the characters of China, Poland and Miss Marie in The Bluest Eye, looking at the facets of life these women give us insight into that no other characters are able to show us. It argues that in many ways they better adhered to society’s standards than many of the other characters.

Rickard, Wendy, and Merl Storr. “Editorial: Sex Work Reassessed.” Feminist Review, no. 67, 2001, pp. 1–4. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1395526.

• This article explores efforts to shift negative attitudes towards sex workers by giving insight into the hugely diverse life experiences sex workers go through. It provides anecdotal evidence of how sex workers are regarded and gives a modern account of social attitudes, likely most directly applicable to the time right after Morrison would have been writing The Bluest Eye.

Saleem, Taqwaa Falaq, “The Village Mother in Selected Works of Toni Morrison” (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 180. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/180

• This article examines the “surrogate mother” characters in Morrison’s novels. In looking at China, Poland and Miss Marie in The Bluest Eye, the author concludes that they are the most prominent motherly figures in Pecola’s life, and looks at the implications of this evaluation.

Scott, Lynn. “Beauty, Virtue and Disciplinary Power: A Foucauldian Reading of Toni Morrison’s the Bluest Eye.” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Janet Witalec, vol. 173, Gale, 2003. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/apps/doc/SNXFMQ391694420/GLS?u=cuny_hunter&sid=GLS&xid=65607942. Accessed 5 May 2019. Originally published in Midwestern Miscellany, vol. 24, 1996, pp. 9-23.

• This article looks at the historical and cultural context surrounding The Bluest Eye to better examine the power structures at play. Although it does not contain an analysis of Morrison’s prostitutes, its historical discourse and analytical method are both very informative.

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