« “Chains & Whips” : Quand le rap devient un outil de revendications des citoyennetés noires aux États-Unis »
Presentation at the “Les citoyennetés en acte : perspectives historiques et enjeux contemporains” doctoral seminar organized by Julie Bernini and Hélène Quanquin, Université de Lille. March 6, 2026.
Aux États-Unis, la citoyenneté est définie par la loi suprême du pays qu’est la Constitution. C’est le 14ème amendement (1868) qui garantit la citoyenneté états-unienne à toute personne née dans le pays ou naturalisée. Dans cette présentation, il s’agit de montrer comment le rap peut être perçu comme un outil permettant aux rappeurs et aux Africains Américains dans leur ensemble de modifier les représentations d’eux-mêmes ainsi que de revendiquer leur citoyenneté aux États-Unis, notamment dans une période qui voit se résorber les droits individuels des communautés minoritaires et marginales depuis quelques décennies ; des droits qui avaient pourtant été obtenus après de longues luttes. Bien entendu, ces phénomènes ne sont pas propres à ce pays puisqu’on les retrouve à travers le monde.
“Immaterial Materiality: Hip Hop Discourse between Art, Entertainment, and Black Identity Politics”
Presentation at the “Art and Craft: Materializing Blackness in the US” webinar organized by Clémentine Tholas and Amy Wells, Université de Caen and Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. February 20, 2026.
Because they are set in a specific historical, sociological and cultural context, discourses obey the rules of power/domination systems that could differ from one place to another, but could also intersect with other, external elements. In that sense, discourse is a discursive event, which gives it its materiality, in an “incorporeal materialism” (Foucault, L’ordre du discours). It is from these premises that I analyze the way US rappers—and Kendrick Lamar in particular, especially in his studio albums DAMN (2017) and Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022)—use their discourses (lyrics, music videos, interviews, fashion, etc.) to materialize their Blackness and their Black identities at the same time as they deal with their art, their positions as entertainers, and/or their becoming representatives of Black communities. Their art challenges institutions, stereotypes, hierarchies, as well as invisibilization. Thus, when they are mainstream artists, it leads to the dissemination of Black identity politics to and within the general public, thanks to a form of Black Aesthetics that is revisited, transformed, regenerated before being forcefully imposed on the audience in order to counter limited views of Blackness.
« En crise perpétuelle : le cas des identités africaines américaines »
Presentation at the “Les dynamiques des identités en contexte de crise” workshop organized by Yves Davo and Franck Duquesnois, Université de Bordeaux. November 27-28, 2025.
Dans une société états-unienne où la blanchité est constamment mise sur un piédestal, toutes les avancées obtenues par les Africain·e·s Américain·e·s sont régulièrement remises en question, obligeant à un changement des paradigmes et des dynamiques identitaires et d’identification. Les politiques publiques, les cadres sociaux et les éléments culturels changent, mais toujours pour remettre les personnes noires au ban d’une société fondée sur des aspects raciaux. Cette présentation visait à mettre en faire le lien entre les dynamiques de constructions des identités noires aux États-Unis dans une société où elles sont en crise depuis quatre siècles. Que faire lorsqu’on est constamment « autre » dans un pays que l’on a construit ? Quels développements culturels ? Comment répondre à la réification ? Quelle(s) intégration(s) de celles et ceux qui ne correspondent pas à l’identité collective mais font tout de même partie du groupe ? Plusieurs questions parmi bien d’autres qui pourront lancer la discussion.
“A Life of His Own? And Yet: The Paradoxes of James Baldwin’s First-Person Narratives”
Presentation at the “Common Read” seminar organized by Russel Williams, American University of Paris. November 20, 2025.
Although this first-person narrative technique imposes a form of solipsism, these individual experiences resonate with(-in) the reader/listener. In his texts, speeches, and interviews, the “I” used by Baldwin represents a universal concept, one that plays on our heartstrings, whatever our situation in Western society. Accordingly, in this talk, I considered the paradoxes of this “I” since it does not just concern one but many. as he refused to be categorized by labels, his philosophy has a universal significance, especially for people from the margins.
