Identity and Incognegro
One of the main themes in Incognegro is identity. Zane is constantly under a false identity
whether he is in the field—undercover—or he is at work—using the pseudonym of
Incognegro. His fair skin allows him to pass as “white”. He describes his
transformation on page 18. What do you think Zane’s reaction to this is and is
he able to be himself at all? How do you think this makes him feel? Do you feel
as if he is losing his identity as a black male because of pretending he is
white? How do you think he keeps composure when he is around white people that
degrade his own race? Due to Zane’s false identity, do you often see yourself
getting confused as to which race he is portraying each time?
I found it difficult at times to follow the storyline
especially when the story jumps from one scene to the next without a warning
signal. For example, when Zane crosses the path of the woman that shoots him,
then changes to his encounter with his brother at the train station, then back
to the woman—just within a couple of pages. I had to look back a few times to
see where Johnson and Pleece were going with this.
Lastly, the major aspect that stood out to me in this
graphic novel is the art involved. It’s very different from the other graphic
novels we have read. It reminds of a Sin
City-esque feel. I really enjoy it. I feel as if the graphics are very
detailed especially with facial expressions—whereas with the other graphic
novels we have read, it is hard to see emotions on the characters’ faces.
The story focuses on Zane and how he is able to pass off as white. I'll believe that he's feeling like he is abandoning his identity as a black man. It might be temporary, but if I were in his shoes, it'd be like losing my morals. Here he is disguised as a white man while his people are being brutalized in front of him. He may be doing this for a worthy cause, but I'm surprised that this hasn't cost him his sanity yet. I don't even understand how he can come back to his black identity after the scams he pulls of. There's probably more to it.
ReplyDeleteThere were times where I too found it difficult to follow the storyline when it goes to the flashbacks, but I quickly got over it after a few pages and got back on track. The art style of this graphic novel may be confusing at times, but it does have a unique style to it. The facial expressions are usually focused to express the emotion and the ethnicity of the people. At least that is what I see.
I think there are definitely some questions brought up around Zane's identity as a black man. Micheala didn't even believe Zane and
ReplyDeleteAlonzo were brothers. He seems to in this very complicated liminal space when it comes to his race. Maybe it's not only white people who see what they want to see. Maybe not looking black enough causes him problems even in his own family and his own race. I think the author is trying to bring this up in the narrative especially since he has encountered this in his own life (see the note from the author).
I found his transformation to be very interesting because the authors present the transformation from a black man to a white man as comparable to transforming from a man to a superhero. It must be hard to fit into either identity because he lives his life trying to pass off as a white man but is a black man. Does he identify more as one or the other at this point? He must be very confused about who he is from day to day and job to job. I am just about as confused as I am sure he has to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments about following the storyline and the art. There is a bit of jumpiness in the novel that was much clearer in the other two we have read, but this novel has more clarity in the emotions of the art. I love this art style a lot. I wonder what this style could have looked like in Maus or Persepolis (something I think about every time I read a new graphic novel). Does anyone else here ask that question?
I'm not sure Zane is losing his identity when he passes for white because he seems very unsure of who he is in the first place. He lives in a world where the racial divide is painfully clear, yet he doesn't fit on either side of the line because of his mixed ancestry. I think it is this fact that helps him keep his cool while undercover; he doesn't feel like he's black, but he also doesn't quite feel white, so he can act like he fits in on either side of the line.
ReplyDeleteThe artwork plays an interesting part in this duality. Everything is drawn in black and white (likely a play on the way people viewed race at the time period this story is set in) but there are careful clues left for the reader. The way Johnson pays such close attention to facial expressions is one of these clues; Zane and Carl both use different expressions when they are passing for white, but other expressions creep onto their faces from time to time as their true identities react to people and events. In a few spots, Johnson even seems to play with the shadows on their faces for the same reason.
No one would be happy with having to compromise their racial identity even if it were for the sake of helping others. It especially could not be easy as he was safe while others of his race are wrongly persecuted especially if his efforts can’t help all of them. I honestly don’t know how he could keep composure around white people who do not simply degrade his people but treat them no better than animals or objects. Likely he’s had to justify his actions to himself more often than not and still at the end of the day he can’t reconcile his actions.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of literature of African America literature that focuses on this topic and is written right around the 1930s. It’s never easy because their racial identity becomes a decision, a matter of picking a “side,” and often the only to avoid unnecessary persecution is to declare one’s self white. It’s a decision that is heavily laden with guilt and a sense of a betrayal. I don’t doubt that Zane feels all of this deeply.
