Ronald L. Jackson II 
Scripting the Black Masculine Body [PDF ebook] 
Identity, Discourse, and Racial Politics in Popular Media

Winner of the 2007 Everett Lee Hunt Award presented by the Eastern Communication Association




Scripting the Black Masculine Body traces the origins of Black body politics in the United States and its contemporary manifestations in popular cultural productions. From early blackface cinema through contemporary portrayals of the Black body in hip-hop music and film, Ronald L. Jackson II examines how African American identities have been socially constructed, constituted, and publicly understood, and argues that popular music artists and film producers often are complicit with Black body stereotypes. Jackson offers a communicative perspective on body politics through a blend of social scientific and humanities approaches and offers possibilities for the liberation of the Black body from its current ineffectual and paralyzing representations.

Table of Content

Acknowledgments



Introduction

Race and Corporeal Politics



1. Origins of Black Body Politics



2. Scripting the Black Body in Popular Media: Exploring Process



3. Black Masculine Scripts



4. “If It Feels This Good Gettin’ Used”: Exploring the Hypertext of Sexuality in Hip-Hop Music and Pimp Movies



5. Toward an Integrated Theory of Black Masculinity



Epilogue

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised



Notes

References

Index

About the author

Ronald L. Jackson II is Professor of Media and Cinema Studies, as well as Professor and Head of African American Studies, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the editor of
African American Communication and Identities: Essential Readings.