Performing transcendence: Tracing the evolution of the jazz aesthetic in Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man'

Music has always been an essential part of the African American experience and takes center stage in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Musicality flows through every line of the novel and the impact the jazz aesthetic has on the text is undeniable. This project seeks to examine the various ways in which specific elements of the jazz aesthetic appear in the text and represent the emotional journey of the novel's narrator. Focusing specifically on the techniques of vamping, call and response, and improvisation, this project will trace the ways in which these techniques assist the narrator in overcoming the trauma he has suffered as an African American man in a bigoted American society.