PARODY OF RACIAL CLICHÉ IN PERCIVAL EVERETT’S ERASURE
Journal Title: The Journal of International Social Research - Year 2014, Vol 7, Issue 29
Abstract
In Percival Everett’s novel Erasure Monk, the author- protagonist writes a novel to criticize stereotyping ‘the African-American novel’ as a genre and also to present a critical repetition of Wright’s novel Native Son which promotes the idea of violent and discriminated black identity performances but, it turns out to be a runaway bestseller which doesn’t serve its original satirical purpose. The readers and the publishing market are pleasured deeply with the book since it satisfies their pre-conceived beliefs on racial clichés and represents ‘the authentic’ experience of black life which pictures African-American ghettos as ‘savages’. Therefore, Monk deconstructs the language and questions the intentional meaning. Everett/Monk criticizes Foucault’s discursive practice that sees the author as a function and Barthes’ argument in the "the Death of the Author" that the author cannot claim any absolute authority over his text. Monk’s parody which goes unnoticed by his readers leads to his adoption of the black identity performances that he has always resisted. This duality splits his identity in the process. He begins to talk with his alienated self in the mirror which is connected to Lacanian theory of mirror phase and suffers from an identity conflict. This study attempts to explicate issues of racism and identity conflict in Percival Everett’s novel Erasure while demonstrating the compelling impacts of media and publishing industry regarding racial clichés and prejudices. Everett with Erasure questions the racist expectations of society based on skin color and critiques the publishing market and media which obliges African-American authors writing only race-related issues.
Authors and Affiliations
Aytemis DEPCİ
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP266473
- DOI -
- Views 151
- Downloads 0
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SUGAR BEET AGRICULTURE IN ERZINCAN PROVINCE AND ITS MAJOR PROBLEMS
One of the most important branches of the food industry is the sugar industry. Around the world, sugar is produced from sugar cane in torrid zones and from sugar beet in temperate zone. The basic raw material for sugar i...
THE MODERATING ROLE OF STRESS ON THE AFFECT OF EMOTIONAL LABOUR LEVEL ON INTENTION TO QUIT
The purpose of this study is to analyze whether or not emotional labour level has an effect on stress level and intention to quit and whether or not stress has a moderating effect on the effect of emotional labour on int...
EFFECT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND SPECULATIVE ACTIVITIES ON MARKET VALUE
Purpose of this study is to investigate and to discuss the methods to distinguish the intellectual capital, one of the important structures of market value of enterprises, from its market value which will occur in a spec...
SOCIALISM IN REPUBLIC OF TURKEY: GENERAL VIEWPOINT OF COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY TO REPUBLICAN PEOPLE’S PARTY, AND MEHMET ALI AYBAR AS A UNIQUE THINKER AND POLITICIAN
This study aims to make an ongoing analysis of points that have become symbols of two different views and stances which maintain their positioning even in turbulent history in terms of two different periods of socialism...
AGAINST SOCIETY: WOMEN’S LANGUAGE, BODY AND MADNESS IN WIDE SARGASSO SEA AND SULA
Two most important modernist writers Jean Rhys and Toni Morrison analyze woman’s situations, madness and woman’s struggle in patriarchal society. Madness is a result of patriarchy and male dominated societies. While Jean...