Transcription of The Site ofMemory
1 TONIMORRISONTheSiteofMemory~~inInventing theTruth:TheArtandCraftofMemoir,2ded., (Boston;NewYork:HoughtonMifflin,1995),83 -102 Myinclusionina seriesoftalksonautobiographyandmemoirisn otentirelya 'sprob-ablytruethata fictionwriterthinksofhisorherworkasalien inthatcompany,whatI havetosaymaysuggestwhyI' ,Imightthrowintoreliefthedifferencesbetw eenself-rec-ollection(memoir)andfiction, (asdistinguishedfromtheoralorigins) (autobiog-raphies,recollections,memoirs) ,ofwhichwelloverahundredwerepublished, 'sTheInterestingNar-rativeoftheLifeofOla udahEquiano,orGustavusT-'lJssa,theAfrica n,WrittenbyHimself(r769)tothequietdesper ationofIncidentsintheLifeofa SlaveGirl:WrittenbyHerself(r86r),inwhich HarrietJacob("LindaBrent")recordshidingf orsevenyearsina roomtoosmalltostandupin.
2 FromthepoliticalsavvyofFrederickDouglass 'sNarrativeoftheLifeofFrederickDouglass, anAmericanSlave,WrittenbyHimself(r84S)to thesubtletyandmodestyofHenryBibb,whosevo ice,inLifeandAdventuresofHenryBibb,anAme ricanSlave,WrittenbyHimself(r849),issurr oundedby("loadedwith"isa betterphrase) (threeweeks)wasshort,butthathewas"edu-ca tedintheschoolofadversity,whips,andchain s."BorninKentucky, , , :"Thisismyhistoricallife-mysingular,spec ialexamplethatispersonal,butthatalsorepr esentstherace."Two:"Iwritethistexttopers uadeotherpeople-you,thereader,whoisproba blynotblack-thatwearehumanbeingsworthyof God'sgraceandtheimmediateabandonmentofsl avery."Withthesetwomissionsinmind, 'saccount, theage[ 86 TheSiteofMemoryoften,hesurvivedtheMiddle Passage,Americanplan-tationslavery,warsi nCanadaandtheMediterranean;learnednaviga tionandclerkingfroma QuakernamedRobertKing, freeservant, :"Ihopetohavethesatisfac-tionofseeingthe renovationoflibertyandjusticerestingonth eBritishgovernment1 hopeandexpecttheatten-tionofgentlemenofp owerMaythetimecome-atleastthespeculation istomepleasing-whenthesablepeopleshallgr atefullycommemoratetheauspiciouseraofext ensivefreedom.]
3 "Withtypicallyeighteenth- , ,buttheAmericanslaves'autobiographicalna rrativeswerefrequentlyscornedas"bi-ased, ""inflammatory"and"improbable."Theseatta cksareparticularlydifficulttounderstandi nviewofthefactthatitwasextremelyimportan t,asyoucanimagine,forthewritersofthesena rrativestoappearasobjectiveaspossible-no ttooffendthereaderbybeingtooangry;orbysh owingtoomuchoutrage, ,PaulEdwards,whoeditedandabridgedEquiano sstory,praisesthenarrativeforitsrefusalt o be"inflammatory."TONIMORRISON"Asa rule,"Edwardswrites,"he[Equiano]putsnoem otionalpressureonthe readerotherthanthatwhichthesituationitse lfcontains-hislanguagedoesnotstrainafter oursympathy, "Similarly,anr836reviewofCharlesBell'sLi feandAdven-turesofa FugitiveSlave,whichappearedinthe"Quarter lyAnti-SlaveryMagazine,"praisedBell'sacc ountforitsob-jectivity.
