The Comedy of Dave Chappelle: Critical Essays

Perhaps best known for his highly acclaimed, short-lived Comedy Central program Chappelle's Show, Dave Chappelle is widely regarded as one of today's most culturally significant comedians. Through the sketch comedy show and his stand-up act, Chappelle has offered truly memorable commentary on racial and ethnic tensions in American society. This book assembles 13 essays that examine motifs common in Chappelle's comedy, including technology and digital culture; race, gender, and ethnicity; economics and politics; music, television, film, and performance; and memory, language, and identity.

ISBN-13: 9780786441884

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: McFarland & Company - Incorporated Publishers

Publication Date: 07-16-2009

Pages: 245

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

Age Range: 18 Years

K.A. Wisniewski is an assistant professor of history at Stevenson University in Stevenson, Maryland. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in a variety of publications including journals Genre, The Mochila Review, Welter, and the Small Press Review.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Introduction
K.A. WISNIEWSKI     

1. Exploring Niggerdom
Racial Inversion in Language Taboos
RICHARD J. GRAY II and MICHAEL PUTNAM     
2. Comic Genius or Con Man?
Deconstructing the Comedy of Dave Chappelle
NOVOTNY LAWRENCE     
3. The Comedian Is a “Man”
Gender Performance in the Comedy of Dave Chappelle
ANDREA CUMBO     
4. Dave Chappelle, the Wu-Tang Clan and Afro-Asian America
GRAHAM CHIA-HUI PRESTON     
5. Laughing Whiteness
Pixies, Parody, and Perspectives
BRIAN GOGAN     
6. Impersonating Hollywood
The Conflicting Identity Discourses of Charlie Murphy’s True
Hollywood Stories
JULIA ROUND     
7. The Artistry of Ethnography in Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
C. RILEY SNORTON     
8. Gramsci, Selling Out, and the Politics of Race Loyalty
Exploring Chappelle’s No-Show
AMARNATH AMARASINGAM     
9. “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong”
Subversions of Racial Authenticity
KATHERINE LEE     
10. When “Keeping It Real” Goes Right
KIMBERLEY A. YATES     
11. “White People, Run for Cover”
Dave Chappelle’s Festival of Misrule
FRANCESCA GAMBER     
12. Haunted
Dave Chappelle’s Radical Racial Politics in the Context of Co-opted
Blackness
CHIWEN BAO     
Conclusion
Legacy and Dave Chappelle
K. A. WISNIEWSKI     

Filmography     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
About the Contributors     
Index     
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