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16 Harv. Women's L.J. 233 (1993)
Imagining the Mother's Text: Toni Morrison's Beloved and Contemporary Law

handle is hein.journals/hwlj16 and id is 241 raw text is: IMAGINING THE MOTHER'S TEXT: TONI MORRISON'S BELOVED AND CONTEMPORARY LAW ELIZABETH TOBIN* That life is complicated is a fact of great analytic importance. Law too often seeks to avoid this truth by making up its own breed of narrower, simpler, but hypnotically powerful rhetorical truths. Ac- knowledging, challenging, playing with these as rhetorical gestures is, it seems to me, necessary for any conception of justice.' We are rooted in language, wedded, have our being in words. Language is also a place of struggle. The oppressed struggle in language to recover ourselves-to rewrite, to reconcile, to renew. Our words are not without meaning. They are an action-a resis- tance. Language is also a place of struggle.2 I. INTRODUCTION A. Contemporary Discourse About Motherhood The mother as a subject in law is trapped in a linguistic crisis. Recent legal battles reveal a growing gap between women's feelings about themselves as mothers and legal definitions of motherhood. The artic- ulation of a mother's obligations, rights, appropriate behavior, bond with child, and autonomy from child has become increasingly problem- atic. In an attempt to name motherhood, legal practitioners and judges usually rely upon patriarchal expectations and therefore often reinforce rather than challenge their own presumptions. The naming of experience * B.A. 1986, M.A. 1992, University of Texas at Austin. I am deeply indebted to Susan Sage Heinzelman, my advisor at the University of Texas, for encouraging me to publish this Article and for her thoughtful criticism and guidance. I would also like to acknowledge the helpful comments of Jos6 Lim6n and the many hours of hard work by Denise Jefferson during the editing process. Special thanks to John Tyler and Maurine and Robert Tobin for their support and encouragement. ' PATRICIA WILLIAMS, THE ALCHEMY OF RACE AND RIGHTS 10 (1991). 2 BELL HOOKS, TALKING BACK: THINKING FEMINIST, THINKING BLACK 28 (1989). 233

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