4 "Werejoiceinthebookthemore,becauseitisno ta [slavery],norproposesanymodeortimeofeman cipation."Asdeterminedastheseblackwriter sweretopersuadethereaderoftheevilofslave ry, , timewhenthehungerfor"slavestories"wasdif ficulttoquiet, 'sNarra-tivesoldfivethousandcopiesinfour months; 'sbookhadteneditionsfromr837tor856;' ' (arguedby[ 88 TheSiteofMemorysometobethemodelforthe"To m"ofHarrietBeecherStowe'sUncle10m'sCabin )hada ,theyhada slavetoreadandwrite(whichinmanySoutherns tatescarriedseverepunishment)andagainsta slave' ,afterall,wasinextricablyconnectedtothea bilitytoread;literacywasa wayofassumingandprovingthe"humanity" "writtenbyhimself,"or"herself," ,"editedby"suchwell-knownanti-slaveryfig uresasLydiaMariaChildandJohnGreenleafWhi ttier, ,wrotereflectednotonlytheAgeofEnlightenm entbutitstwin,bornatthesametime, ,ImmanuelKantandThomasJefferson,tomentio nonlyafew, ,andhewroterefutationsofwhatJeffersonsai din"NotesontheStateofVirginia":"Neveryet couldI findthata blackhaduttereda thoughtabovethelevelofplainnarration,nev erseeevenanelementarytraitofTONIMORRISON paintingorsculpture"- asentencethatI havealwaysthoughtoughttobeengravedat ,in1813,hadsaidthatAfricanshadno"history "andcouldn' perceptiveobservationbyablackmanbysaying ,"Thisfellowwasquiteblackfromheadtofoot, a clearproofthatwhathesaidwasstupid.]
5 " ,however, , :h~form, ,ora scatologicalone,orsomething"excessive,"o nefindsthewritertakingrefugeintheliterar yconventionsoftheday."Iwasleftina stateofdistractionnottobedescribed"(Equi ano)." "(Douglass)."Iamnotabouttoharrowthefeeli ngsofmyreadersbya ..Itisnotmypurposetodescenddeeplyintothe darkandnoisomecavernsofthehellofslavery" (HenryBoxBrown).Overandover,thewriterspu llthenarrativeupshortwitha phrasesuchas,"Butletusdropa veilovertheseTheSiteofMemoryproceedingst ooterribletorelate."Inshapingtheexperi-e ncetomakeitpalatabletothosewhowereina positiontoalleviateit,theyweresilentabou tmanythings,andthey"forgot" carefulse-lectionoftheinstancesthattheyw ouldrecordanda "LindaBrent's"taleofsexualabuse:"Iamwell awarethatmanywillaccusemeofindecorumforp resentingthesepagestothepublic;fortheexp eriencesofthisintelligentandmuch-injured womanbelongtoa classwhichsomecalldelicatesubjects, ;butthepublicoughttobemadeacquaintedwith itsmonstrousfeatures,andI amwillingtotaketheresponsibilityofpresen tingthemwiththeveildrawn[aside].
6 "Butmostimportantly-at awriterinthelastquarterofthetwentiethcen tury,notmuchmorethana hundredyearsafterEman-cipation,a writerwhoisblackanda "proceedingstooterribletorelate."Theexer -ciseisalsocriticalforanypersonwhoisblac k,orwhobelongstoanymarginalizedcategory, for,historically, ,therefore, ,I ]TONIMORRISON heavilyinwhatI write,inhowI beginandinwhatI ,"Likethedead-seemingcoldrocks,I havememorieswithinthatcameoutofthemateri althatwenttomakeme."These"memorieswithin " 'tgivemetotalaccesstotheunwritteninterio rlifeofthes~ , supposeI coulddispensewiththelastfourif!werenotso deadlyseriousaboutfidelitytothemilieuout ofwhichI , 'sa kindofliteraryarcheology:Onthebasisofsom einformationanda littlebitofguess-workyoujourneytoa :myrelianceontheimage-ontheremains-inadd itiontorecollection,toyieldupa kindofa "image,"ofcourse,I don'tmean"symbol".
7 I simplymean"picture" ,bydefinition, "whatreallyhappened,"orwhereitreallyhapp ened,orwhenitreallyhappened,andnothingin itneedstobepubliclyverifiable, , 'stheresearchofthe"Oh,yes,thisiswhereheo rshegotitfrom"school,whichgetsitsowncred ibilityfromexcavatingthecredibilityofthe sourcesoftheimagination, dofrequentlyfalls,inthemindsofmostpeople ,intothatrealmoffictioncalledfantastic,o rmythic,ormagical, ' considerthatmysinglegravestrespon-sibili ty(inspiteofthatmagic) hearsomeonesay,"Truthisstrangerthanficti on,"I thinkthatoldchestnutistruerthanweknow,be causeitdoesn'tsaythattruthistruerthanfic tion;justthatit'sstranger,mean-ingthatit ' ,itmaybemoreinteresting,buttheimportantt hingisthatit' , , 'mlookingtofindandexposea truthabouttheinteriorlifeofpeoplewhodidn 'twriteit(whichdoesn'tmeanthattheydidn't haveit);ifI'mtryingtofillintheblanksthat theslave93]TONIMORRISON narrativesleft-toparttheveilthatwassofre quentlydrawn,toimplementthestoriesthatI heard-thentheapproachthat' ,inAT7eryEasyDeath,says,"Idon'tknowwhyIw assoshockedbymymother'sdeath.