Participation in the round table “Scholars Roundtable on James Baldwin”
International conference “Reason, Rhythm and Reflection: The Paradoxes of Exile” organized by Harvard University – Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Sorbonne Université & Reid Hall. November 12-14, 2025.
Participation à la table ronde « Savoirs, pouvoirs, université, universalité ? Discussion sur les questions de domination dans le milieu universitaire »
55e Congrès de l’AFEA « Pouvoir et empouvoirement » suggested by the Comité d’éthique and Emmanuelle Delanoë-Brun, Aix-Marseille Université. May 22-24, 2024.
“Of the (Re-)Construction of African American Male Identities in 21st-Century Popular Cultures”
Presentation at the one-day conference “Regards croisés sur le genre” organized by Erwan Pépiot (TransCrit), Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis. November 17, 2023.
In this presentation, I intend to analyze the transformations of representations of African American male individuals in cinema and music, but also in mass media, including social networks. I want to probe the ways African Americans have queered the monolith of “Black identity.” Using famous examples such as Marvel movies, hip hop tracks, and/or social media clashes (among others), this analysis will be made from gender, sexual, and social perspectives.
“Bringing Black Non-Binary In: Bob the Drag Queen Making It Real”
Presentation at the one-day conference “Queering Blackness: Non-Binary Black Representations in Post-Obama Popular Cultures, part 2” organized by Yannick M. Blec and Anne Crémieux, Université Paul Valéry – Montpellier 3. June 16, 2023.
The point of this paper is to analyze the ways queer artist Bob the Drag Queen has used rap in order to get people aware of the possibility of intersection and of the political, activist deconstruction of a patriarchal and racial understanding of gender identities. She uses a commonly misthought media to show the struggles that Black queer individuals in the U.S. face given their intersectional identities. My analysis especially deals with the possibility of non-binary Black identities and with the various possible representations thereof as well as their inclusion within African American communities.
“Construction (Queer) Counter-Models of Masculinities in Hip Hop: A Few Case Studies”
Presentation at the one-day conference “Cultural Representations of Masculinities: Models and Counter-Models in the English Speaking World” organized by Chloé Bour–Lang, Tim Heron and Juliette Misset (SEARCH), Université de Strasbourg. May 12, 2023.
This presentation aims at understanding the ways in which Black gay rappers such as Le1f, Big Freedia, Lil Nas X, Kevin Abstract, Thed Jewel, or even Bob the Drag Queen have queered a theoretically fixed Black masculinity. My analysis will mainly consider lyrics, music videos, and dress codes to probe the manifold interrogations, reinventions, and reappropriations of said masculinity(-ies)—with performances at the intersection of race, gender, class, and sexuality.
“Shifting Canons in Hip Hop: African American Gay Rappers and the Visibility of Homosexuality”
Presentation at the 53th AFEA Symposium “Légitimité, Autorité, Canons”. Workshop No.14 “Faire, défaire, refaire le canon poétique” (“Making, Unmaking, Remaking the Poetic Canon”) suggested by Abigail Lang (Université de Paris) and Vincent Broqua (Université Paris 8 Vincennes–Saint-Denis), Université Bordeaux Montaigne. May 31-June 3, 2022.
This paper probes the shift in the hip hop movement in terms of lyrics, representation, and behavioral codes. Hip hop culture has codified its participants’ attitudes and oral expressions, even their clothing styles. These are fixed in traditions that are inextricably linked to the song lyrics. I examine the way words and postures are being de-canonized to create new canons. As Black gay rappers (and other LGBTQ+ individuals) are increasingly visible, I concentrate on Lil Nas X—whose notoriety has brought new light to the presence of Black gay men in hip hop culture—and on Kevin Abstract.
“African American LGBTQ+ Intersectional Dynamics in Some Contemporary Rap, R&B and Pop Music”
Presentation at the Institut des Amériques, Pôle Nord-Est conference, “Gender, Sexual and Racial Dynamics in the Americas” in the workshop “Popular Culture, Reappropriation of Norms, and Intersecrionality” offered by Yannick M. Blec (Université Paris 8 Vincennes–Saint-Denis) and Sébastien Mignot (Université le Havre Normandie). Université Gustave Eiffel. January 13-15, 2021.
