ID | 087596 |
Title Proper | Risking ralph ellison |
Language | ENG |
Author | Puskar, Jason |
Publication | 2009. |
Summary / Abstract (Note) | When Ralph Ellison said that "the joke [is] at the center of the American identity," he also meant that the joker is at the center of American life. In a rapidly changing liberal society, with fluctuating standards and values, the joker is an "American virtuoso of identity who thrives on chaos and swift change."1 For the joker, identity is not a ½xed principle, established once and for all, but a fluid masquerade, an ironic display of masks and styles, gestures and titles, which accrue around a space that comes to be known as the "self." A great deal of work on identity politics has focused on similar constructions of racial identity through complex cultural appropriations linked to masking, minstrelsy, and passing. But Ellison is more optimistic about these dynamics: he sees the absurd mix of styles that emerges from what he calls "pluralistic turbulence" as the only appropriate response to the absurdities of American politics and history.2 Accordingly, anyone who assumes too serious a relationship with his own identity-anyone who refuses to play the joker-will likely be duped by more powerful jokers still. |
`In' analytical Note | Daedalus Vol. 138, No. 2; Spring 2009: p89-93 |
Journal Source | Daedalus Vol. 138, No. 2; Spring 2009: p89-93 |
Key Words | Risking ; Ralph ; Ellison ; American Identity |