8 "Whensheheardhermother'snamebeingcalleda t thefuneralbythepriest,shesays," 'Fran~oisedeBeauvoir';thewordsbroughther tolife;theysummedupherhistory, ~oisedeBeauvoir -thatretiringwoman,sorarelynamed,becamea nimportantperson."Thebookbecomesanexplor ationbothintoherowngriefandintotheimages in ,FrederickDouglassasksthereader'spatienc eforspendingabouthalfa pageonthedeathofhisgrandmother-easilythe mostprofoundlosshehadsuffered-andheapolo gizesbysaying,ineffect," hopeyouaren'tboredbymyindulgence."Hemake snoattempttoex- , ,ontheotherhand, inNotesofa NativeSon,says,inrecordinghisfather'slif eandhisownrelationshiptohisfather,"Allof myfa-ther'sBiblicaltextsandsongs,whichI haddecidedweremeaningless,wererangedbefo remeathisdeathlikeemptybottles,waitingto holdthemeaningwhichlifewouldgivethemform e.
9 " , :Theimagecomesfirstandtellsmewhatthe"mem ory" can'ttellyouhowI ,nothim,andnothisspecificinteriorlife, can'ttellyouhowI feltreadingtomygrandmotherwhileshewastur ningoverandoverinherbed(becauseshewasdyi ng,andshewasnotcomfortable),butI havesuspected,moreoftenthannot,thatIknow morethanshedid,thatIknowmorethanmygrandf atherandmygreat-grandmotherdid,butI alsoknowthatI' havetriedearnestlytodimin-ishtheirvision andprovetomyselfthatI knowmore,andwhenI havetriedtospeculateontheirinteriorlifea ndmatchitupwithmyown,I ,andJamesBaldwintalkingabouthisfather,an dSimonedeBeauvoirtalkingabouthermother,t hesepeoplearemyaccesstome; whytheimagesthatfloataroundthem-theremai ns,sotospeak,atthearcheologicalsite-sur- facefirst,andtheysurfacesovividlyandsoco mpellinglythatI acknowledgethemasmyroutetoa reconstructionofa world,toanexplorationofaninteriorlifetha twasnotwrittenandtotherevelationofa dimlyrecalledfigure,thecomerofa room,a begantowritemysecondbook,whichwascalledS ula,becauseofmypreoccupationwitha pictureofa womanandthewayinwhichI ,andIthinkshewasa friendofmymother' don'trememberseeingherverymuch,butwhatI dorememberisthecoloraroundher- akindofviolet,a suffusionofsomethingviolet-andhereyes, remembermostishowthewomensaidhername.
10 Howtheysaid"HannahPeace"andsmiledtothem- selves,andtherewassomesecretaboutherthat theyknew,whichtheydidn'ttalkabout,atleas tnotinmyhearing, suspectedthatshewasa ,thinkingabouttheirrelationshiptoherandt hewayinwhichtheytalkedabouther,thewayinw hichtheyarticulatedhername, don'twanttoknowanymoreaboutMissHannahPea ce,andI'mnotgoingtoaskmymotherwhoshereal lywasandwhatdidshedoandwhatwereyoulaughi ngaboutandwhywereyousmiling?Becausemyexp eriencewhenI dothiswithmymotherissocrushing:Shewillgi veyouthemostpedestrianinformationyouever heard,andI wouldliketokeepallofmyremainsandmyimages intactintheirmysterywhenI wanttodointhistalkistotrackanimagefrompi cturetomeaningtotext- ajourneywhichappearsinthenovelthatI'mwri tingnow, 'mtryingtowritea particularkindofscene,andI "see"cornonthecobdoesn'tmeanthatitsudden lyhovers; "Whatisallthiscorndoing?
