Date of Award
5-2026
Degree Type
Report
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
English
Committee Chair(s)
Travis Franks (Committee Chair)
Committee
Travis Franks
Committee
Adena Rivera-Dundas
Committee
CR Grimmer
Abstract
This thesis explores how Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel The Bluest Eye has a feature called the uncanny. Uncanniness, as originally explained by Sigmund Freud, is when something that was familiar becomes unsettlingly unfamiliar in a way that was likely once repressed. Other thinkers have since talked about how the uncanny is used in stories to question how their demographics are oppressed. Following their example, this thesis explains how The Bluest Eye is an example of using the uncanny to question harmful ways of seeing. Through demonstrating how The Bluest Eye uses obviously uncanny things like dolls and moves to more complex uncanny examples such as inverting the coming-of-age story altogether, this thesis conveys just how the novel uses these features to question racist and ultimately harmful perceptions of African Americans.
Recommended Citation
Callor, Seth L., "Uncanniness in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye" (2026). All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present. 146.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports2023/146
Included in
African American Studies Commons, American Literature Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons
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