Abstract
Toni Morrison’s 2008 novel A Mercy uses the concepts of world and apocalypse to explore a tension between individual perception (what Morrison calls “particularized worlds”) and larger social systems. In so doing, A Mercy reveals the nuanced networks of relationships that define worlds of belief and culture. By exploring its treatment of worlds and apocalypse and its attitudes toward the characters who experience them, this paper argues that Morisson’s work demonstrates a novel and timely readerly disposition, one that provides a more ethical approach to reading literature within the postcritical and postsecular landscape.
Degree
MA
College and Department
Humanities; English
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Phillips, Eli, "Reading "Particularized Worlds": Apocalypse, the Postsecular, and Postcritique in Toni Morrison's A Mercy" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 11171.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/11171
Date Submitted
2025-04-18
Document Type
Thesis
Permanent Link
https://arks.lib.byu.edu/ark:/34234/q2c417a6a7
Keywords
world, apocalypse, postcritique, postsecular, Toni Morrison, Rita Felski, Bruno Latour, actor-network theory
Language
english