Black resistance to white hegemony: black english as a weapon of subversion

Abstract

This study examines, from a postcolonial perspective, black resistance to white hegemony in the United States of America as depicted in Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man. The study focuses on interpolation as a form of transformative resistance advocated by Bill Ashcroft in his Post-Colonial Transformation. It is a strategy that involves a variety of counter-discursive methods in the dominant discourse appearing to be overtly subversive. The novel is chosen for the discussion of this issue as it demonstrates the ability of the subaltern to constructively resist hegemony by the centre. The interpolative aspects of black resistance can be seen through the author's manipulation of language and the literary devise of allegory. Through Black English, a form of language used by lower-class black community, Ellison is able to provide evidence of black resistance to white discursive hegemony. Ellison also manipulates the literary device of allegory to criticise the idea of white cultural superiority over the Other. The study concludes that interpolation is in effect a powerful weapon of the weak to subvert the discursive domination of the Centre without appearing provocative due to the subtlety of its resistance.