Discourse as a Solution to Problems of Self-Definition and Self-Expression in Invisible Man
Location
CSU 202
Start Date
21-4-2014 10:00 AM
End Date
21-4-2014 11:00 AM
Student's Major
English
Student's College
Arts and Humanities
Mentor's Name
Donna Casella
Mentor's Email Address
donna.casella@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
English
Mentor's College
Arts and Humanities
Description
Twentieth-century African-American author Ralph Ellison identifies a "problem of language," words causing "segregation" to take place, a "struggle over the nature of reality." Structures outside some characters' control cause an aesthetic problem of self-definition and self-expression in the texts by employing these structures as intermediaries through which to understand the characters. I provide a reading of Ellison's novel Invisible Man that examines the points at which the narrator, in the act of retelling, comes to understand history discursively. I assess how the discourse of history qualifies this problem of self-definition and self-expression. By interacting with the discourse of history, the narrator not only self-defines and self-expresses on his own terms via narrative, but prioritizes the study of that "self" in relation to the historical discourse. Because Invisible Man's narrator is able to define and express himself in relation to the larger discourse of history and not exclusively in terms of race, the implications of my findings are not merely aesthetic, but facilitate an alternate reading of the novel. The main character's ability to define and express himself in terms of history prompts a critical consideration of the novel based upon the narrative constructions of identity, constructions defined beyond the taxonomies of racial identity.
Discourse as a Solution to Problems of Self-Definition and Self-Expression in Invisible Man
CSU 202
Twentieth-century African-American author Ralph Ellison identifies a "problem of language," words causing "segregation" to take place, a "struggle over the nature of reality." Structures outside some characters' control cause an aesthetic problem of self-definition and self-expression in the texts by employing these structures as intermediaries through which to understand the characters. I provide a reading of Ellison's novel Invisible Man that examines the points at which the narrator, in the act of retelling, comes to understand history discursively. I assess how the discourse of history qualifies this problem of self-definition and self-expression. By interacting with the discourse of history, the narrator not only self-defines and self-expresses on his own terms via narrative, but prioritizes the study of that "self" in relation to the historical discourse. Because Invisible Man's narrator is able to define and express himself in relation to the larger discourse of history and not exclusively in terms of race, the implications of my findings are not merely aesthetic, but facilitate an alternate reading of the novel. The main character's ability to define and express himself in terms of history prompts a critical consideration of the novel based upon the narrative constructions of identity, constructions defined beyond the taxonomies of racial identity.
Recommended Citation
Larson, Benly. "Discourse as a Solution to Problems of Self-Definition and Self-Expression in Invisible Man." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 21, 2014.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2014/oral_session_02/2
