Spatial Configurations:

Intersections of Race, Gender and Emancipatory Discourses in Toni Morrison’s Paradise

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to propose an analysis of the spatial configurations in the novel Paradise, by the African American writer Toni Morrison. Morrison presents, through the spaces of Haven, Ruby and the Convent, the story of a community in search of a paradise, free from racial discrimination and where the black community can prosper. By presenting spaces that are constantly configured and reconfigured, and where people experience and reproduce relations of oppression, Morrison questions the concept of paradise conceived not only by the community but also the North-American imaginary. The feminine space of the Convent is presented, in turn, as the possibility of a feminine and emancipatory space, where women can perform alternative spiritualities and identities, share their life stories, and heal themselves.