Chapter One
Time-space and space-time: Consequences of the Chronotope in
Introduction
There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists,
can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of
the fairy tale.
- Ralph Ellison
[…] the study of verbal art can and must overcome the divorce between an abstract "formal"
approach and an equally abstract "ideological" approach. Form and content in discourse are
one, once we understand that verbal discourse is a social phenomenon - social throughout its
entire range and in each and every of its factors, from the sound image to the furthest reaches
of abstract meaning.
- Mikhail Bakhtin
_____________
In the process of preparation for this MA thesis I was on the verge of abandoning the project.
I was afraid Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man would become far too intimate for me, the
subject too tense, the motifs too disturbing, the language too intrinsic. I feared that the novel
would keep concealed and invisible the wealth I suspect between the lines. I did not, and I still
don’t like Ellison’s Invisible Man. It felt uncomfortable and disturbing the first time I read it
and with every additional reading the ambivalence I felt increased. I sympathize and fully
share Ross Possnock’s sentiment on Ralph Ellison’s novel: “Ellison makes reading a
‘gymnast’s struggle’” (6). Despite all efforts, reading Invisible Man remained an
uncomfortable and exhausting struggle until the very end. Eventually Invisible Man provided
many experiences all adding up to some very disturbing revelations about my own
“racialized” positionality. I began to scrutinize, my thought process pertaining to race, trying
to expose any possible racist notions. The challenge was and still is painful and at times
causes my mind to go blank in speechlessness. Words evaded me more than once.
It was an essay by Chris Cuomo that kept the project alive. Cuomo opens her paper
with a powerful plea for help against her own whiteness.
“Could somebody please help me with my whiteness – that elusive form […]
Whiteness is so fucking unfair, so boring, so overdetermined (Cuomo in Yancy 16)
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Chapter One
- Time-space and space-time: Consequences of the Chronotope in Invisible Man
- Chapter Two
- The (Black) Grotesque Body
- Chapter Three
- Memory and Identity Formation
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
The main objective of this thesis is to provide a Bakhtinian reading of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, focusing on how the work disrupts white privileged identities and exposes the cracks in supremacist structures. The author explores the novel's themes of race, identity, and power, using a personal lens informed by the author's own experiences and reflections on their own "German-white-identity." The work is also a reflection on the challenges of approaching African-American culture as a white person, and the complexities of navigating a racist world.
- The impact of the Chronotope on the experience of time and space in Invisible Man
- The representation of the Black body and its grotesqueness
- The formation of memory and identity in the context of racialized experiences
- The role of white privilege in shaping social structures and individual identities
- The complexities of navigating African-American culture from a white perspective
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Chapter One examines the concept of the Chronotope in Invisible Man and its impact on the novel's depiction of time and space. The chapter explores how Ellison uses the Chronotope to create a unique and powerful narrative experience, highlighting the ways in which time and space are intertwined in the protagonist's life.
- Chapter Two delves into the representation of the Black body in the novel, focusing on its grotesqueness and the ways in which it is used to dehumanize and marginalize Black characters. The chapter examines the role of the grotesque in Ellison's work, and how it is used to challenge conventional notions of beauty and identity.
- Chapter Three explores the theme of memory and identity formation in Invisible Man, focusing on the protagonist's struggle to come to terms with his past and to create a sense of self in a racially charged world. The chapter examines the role of memory in shaping identity, and how the protagonist's experiences of racism and discrimination have shaped his understanding of himself.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The main keywords and focus topics of this thesis are: Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Bakhtin, Chronotope, race, identity, whiteness, Blackness, grotesque, memory, identity formation, white privilege, African-American culture, and racialized experiences.
- Quote paper
- Anselm Maria Sellen (Author), 2009, Fooling Invisibility - A Bakhtinian reading of Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/158858