Race as Literary Theory

Kenneth W. Warren “Race and Ethnicity”

Attempted topoi: Rumors

It is no secret that race is a social construction formulated by society to categorize and differentiate among the “us” and “them” philosophy. Kenneth Warren argues in his essay that race should not be used as a way to analyze or converse about a text; race should not be a measurement in which to determine whether or not the author is a good writer. Warren discusses the different perspectives and ideologies from critics, writers, and Du Boisian theory to help him “critique the appeal of race to literary critics over the past two decades and to suggest reasons we ought to modify or resist aspects of the appeal” (245). Race in and of itself is a rumor; it strives to justify the differences of appearance, thought, personality, etc. among the skin colors and ethnic groups in the world. If race should be taken out of analysis of a text what would be its equivalent? Warren wrestles with this question and comes to the conclusion that race is an essential/anti-essential element to the critique of literature. If race is taken out then the platform that minority writers have used as a way to include their writing into the hegemonic society is gone, which benefits neither society nor the marginalized voices of the minority diasporas. However, if race is included, then it can be used as a way to segregate and use “white supremacy” as the measuring tool to all literature that is not written by someone of the Caucasian persuasion. Race is a social construction. A rumor that has been around for hundreds of years and its impact has been cataclysmic in science, research, social settings, familial dynamics, and now literature. Whether or not using race as a way to analyze text is seen as a “step backwards,” it has proven to be a positive critique in the respect that voices are being heard that have been otherwise silent.

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