Toni Morrison Collective

In Fall 2020, for the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Toni Morrison’s first novel The Bluest Eye, Cornell University Libraries acquired fifteen foreign-language versions of the work, adding to the translations already among its holdings. Although Cornell’s nineteen foreign-language copies of The Bluest Eye represent only a fraction of the more than fifty translations of this work, the collection acknowledges the breadth of languages and readerships that have contributed to this novel’s standing as a classic of World Literature.

The translator of the second French version of The Bluest Eye pleaded with the author to allow him to make “eye” plural in the title. Toni Morrison, of course, insisted on her concept—and prevailed. Not so with some other translators, who chose to pluralize it, supposedly in order to make it more “comprehendible” (or make sense) to their readers. Or, for example, in Japanese, which lacks singular and plural forms, the context of the translation clearly suggests a plural meaning. Then, too, in certain language contexts, such as German, “blue eyes” is a weighty cultural phenomenon and, hence, is without question pluralized in the translation of the title. And there are others. Granted, Morrison’s title is invented American English; apparently, some translators feel uncomfortable inventing in their own languages in order to convey Morrison’s intention.

Exemplifying the Nobel Committee’s 1993 citation to Toni Morrison "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality"—the very title of this novel highlights that characterization of Morrison’s writing. The Bluest Eye, illuminating one complex instance of “American reality,” raises complex questions of self-perception for many readers around the world, even as it is banned for many readers in the United States.