Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination – Toni Morrison (1992)
In this seminal work of literary criticism, Toni Morrison interrogates the invisible racial assumptions embedded in American literature. Through incisive analysis of classic texts by white authors—from Hemingway and Cather to Poe and Twain—she exposes how the concept of “whiteness” relies on an unspoken but potent “Africanist presence.” Morrison demonstrates how Blackness has been used as a metaphorical foil throughout literary history, serving to define everything from freedom and innocence to evil and desire, while Black characters themselves remain voiceless or marginal.
Drawing on her signature lyrical precision, Morrison argues that the American literary imagination cannot be understood without confronting its racialized foundations. The book challenges readers to see how canonical narratives, even those seemingly unconcerned with race, are shaped by the specter of slavery and the enduring hierarchy it established. More than a critique, Playing in the Dark offers a radical framework for re-reading literature through the lens of racial construction.
A compact but transformative work, it remains a cornerstone of critical race theory and a testament to Morrison’s enduring genius in exposing the hidden architectures of power in storytelling. Her closing meditation on the “wet light of a dreaminess” that veils racial violence in literature resonates as urgently today as when first published.
