Racial Identity In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man

Résumé: Bochra ABSTRACT The present study highlights and explores the relationship between racism and the construction of the African American identity in Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man (1952). The selected novel examines the aspects of racism in the American society and its impact on the life of African American individuals during the late 1920’s and the beginning of 1930’s. Furthermore, this study provides a view on the socio-historical events such as the Harlem Renaissance and Jazz music that led to the rise of Black people’s voice and their quest for equality and identity. In addition, it highlights the mindset of oppressed people and their self-discovery affected by racism, white supremacy and society’s stereotypes. Moreover, it sheds light on the issue of internalized racism, that is to say, Black people also oppress and segregate fellow black people. To this end, this dissertation is divided into two chapters; the first one offers a socio-historical background to the era in which the novel was written in order to provide a better view of the issues dealt with in the second chapter. This latter, in its turn, examines and analyses both stylistically and thematically the protagonist’s experience and his psychological struggle to formulate his identity using Critical Race Theory.

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