I see what Kailynn is saying about the art, and I’d like to expand on it a little bit.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about comic book art, there’s several layers that come into play. (some of this is from McCloud, some of it’s not):
The most basic level is what some people call draftsmanship. Draftsmanship deals with the questions: Are the gestures/facial expressions dramatic? What is the level of detail in the art? How is the artist using line, shape, texture, and color to create a visual style that services the story?
Zooming out a layer, the artist must also think about the composition of the individual panels. This is similar to what a cinematographer does on a movie. Panel composition deals with: How does the artist use foreground, middleground, and background to create depth (or lack of) to the panel? How does the reader’s eye move around the panel? Where are the word balloons placed? What is the size and shape of the panel?
Zooming out again, the artist is also thinking about the composition of the page as a whole. This is where you get some of the things McCloud was talking about in terms of pacing, time, and motion. Page layout considers: How many panels are included on a page? What are the sizes and shapes of the various panels? How does the reader’s eye move from panel to panel? What is the balance of shape and color on the page?
(You could also zoom out further and talking about the design of the publication as a whole…but you’ve gotta stop somewhere)
So with all that being said…
I agree with the Kailynn that I think Pleece’s draftsmanship in Incognegro is strong. It’s very traditional, but the gesture and the facial expressions are strong. This particular story would be an absolute mess without good draftsmanship. The panel composition is okay, some of the dialogue scenes are pretty dry. But the ‘camera’ usually stays pretty close to the faces which is important for this kind of story.
I have to say the page layouts and the sizing/shaping of the panels are pretty darn boring. It’s mostly just 4-5 similarly proportioned rectangles marching down the page. I think this story has the potential for a lot of really cool beats where the panels speed up, slow down, or pause, the action, but that doesn’t really happen.
I think that the question of identity, and what it ultimately means lies at the heart of Incognegro. And, unsurprisingly, it's a complex idea. Would you become someone else if it meant doing good in the world? If you found success as that new person, would it tempt you to leave behind the old you? Is that even a possibility? Identity is a fundamental aspect of who we are as human beings; the understanding of ourselves is paramount in all things, even in terms of how we understand others. Zane is offered a unique opportunity to "slip" into multiple identities, but at the expense of having a singular understanding of himself. He is often at odds with himself, and finds himself stretched between two realities; that of the black man, and that of the white man. For example, Zane wants to start writing under his own name. He wants to be seen for the man he actually is, not Incognegro. However, being Incognegro affords him the ability to do good that he would otherwise be unable to do.
ReplyDeleteI think that art is agreeable enough. The character work is well done, and the panel layouts are easy to follow (if a little barren at times). I think that the most interesting aspect of the art style is that it's in black and white. I mean, yes, that's like the most obvious thing in the world when you take into account what the story itself is actually about, but it works really well given the framework. It's interesting that, in a book that hinges on skin tone, we don't know exactly how "light" Zane is. We, as the reader, cannot make our own assumptions or assessments about the "validity" of Zane being able to blend in with a white crowd. In that way, we have to accept certain contrivances of the plot as being fact. By having the art be presented in black and white, the design choice works on both a symbolic level, but also on a practical storytelling level.
I found the panels on p 18 really interesting. The text was setting him up to be a sort of superhero, and the style of this comic book seems to be more like the superhero genre than Maus or Persepolis. I think he is able to be himself because I think Incognegro Zane is similar to black Zane. I say this because dialogue between Zane and Carl, and dialogue between Zane and others when he's Incognegro is similar, if not the same.
ReplyDeleteZane keeps composure because he has to. He won't be able to get the story if he doesn't which is what he was trying to teach Carl in the train. There is no one else exposing these stories so it's entirely up to Zane and his "act".
I don't feel like Zane is any less of a black man because he goes undercover and identifies as a white person sometimes. The little sequence on p 18 about race and Incognegro gave me the impression that Zane doesn't see race as a part of his identity ("Race is a strategy. The rest is people acting. Playing roles.")
