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Laughing to Keep from Dying
African American Satire in the Twenty-First Century
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Book Presentation:
How African Americans have infused satire with a potent new dimension
By subverting comedy's rules and expectations, African American satire promotes social justice by connecting laughter with ethical beliefs in a revolutionary way. Danielle Fuentes Morgan ventures from Suzan-Lori Parks to Leslie Jones and Dave Chappelle to Get Out and Atlanta to examine the satirical treatment of race and racialization across today's African American culture. Morgan analyzes how African American artists highlight the ways that society racializes people and bolsters the powerful myth that we live in a "post-racial" nation. The latter in particular inspires artists to take aim at the idea racism no longer exists or the laughable notion of Americans "not seeing" racism or race. Their critique changes our understanding of the boundaries between staged performance and lived experience and create ways to better articulate Black selfhood.
Adventurous and perceptive, Laughing to Keep from Dying reveals how African American satirists unmask the illusions and anxieties surrounding race in the twenty-first century.
About the Author:
Danielle Fuentes Morgan is an assistant professor in the Department of English at Santa Clara University.
Press Reviews:
"Many comics hone their craft primarily to amuse, but with this thoughtful, academic work, Morgan explores the idea of Black satire with an added function: to more or less safely rock the boat, expressing ideas that might otherwise be tuned out or provoke uncomfortable or even dangerous backlash." --Library Journal
"Morgan explores a radical impulse in recent Black comedy, arguing that performers like Dave Chappelle or films like 'Get Out' aim to highlight racial boundaries." --New York Times
"In Laughing to Keep from Dying, Danielle Fuentes Morgan crafts an innovative and well-considered account of African-American satire. . . . Morgan's prose is clear and engaging, and her language accessible and compelling." --Journal of American Culture
"Exceedingly well-written, well-researched . . . Recommended." --Choice
"A satisfying read for anyone with an interest in how entertainment responds to a shifting social landscape." --Atlantic
"Laughing to Keep from Dying: African American Satire in the Twenty-First Century is a must-read for anyone (like us) who has needed reminding lately why the risks of irony are worth taking." --Humor
See the publisher website: University of Illinois Press
> On a related topic:
The Comic Imagination in Modern African Literature and Cinema (2019)
A Poetics of Laughter
by Maik Nwosu
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