Forms of Death and the Death of Form in Contemporary Black Fiction

Abstract: In this article, I explore how death has become one of the determinant logics of contemporary Black fiction as authors attempt to anticipate the insatiable desire of white audiences to witness Black people dying. At the same time, however, I look at how a certain subset of contemporary Black authors anticipate that market demand and undercut the very processes of reifying their work. Looking at work by Monica Brashears, Percival Everett, and Jason Mott, I explore how all three authors use satire (and, more specifically, a satire of mourning) as a way of both drawing attention to and exceeding the implied interpretive and formal framework of a white literary marketplace.