[Ads-l] Question about a quotation employed by Toni Morrison

[Stephen Goranson]

Though I have read some writing of Tolstoy and some of Morrison, who appreciated him, I am no expert in either. Two grains of salt already.
The Morrison Nobel speech included fiction.
Tolstoy was often nominated but not awarded.
The story poet quote has not been located, outside of the story.
What to do?
or must be done, etc.
subtitle: Thoughts Evoked by the Census of Moscow,
followed by text from Luke 3:10-11 and other NT verses.
...red-faced peasant in bast shoes...
elsewhere in Tolstoy: barefaced, barefaced...
Maybe my guess was mistaken.
Stephen Goranson
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 9:13 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Question about a quotation employed by Toni Morrison

Yes, I agree that the quotation is embedded, and it is employed by
"some young people". What is the connection to Tolstoy?
Garson


On Sun, Feb 5, 2023 at 8:18 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
> I do not have the requested identity, maybe, maybe because this is a story that does not require such?
> This may be a quote within a quote by "some young people"--plural, yet speaking with one voice?
> Did Morrison sneak in a technically inaccurate allusion to non-Nobel winner Tolstoy?
> sg
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2023 4:07 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Question about a quotation employed by Toni Morrison
>
> Nobel laureate Toni Morrison credited a quotation to an unnamed poet
> in her Nobel Lecture. A doctoral student sent me a request to identify
> the unnamed poet, but I have not made any progress. Perhaps someone on
> this mailing list would be willing to explore this topic. Below is the
> excerpt containing the quotation:
>
> Website: nobelprize.org
> Article: Nobel Lecture
> Lecture date: December 7, 1993
> Author: Toni Morrison
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1993/morrison/lecture/__;!!OToaGQ!tBdTVSCAmr3ptoVuDHBPPfUu2Etfprp973eBt7z4ADtkrNRTRDGb0HGh3BYxC3M8ioyShKbGxNzDUcWz5RXZpX3JUg$
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> We have heard all our short lives that we have to be responsible. What
> could that possibly mean in the catastrophe this world has become;
> where, as a poet said, "nothing needs to be exposed since it is
> already barefaced." Our inheritance is an affront. You want us to have
> your old, blank eyes and see only cruelty and mediocrity.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson O’Toole
> QuoteInvestigator.com
>
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