The Turkish Reader’s Reception of Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif”

“Recitatif,” the only short story published by the celebrated American writer Toni Morrison, invites reflection on the implications of “the Other” and whether the entire concept needs to be rethought. As an enthusiastic reader of the story and as an instructor who has been teaching it for five years in the Turkish context, I believe that its implications stretch far beyond the American context; it is what Roland Barthes has described as a “writerly” text 4 , inviting readers to compare their experiences of the text with their own cultural backgrounds. This piece will show how this process works by offering a case-study as to how it might be taught and received in the Turkish context.