I haven't been confused so far. I think I just assume which person he is according to his surroundings. I pretty much assumed that when he got on the train he was Incognegro and would be for his entire assignment in the South.
I just finished reading, and so far I'm loving it. I feel like there is so much deeper stuff going on within Zane as he takes on this persona of a white man, and I certainly feel like he could run the possibility of losing himself in this role.
ReplyDeleteI was constantly reminded of Peter Parker and his battle of balancing his life as Spider-Man. Throughout the series, we witness these scenes where he has to completely remove his Peter Parker self to become his Spider-Man self, to the point where he eventually is more of Spider-Man than Peter Parker. We see his grades in school failing, his relationships falling apart, etc. There's even the story arc with Black Cat where the opposite happens: she falls in love with Spider-Man, but she has no desire for the persona of Peter Parker.
Zane's story reminded me so much of that as we see him argue with his friend (whose name escapes me) and abandons him at the beginning when he hears news of Pinchie.
I get a feeling we'll come to a breaking point where he may have to choose between being Incognegro or Zane, and we'll see some sort of battle as he figures out which is his true self (not sure, but it's certainly something I could see happening/would potentially like to see.)
As for understanding who he is and all that, I haven't really had trouble following. Context and location has helped with that, along with the page layouts. I've not really had any trouble following that either.
In terms of the art, I agree with other folks. We're definitely reading a more "traditional," or at least more common art style (in my experience.) Lots of shadows and blacks and whites (white I'm certain was intentional, in order to blur the lines of Zane's color even more.)
The art style and this concept of falsifying identity play so well together. Within comics, especially black and white comics, race is very hard thing to achieve. The facial structure and attributes differences between white and African Americans are very slight. An artist can easily choose when to skew these differences through the story in order to hide Zanes identity. When he is around his friends and family, Zane tends to be shown in angles that emphasize his African descent, but when he is at the Lynch mobs in the beginning, the reader has not a clue that his is African- American rather than white. I find this to be one of the reasons this story is such a great comic, being made in the comic style, it truly can blur the lines of identity to its will due to such an ambiguous visual medium.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I get confused on the race of all the characters. I believe this is an intentional aspect of the comic book. The creators made this story black and white, which makes all the characters’ races somewhat ambiguous; sometimes characters are drawled darker, but most of the time, the reader has to depend on the context of the story. As for Zane’s struggle to identify as a certain race, it doesn’t appear that he personal identifies as ANY race. He states, “That’s one thing that most of us know that most white folks don’t. That race doesn’t really exist” (19). Sure he might dress a certain way to fill a certain role, but it is all part of his ruse. The reason he can keep his composer when confronted with brutal racism is by focusing on the bigger picture. He feels that he can make a more substantial impact by actively shedding light on these injustices in his newspaper, rather than being reactive by threatening violence with violence.
ReplyDeleteI personally felt that the creators of 'Incognegro' were using the theme of mistaken identities in order to showcase the issue of ignorance and preconceived ideas of what/who a person is based on their appearances and mannerisms. In a era of high level technology like what we have today, it is becoming harder to pretend to be someone else. Sure we have cases of stolen identities and such, but in the past is was much easier for someone to take on the role of being someone else than it is today. In todays world there are more gray areas and that is acceptable, however in the past it was a world of black and white (both figuratively and literally).
ReplyDeleteI read this book once based on the life story of one of UC's staff and he was a white man who's father was biracial and because of having 'colored' blood in his genes and being raised by a 'colored' family member he and his brother were forced to attend colored schools and were seen as 'negros' by their white community.
American society is an unusual melting plot of blurred racial and cultural lines. European societies tend to find is amusing and irritating that American's still claim their ancestral blood lines because so many of our families have been in America for so many generations that it no longer matters. However it is a simple American fact to us it matters on some sort of level because how else would be know that our parents are of German or Irish heritage?
This story of blurred racial lines between the coloreds and the whites is just one example of racial discrimination. At one time or another our nation has had issues with Italians, Irish, Jews, Mexicans and so one. Holding onto our heritage is both a limitation and a security blanket. It can both hold us back or encourage us.
