henry louis gates jr the signifying monkey

An example of this technique is the famous toast, 'The Signifying Monkey.'' (Roger D. Another technique of signifying through indirection is making reference to a person or group not present, in order to start trouble between someone present and the ones who are not. A person is loud-talking when he says something of someone just loud enough for that person to hear, but indirectly, so he cannot properly respond (Mitchell-Kernan). These range from the most obvious kinds of indirection, like using an unexpected pronoun in discourse ('Didn't we come to shine today' or 'Who thinks his drawers don't stink?'), to the more subtle technique, of louding or loud-talking in a different sense from the one above. 'Women, and to certain extent children, commonly use more indirect methods of signifying.'Signifying can affirm, critique, or build community through the involvement of its participants.' (Carole Boyce Davies, Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. This form of signifying lends itself to validating a pecking order style of dominance based on the result of the verbal exchange. African American men in this verbal art form focus their anger, aggression, and frustration into a relatively harmless exchange of wordplay where they can establish their masculinity in verbal 'battles' with their peers. Some scholars define signifying as primarily a male-dominated activity (the female version is called 'specifying'). 'Above all, signifying is a ritualistic practice that serves various functions in different African American discursive and communal spaces.

Henry louis gates jr the signifying monkey