„Podoba mi się, jak umierasz, chłopcze”. Django i jego Czarny Antybohater

Abstract

The article discusses the phenomenon of the “Black badman” in the context of Quentin Tarantino’s film Django Unchained. A brief outline of the history of Black folktales provides the parameters for the rise of violent tales and tales of violent men, such as Railroad Bill or Stagolee. As an outlaw, Django represents a counterimage to the threat of Black violence that was used to justify not only the racist brutality of lynching, but also the establishment of law enforcement agencies in the American South. By alluding to the legend of Bras Coupé, Tarantino provides a historic lineage for Django, while his use of the “blaxploitation” aesthetic highlights the viability of the Black badman figure for a contemporary America. As a badman, Django is not simply a personification of resistance to White racial domination, but a veritable superhero for a future that one might be tempted to call “post-racial.”