'Incognegro' shows the readers that the issue of heritage for Zane and his twin brother both held them back and encouraged them. Zane was encouraged to embrace his 'blurred lines' and live a double life that helped him reveal the cruel realities of the world for 'colored' people at the hands of white people. While his brother felt limited and held back by the color of his skin and lived a life like any other uneducated southern man in the 1930's until his brother Zane took him back to Harlem.
The artistic style of the story allows for the true telling of a blurred line story because if we were to read the story like in a normal novel them in our minds the moment that we knew that one brother was light skinned while the other was not, we may not have pictured them in the way that allows the characters to blend and move about the story the way that they should.
First, I will address the question about playing different parts. As a professional actor, this seems rather pedestrian to me. We all play different roles in life - for instance the same person can be a mother, drinking buddy, mentor, confidant, and even, say, Secretary of State. A reporter that goes by a pseudonym doesn't seem to me as someone who would be susceptible to identity issues, even someone like Zane. I never got the sense that he was questioning his identity as he is acutely aware of where the line is as to what he can get away with (unlike his friend, Carl).
ReplyDeleteDrawing the graphic novel in black and white was the right choice on a number of levels. Symbolically, it plays into the motif of a black and white world of America. Secondly, it helps to obscure Zane and Carl's ethnicity. Last, (and this may be a stretch but it nevertheless spoke to me) the use of black and white art was an accessible way to match the simplicity of the views held by the racist society.
WOW! I didn't think of the black and white art matching the simplicity of the views held by the racist society. I only looked at the art as more emotional--meaning their emotions are more prominent than the other graphic novels we have read.
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ReplyDeleteI think that Zane is perfectly able to be himself despite his secret identity. It does seem to get in the way of his career as a journalist in the early part of the novel. But as he begins to understand how much good he is able to do as Incognegro, he eventually keeps his secret identity and continues to do work under the pseudonym despite his boss telling him that he doesn't have to. He has made the choice his own. I think that Zane finds great pride and courage in being Incognegro. When he is around whites who talk badly of blacks, Zane is able to keep his composure because he knows what is at stake, namely the lives of other black people, and he cannot risk their lives over the matter of ignorance of other people.
I didn't get confused so much with the timeline, but I did get confused as to which character was which. At times, I couldn't make out much difference between Zane and one of the white characters. Yet I think this was a deliberate attempt on the author's part to show the reader that there is not much difference between Zane and many of the white people. In the end, there is no difference between the white men and the black men except the color of their skin, and sometimes there is not much difference in color.
I completely agree with Zane finding pride and courage in being Incognegro. He has to watch his actions when he travels because of the KKK and the repercussions of being African American.
DeleteI loved this book and I agree with you about the art and the "Sin City"-esque aspect. Part of the reason I enjoyed the book so much was because of the art. It made it a joy to read. It's funny how not only the words and images used in a comic make a difference in how it's perceived, but also how you actually draw those images that can make such a difference in a comic. I thought the art in "Incognegro" was really well done and was one of the first things I responded to.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Zane's identity is concerned, I think he was able to "change" races and "pass" for white so easily because he was so secure with his identity. He knew who he was and he knew he had a job to do and he did it for the rest of his race. I don't think he's so much losing his identity as embracing it for the good of others. It reminds me of a superhero who changes identities to help others, like Superman and Clark Kent. Even when he changes into Superman, he's still aware that he's Clark Kent, but he has a job to do that requires the transformation. Zane is doing the same thing. He has people to save and the only way to accomplish that is by "passing" for a white man. I think his sense of identity is strong. I too found it difficult to follow who was who at times, but as others have commented, this may have been done deliberately by the author to show how easily lines of black and white can be blurred.
I too found it difficult to contemplate how Zane could tolerate the treatment of his race, especially the scene by the train station, but I guess he realized that witnessing one act of violence and writing about it would hopefully save many more from the same fate. It's also a question of survival which makes me think about the importance of survival in "Maus". A Polish Jew may look the other way when they see a fellow Polish Jew being taken by Nazi soldiers, because they know if they react they will also be taken to a concentration camp. Zane can't react because then he would find himself in a noose like the others and I think this is also a sign of his strength of character.