Toni Morrison, while still working as an editor at Random House, saw her second novel Sula published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1973, amidst the developing second wave of the women’s movement and the persistence of Vietnam War protests, and during the ebbing years of the Black Arts and Aesthetics Movement era in the United States. If Morrison’s Sula was not directly influenced by the environment of war and political resistance of the 1960s and 70s, the novel was certainly informed by the social energies generated during this embattled era.

The lives of Morrison’s two main characters, Nel Wright Green and Sula Peace, along with the rich, though dying, culture of their neighbourhood, the Bottom, are the ce

This article in full comprises 1802 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

Published 11 September 2003

Citation: Jimoh, A Yemisi. "Sula". The Literary Encyclopedia. 11 September 2003.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1799, accessed 20 November 2009.]