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Inga Krutmann (Paderborn):
"Post-Race Discourse Meets Irony and Wit: Satire in 'Going Beyond Race'(?) – Representations in Contemporary U.S. Literature and Popular Culture"
Abstract
In a 2010 episode of the late night satirical U.S. television program The Daily Show, Wyatt Cenac, an American stand-up comedian and writer, forgets that he is black while analyzing the media response to president Obama’s “State of the Union Address”. Ironically ridiculing the speech that has been dubbed post-racial, the TV show criticizes the discrepancy (thinking in binary terms) between, on the one hand, idealized notions of a post-racial America, a concept that transcends the category of race, and, on the other hand, realities still based on racialized difference and its social consequences of all kinds.
Focusing on debates, theories, and representations of post-race America, my paper will analyze contemporary novels such as Mat Johnson’s novel Pym alongside a discussion of television productions like NBC’s comedy sitcom 30 Rock. Elaborating on how and if (social) satire can be considered as the post-racial genre, I will investigate these representations as voices of the ‘going beyond race’ debate. I argue that for selected 21st-century U.S. cultural forms of expression, satire serves as a generic platform to build on and as a theoretical as well as methodological tool. Creating an ironic and witty impact, they convey constructive social criticism and, above all, thereby take part in and comment on the post-race discourse and its concepts. Critical interest will be directed at how the selected works strategically deploy different forms of satirical humor to open up, define, and modify post-race matters and ideas. Furthermore, my paper will aim at discussing questions of reception and the way these narratives actually appeal to a (diverse) audience.
Johnson, Mat. Pym: A Novel. 1st ed. New York: Spiegel&Grau, 2011.
30 Rock. NBC. Universal Television, Broadway Video. Little Stranger Inc. October 2006-May 2012.
“Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address.” The White House Washington. Office of the Press Secretary. January 27 2010. www.whitehouse.gov. July 16 2012. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address.
“Speech Therapy - Post-Racial.” The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Episode Clips. January 28 2012. Comedy Central. Viacom Entertainment Group. July 16 2012. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-28-2010/speech-therapy---post-racial.
Focusing on debates, theories, and representations of post-race America, my paper will analyze contemporary novels such as Mat Johnson’s novel Pym alongside a discussion of television productions like NBC’s comedy sitcom 30 Rock. Elaborating on how and if (social) satire can be considered as the post-racial genre, I will investigate these representations as voices of the ‘going beyond race’ debate. I argue that for selected 21st-century U.S. cultural forms of expression, satire serves as a generic platform to build on and as a theoretical as well as methodological tool. Creating an ironic and witty impact, they convey constructive social criticism and, above all, thereby take part in and comment on the post-race discourse and its concepts. Critical interest will be directed at how the selected works strategically deploy different forms of satirical humor to open up, define, and modify post-race matters and ideas. Furthermore, my paper will aim at discussing questions of reception and the way these narratives actually appeal to a (diverse) audience.
Johnson, Mat. Pym: A Novel. 1st ed. New York: Spiegel&Grau, 2011.
30 Rock. NBC. Universal Television, Broadway Video. Little Stranger Inc. October 2006-May 2012.
“Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address.” The White House Washington. Office of the Press Secretary. January 27 2010. www.whitehouse.gov. July 16 2012. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address.
“Speech Therapy - Post-Racial.” The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Episode Clips. January 28 2012. Comedy Central. Viacom Entertainment Group. July 16 2012. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-28-2010/speech-therapy---post-racial.
Bio
Since October 2011, Inga M. Krutmann has been doctoral student in American culture and literature at the University of Paderborn. Her Ph.D. project entitled “Post-Race America? Debates, Theories, and Representations in Contemporary American Culture” explores concepts of a ‘Post-Race America’ and analyzes diverse discourses on and representations of American society and the individual in contemporary literature and popular culture. Further research interests are African American Studies and American Poetry. Having received scholarships from Erasmus and the German Academic Exchange Service in 2007 and 2010, she has studied at Illinois State University, the Université de Haute-Bretagne, and the University of Paderborn. After having earned a Master’s degree in ‘British and American Literary and Cultural Studies’ in 2011, she has been a research assistant in the field of American Studies.