Mat Johnson's Incognegro combines the story of Harlem Renaissance era New York with that of the Jim Crow South. How does the fact that Johnson's narrative is a graphic one allow him to make a commentary both about the prominence of violence (particularly lynching) in the South and the ethics of passing? Both Incognegro and King depict the horrors of lynching, but they do so in distinctly different ways. How does Johnson's decision to provide detailed drawing of lynching affect the reader differently than does Anderson's to mix photographs of lynching with his drawings? What do you make of the many cases of mistaken identity present in Incognegro? How does Johnson's prologue affect our reading of the story? How is the story one about the visibility of race, and how does the comics medium provide for a particularly apt means of commenting on racial visibility/ invisibility?
Monday, November 15, 2010
Incognegro
Mat Johnson's Incognegro combines the story of Harlem Renaissance era New York with that of the Jim Crow South. How does the fact that Johnson's narrative is a graphic one allow him to make a commentary both about the prominence of violence (particularly lynching) in the South and the ethics of passing? Both Incognegro and King depict the horrors of lynching, but they do so in distinctly different ways. How does Johnson's decision to provide detailed drawing of lynching affect the reader differently than does Anderson's to mix photographs of lynching with his drawings? What do you make of the many cases of mistaken identity present in Incognegro? How does Johnson's prologue affect our reading of the story? How is the story one about the visibility of race, and how does the comics medium provide for a particularly apt means of commenting on racial visibility/ invisibility?
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Incognegro- I enjoyed this book. I like how Johnson brought this character to life, to go into passing to do undercover work in the south about lynchings, this book shows us that during the years of lynchings whites only saw two colors which was black and white. the forms of identities that people took on, women wanting to be men just to fit in and be respected. I would applaud his best friend for standing like a man.
ReplyDeleteThe prologue in the beginning set up the foundation for the story, it gave us a since of what we would endure as the story proceeded on the south. the fact that his brother Alonzo had fallen in love with a white woman. and they had to stay out of the public eye. To Micheala faking her death, the story kept you intrigued about the end. read this book in one sitting because it was so interesting.