“On all of its levels, memory is defined by an intricate interaction between remembering and forgetting. ”This statement certainly includes the term “race”, a term that has, for a long time, been very present in American history and is still of high importance today. Toni Morrison deals to a great extent with this term in her writings, for example her only short story "Recitatif", where two girls of different races witness a beating incident in the orphanage “St. Bonny's” they live in and who, in the course of the story, revisit their memories of the incident several times. In the 20th century, many analyses of "Recitatif" therefore focused on putting racial markers on the two protagonists, showing how Morrison wants to make her readers aware of their own racial stereotypes.
This approach is justified and certainly reveals much of Morrison's intention as the author, but I suggest that the story does not merely deal with racial markers. Hence, this paper will focus on a character that has often been left out: Maggie, the kitchen worker of St. Bonny's. Androne, Stanley and Benjamin are major voices in a small body of Recitatif scholarship that centre on Maggie: Androne offered a ground breaking study focusing on maternal figures, whereas Stanley analyses the story in the light of disability studies. Thus, it will be shown that Maggie has several functions in the text that add to the meaning of the text as well as the understanding for the reader.
This paper will investigate "Recitatif" in the light of the concepts of memory and history. I claim that through the character of Maggie, readers can better understand the memory and history of the term “race” in American history. It will be shown how the returning and dividing memories of the incident with Maggie challenge Twyla and Roberta to not accept their memory as complete. Furthermore, it will be shown that Maggie's interstitial narrative provides, at least to a certain extent, answers to the implied question driving Recitatif: if memory is so unstable, how can whites and blacks ever communicate effectively about the history they share?
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
MAIN PART
Ways of Reading Recitatif
Different Formats of Memories
The Approach of Reading Recitatif in “the space in between” the Binaries
First Encounter - Maggie Representing a Marginalized History
Second Encounter – A Shared Desire for Silence about the Past
Third Encounter – Diverging Accounts Introduce the Possibility of Multiple Truths
Fourth Encounter - The Truth Lies in “the space in between”
Fifth Encounter – The Question of Guilt
The Function of Maggie´s Bowed Legs as Parentheses
The Intertwining of History and Memory in “the space in between”
CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Themes
This academic paper examines Toni Morrison's short story Recitatif through the theoretical lenses of memory and history, specifically focusing on the character of Maggie as an interstitial, marginalized figure. The primary research objective is to investigate how the protagonists' conflicting memories of Maggie challenge the traditional racial binaries and reveal the complex, unstable nature of American racial history, ultimately suggesting that genuine reconciliation requires moving beyond binary oppositions into a shared, interstitial "space in between."
- The intersection of personal memory and collective history in American literature.
- The significance of Maggie as an "interstitial" figure who occupies the space between racial and social binaries.
- The deconstruction of the victim versus victimizer binary through the protagonists' shared past.
- The role of "parenthetical" narratives and metaphors in uncovering suppressed historical truths.
Excerpt from the Book
First Encounter - Maggie Representing a Marginalized History
Twyla and Roberta encounter each other for the first time at St. Bonaventure´s, referred to as St. Bonny´s, an integrated state-sponsored orphanage and foster care facility for young women and girls in upstate New York. They are not real orphans but are “dumped” at the facility because Twyla´s mother “dance[s] all night” and Roberta´s mother is sick. Since they are not “real orphans”, the other girls snub at Twyla and Roberta. At the beginning, the two respond negatively to each other because of their racial difference, but these concerns fade as they are left to themselves and they find some solace in their mutual maternal alienation and disconnection. The bond between them is built upon the difference between them and other girls in the home and this bond also conceals complications of race and class. Morrison allows St. Bonny´s to be a place of interracial interaction, where girls of many different races must not only engage in renewal but also in outreach to another since all who come there begin from the same point of abandonment. At the same time, Morrison also allows it to be a place of discord, where human potential meets human failure and human catastrophe, revealed in the incident with Maggie: Twyla and Roberta witness the older girls attacking Maggie, a decrepit and apparently mute cook.
Chapter Summary
INTRODUCTION: The introduction sets the stage by positioning Recitatif within the context of memory and history, introducing Maggie as a crucial yet often overlooked character who represents marginalized histories.
MAIN PART: This section serves as the core analysis, deconstructing the protagonists' encounters and the metaphors surrounding Maggie to explore the complexities of memory, guilt, and racial identity.
