Noemi Fenandez Lambarda

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I am fascinated by how the rhetorical and thematic constructions of race in postbellum American literature have influenced broader racial narratives within US culture. I intend to use the types of questions that Morrison invokes in “The Trouble with Paradise” as a guide for my research: What does a “race specific/race free” language look like? To what degree—as readers—do we depend on racial markers and other identity signposts to navigate literature? What, if any, is the reconciliatory potential in language? I will draw from literary theory, political theory, and cultural studies to trace how this language operates with the ultimate aim of advancing Morrison’s linguistic project.