Representations of Blackness in the Comedies of Dave Chappelle and Key & Peele: From Essentialism to Post-Blackness

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Freiburg (Englisches Seminar), course: Black Power, language: English, abstract: The concepts of Essentialism and Post-Blackness are contrary to each other in their perception and construction of Black identity. This essay deals with the concepts of Essentialism and Post-Blackness in comedy, namely in the comedies of Dave Chappelle and Key & Peele. I will argue that, against the claim of Toure that Dave Chappelle’s comedy is the best representative of Post-Blackness, Dave Chappelle’s sketches show essentialistic representations of Blackness, whereas the comedy of Key & Peele represents Blackness in the light of Post-Blackness. Thus I will claim that there has been a change in the representation of Blackness in the comedies of Black entertainers from essentialism to Post-Blackness and will integrate Paul Gilroy’s, Stuart Hall’s, Wahneema Lubiano’s, Arthur R. McGee’s and Toure’s views on essentialism and post-blackness.