Abstract
Black writers like Toni Morrison (2004), Omékongo Diblinga (2023), Patricia Hill Collins (1997) among others have used their works over time to address black stereotypes in American literature, where blackness is represented as lesser or the “other”. These stereotypes have informed the conception and perception of Black people both in literature and films. Black horror writers like Tiffany D. Jackson, and Jordan Peele on the other hand have used their works to demystify the conception and perception of Black monsters in American literature and film. My research examines how Tiffany D. Jackson’s The Weight of Blood (2022) and Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) strategically employ Black monsters in three ways: to function as metaphors of survival, to reclaim and subvert anti-black stereotypes, and to redefine black monsters as Avengers. I argue that Jackson and Peele strategically deploy monstrosity not as an inherent quality of blackness but as a response to racial violence and oppression. In doing so, I argue that Jackson and Peel reject literary and cultural tropes that have historically portrayed Black people as sources of terror and create their black characters as Avengers or (super)heroes who avenge against racist oppressive systems.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
MONSTER METAPHORS, BLACK HORROR, BLACK STEREOTYPES, MONSTROUS
