The Journey of Self-Defence through Sound in Claudia Rankine’sCitizen

Abstract

In Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine creates a powerful contemporary embodiment of the evolution of sound in African American vernacular tradition. In this close reading, the poem’s oral expression is explored through a sonic lens and linguistics. From the forced sibilant silence of [s] to the vocalized plosive protest of [b], the poem’s sonic journey calls for louder self-defence in the fight against inequality. Rankine is pushing the public to stop, take in the stories of micro- and macroaggressions, and listen to the magnitude of their impact and interruptions in and of African American lives.