It “completely rewired how one could write and think about slavery.” “I’ve been thinking about this book for a long time,” Sharpe told the class. Morrison’s fifth novel, in contrast, focuses on the interiority of the enslaved and formerly enslaved, placing the textures of their lives at the center of the story. Historically, narratives about slavery prioritized white readers, displaying atrocities to rouse support for abolition. The book was fat with stickie notes and tabs, its pages so marked up with highlights, exclamations, notes and annotations that it resembled a devotional. She smoothed a hand over the well-worn cover. Sharpe, who is 57, sat poised in a black tunic over black pants and boots, her red lips immaculate. Sharpe pulled out her copy, which she has had for more than 30 years and keeps carefully sheathed in protective plastic. No one in attendance had read the book before. That week they were discussing “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison. They trickled in, arranging themselves around the classroom. Campus felt sleepy, blanketed in snow from a recent storm. Christina Sharpe was waiting for her students to arrive. On a recent Monday afternoon at York University in Toronto, Dr.
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