Dickens Lost: A Study on the Spatial Practice in Paul Beatty’s The Sellout

Abstract

Paul Beatty, as a representative writer of contemporary African American literature, pays close attention to the living space of African Americans, and their inheritance of their own history and culture in his Booker-Prize-winning novel The Sellout. Based on Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad, this article analyzes how characters draw inspiration from their historical and cultural legacy, compete for their living space, remedy spatial injustice, and obtain their right of habitation in an erased black ghetto of Los Angeles, i.e., Dickens, with an attempt to elucidate the essence of their spatial practices of reinstituting slavery and segregation. It argues that beneath the surface of spatial change lies the pain caused by colonialism, the constraints of existing policies and the struggle of African Americans. Dickens, a seemingly marginal space, is, in effect, a representation of the negligible existence of Black people in America as well as a basis of their identity. By delving deep into the characters’ peculiar spatial practices that deconstruct state-level structural racism, this article demonstrates that Beatty criticizes the history of racial discrimination against Black people, expresses his concerns on the possible vulnerability of contemporary African Americans, and provides a new insight into their survival strategy in the so-called post-racial era.