The Performative Sustainability of Race: Reflections on Black Culture and the Politics of Identity

by Bryant Keith Alexander, Rochelle Brock (Editor), Richard Greggory Johnson III (Editor)

Overview

Following the premise that race and the process of racialization is performative, this book is a critical examination of the performative sustainability of race, particularly blackness, through commentaries on White Studies, art depictions of African American culture in the rural south, educational and pedagogical contexts, dramatic and film representation, and the intersections of race and gender performance. The book examines issues impacting the sustainability of race and race relations through multiple methodological and critical perspectives – most notably framed through performance (performance studies) and autoethnography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433112843
Publisher:	Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
Publication date:	09/03/2012
Series:	Black Studies and Critical Thinking Series , #19
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Bryant Keith Alexander PhD, Professor in Department of Communication Studies and Dean, College of Communication and Fine Arts at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California. He is the coeditor of Performance Theories in Education: Power, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Identity with education scholars Gary L. Anderson and Bernardo P. Gallegos and the author of Performing Black Masculinity: Race, Culture, and Queer Identity. His scholarly works are included a wide range of journals and book volumes including Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies; Handbook of Performance Studies; Handbook of Qualitative Research, Third Edition; Blackwell Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication; Handbook of Communication and Instruction and Handbook of Autoethnography.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments x

Introduction: "Acting Up" and "Playing Dumb:" My Father's Lessons on Being Black 1

Chapter 1 Struggles Against Accusations of Performative Whiteness 19

Chapter 2 Southern Hospitality Indeed!: A Performative Engagement with Art Depictions of African American Culture in the Rural South 53

Chapter 3 Performing Culture (Race) in the White Ivory Tower 84

Chapter 4 Madea is a Real Mutha! Madea's Family Reunion: A Case Study in the Sustainability of Racial Representation 106

Chapter 5 Racializing Identity: Pedagogy, Dis/identification, and Regret 138

Chapter 6 The Materiality of Bodies: Critical Reflections on Pedagogy, Politics and Positionality 169

Postscript 189

Bibliography 191

Index 209

Editorial Reviews

«‘The Performative Sustainability of Race’ represents a watershed moment in race and performance studies [...] Alexander never lets the reader (or himself) off the hook, always reminding us of the hermeneutical trap that race poses. Rather than leave us in a place of paralysis, however, this book suggests that it is the process of performance itself where the possibility of transformation and hope lie.» (E. Patrick Johnson, Carlos Montezuma Professor, Department of Performance Studies and African American Studies, Northwestern University; Author of ‘Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity’)
«In this brilliant, boldly confrontative, and paradigm-shifting book Bryant Keith Alexander treats us to a very personal, exhilarating, and yet fiercely intellectual examination of the complexities of power, performance, and the politics of racial identity […]. You will want to read this book again and again.» (Ronald L. Jackson II, Dean, McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, Professor, Department of Communication, University of Cincinnati; Author of ‘Communicating Marginalized Masculinities’ and editor of ‘Critical Studies in Media Communication’) «This is a critical autoethnography at its best, a persuasive demonstration in concrete personal detail and astute textual and critical analysis of how we all are held down and held back by the structures and strains of race relations and racism.» (Carolyn Ellis, Professor of communication, University of South Florida; Author of ‘Revision: Autoethnographic Reflections on Life and Word’)

«‘The Performative Sustainability of Race’ represents a watershed moment in race and performance studies [...] Alexander never lets the reader (or himself) off the hook, always reminding us of the hermeneutical trap that race poses. Rather than leave us in a place of paralysis, however, this book suggests that it is the process of performance itself where the possibility of transformation and hope lie.» (E. Patrick Johnson, Carlos Montezuma Professor, Department of Performance Studies and African American Studies, Northwestern University; Author of ‘Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity’)
«In this brilliant, boldly confrontative, and paradigm-shifting book Bryant Keith Alexander treats us to a very personal, exhilarating, and yet fiercely intellectual examination of the complexities of power, performance, and the politics of racial identity […]. You will want to read this book again and again.» (Ronald L. Jackson II, Dean, McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, Professor, Department of Communication, University of Cincinnati; Author of ‘Communicating Marginalized Masculinities’ and editor of ‘Critical Studies in Media Communication’) «This is a critical autoethnography at its best, a persuasive demonstration in concrete personal detail and astute textual and critical analysis of how we all are held down and held back by the structures and strains of race relations and racism.» (Carolyn Ellis, Professor of communication, University of South Florida; Author of ‘Revision: Autoethnographic Reflections on Life and Word’)

From the Publisher