Ways of Reading Recitatif: This chapter contextualizes the story's title and establishes the theoretical framework, arguing for a reading that moves beyond simple racial categorization towards an investigation of memory.
Different Formats of Memories: This chapter defines the four formats of memory according to Assmann, providing the necessary theoretical tools to analyze Twyla's and Roberta's evolving recollections.
The Approach of Reading Recitatif in “the space in between” the Binaries: This chapter outlines the paper's methodology of looking "in between" obvious binaries, such as victim/victimizer and black/white, to uncover deeper narrative meanings.
First Encounter - Maggie Representing a Marginalized History: This chapter analyzes the girls' initial meeting at the orphanage, establishing Maggie's role as a scapegoat and the site of the girls' shared but repressed trauma.
Second Encounter – A Shared Desire for Silence about the Past: This chapter explores the girls' first adult meeting, highlighting their attempt to bury their shared history and their mutual identification with Maggie as an outsider.
Third Encounter – Diverging Accounts Introduce the Possibility of Multiple Truths: This chapter discusses the fracture in the protagonists' shared history as Roberta challenges Twyla's version of the orphanage incident, exposing the instability of their memory.
Fourth Encounter - The Truth Lies in “the space in between”: This chapter examines the bussing protest scene, where racial tensions exacerbate the girls' disagreement and force a confrontation with their own roles as both victims and victimizers.
Fifth Encounter – The Question of Guilt: This chapter analyzes the final meeting at a diner, where the protagonists finally attempt to confront their repressed guilt and realize the necessity of relinquishing individual narratives.
The Function of Maggie´s Bowed Legs as Parentheses: This chapter explores the metaphor of Maggie's legs, arguing that it represents the "parenthetical" nature of marginalized histories that deserve central consideration.
The Intertwining of History and Memory in “the space in between”: This chapter concludes the analysis by juxtaposing history and memory, arguing that they are inextricably linked and that we have a responsibility to search for un-marginalized, shared accounts of the past.
CONCLUSION: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, reiterating that Recitatif serves as a call to move beyond binary oppositions and perform the necessary self-reflection to construct a cooperative, cross-racial narrative.
Keywords
Recitatif, Toni Morrison, Memory, History, Maggie, Racial Binaries, Interstitial, Victimizer, Trauma, Identity, Marginalized History, Parenthetical, Cultural Memory, Reconciliation, Narrative
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this academic analysis?
The work focuses on Toni Morrison’s short story Recitatif, using the character of Maggie as a lens to investigate the complex interplay between memory, history, and the social construction of racial identity.
What are the primary themes discussed in the paper?
Central themes include the instability of memory, the deconstruction of racial and social binaries, the role of trauma in shaping personal identity, and the necessity of confronting suppressed historical narratives.
What is the core research question or objective?
The primary objective is to answer how Black and White Americans can communicate effectively about their shared, often painful history, suggesting that genuine dialogue is found in the "space in between" rather than in fixed, polarized positions.
Which theoretical and scientific methods are employed?
The author utilizes memory theory—specifically citing Aleida Assmann and Maurice Halbwachs—and applies "interstitial" or "in-between" analysis to literary texts, drawing on disability studies and Africanist critique.
What topics are addressed in the main part of the paper?
The main part provides a close reading of the five encounters between the protagonists, Twyla and Roberta, analyzes the metaphor of Maggie’s legs as "parentheses," and investigates the concepts of motherhood and guilt as they relate to historical memory.
Which keywords best describe the paper's scope?
Key terms include Recitatif, memory, history, interstitial space, racial binaries, marginalized narratives, identity construction, and cross-racial reconciliation.
How does the author define the "space in between"?
The "space in between" is defined as an interstitial, theoretical location that exists beyond rigid binary oppositions like Black versus White or victim versus victimizer, where multiple truths and un-marginalized histories can emerge.
Why is Maggie considered a "parenthetical" figure?
Maggie is considered "parenthetical" because she is often relegated to the sidelines of the protagonists' stories; however, the paper argues that her presence, like a parenthetical phrase, contains vital information necessary for understanding the "main story" of American racial history.
- Quote paper
- Janina Madlener (Author), 2015, What the hell happened to Maggie? Memory and History of Race in Toni Morrisons's "Recitatif", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/415673