“Queer(ing) Masculinity in Hip Hop Culture: The Case of Lil Nas X”
Presentation at the one-day conference “Gender Trouble 2020: Queering art/Queering society?” organized by Juliette Mélia and Emmanuelle Delanoë-Brun (LARCA), Université de Paris. October 9, 2020.
This paper tackles how Lil Nas X uses his artistic platform to reveal a different agenda of Black masculinity. Decried in TV shows and on social networks because he is gay and flaunts his sexuality, Lil Nas X also raises the question of agency in the way it is correlated to the performative acts coming from being queer and Black—especially in the hip hop industry. The analysis focuses on the representations that he enacts—whether they are his youth, his blackness and queerness, his defense of positive representations, etc.—to break heteronormative codes and speak to/for those whose voices are not heard. Yet, his ambiguity on social media can sometimes disconcert observers, raising further questions about “authenticity.”
« Subvertir les clichés : Moonlight et la reconstruction des identités masculines noires dans le ghetto »
Presentation at the 51st AFEA symposium “Disciplines/Indisciplines”. Workshop No. 14 “Les indisciplinés du cinéma” (“Undisciplined Movies”) suggested by Emmanuelle Delanoë-Brun (Université Paris Diderot) and Delphine Letort (Université du Maine), Université de Nantes. May 21-24, 2019.
Reposant sur l’analyse du film Moonlight (2016) de Barry Jenkins, cette communication observe la façon dont, dans cette œuvre, le ghetto est représenté en contradiction avec les lieux communs. Elle s’attache également à montrer comment les identités LGBTQ+ africaines américaines peuvent se construire, à la fois grâce et à cause du quartier défavorisé qu’est le « ʼhood ». En plus d’être un territoire géographiquement isolé et emprisonnant, c’est aussi celui où une culture propre aux communautés noires et Latinx se crée autour de certaines normes limitant les libertés individuelles. C’est dans ce milieu que Chiron évolue et qu’il découvre son homosexualité. Mon étude se concentre sur l’évolution et l’acceptation de cette sexualité qu’un milieu hétéronormatif et homophobe identifie comme déviante. Elle se penche aussi sur la question d’ipséité en regard de l’identité communautaire.
« Du Down Low aux fiertés : redéfinition des identités et de la masculinité africaines américaines LGBTQ+ à travers les arts populaires, une analyse intersectionnelle »
Presentation at the “Intersectionnalité et transfert des savoirs : itinéraire d’un concept militant” organized by LARCA-UMR8225, Université Paris Diderot. November 14-16, 2018.
« “Black Identity” : d’une identité unique à une identité plurielle. Approche épistémologique des identités noires dans la littérature africaine américaine des années 1960 »
Presentation at the ““Pourquoi les identités… ?” Intérêts et limites d’une notion controversée, 8e Rendez-vous de Géographie culturelle, Ethnologie et Études culturelles en Occitanie” symposium organized by UMR 5281 Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement (ART-Dev) and EMMA EA 741, Université de Nîmes. June 21-22, 2018.
“William Melvin Kelley and the Decolonization of Ebonics: Language as a Constituent of African American Identities”
Presentation at the “Young Scholars Transfers : réflexions sur la notion de transfert en sciences humaines” symposium organized by Mélanie Grué and Lucile Pouthier, Université Paris Est. October 13-14, 2016.
“Memoir, Memory and Conceptualized Identities in William Melvin Kelley’s Narratives”
Presentation at the CAAR “Mobilising Memory: Creating African Atlantic Identities” symposium, Hope University, Liverpool. June 24-28, 2015.
My aim in this paper is to understand how William Melvin Kelley enacts the pride of the African American past through the literary field for the nonfictional creation of African American identities. The phenomenological approach of his works copes with a conceptualizing process and is the basis of my argument.
Kelley’s hermeneutics questions the society itself as well as literary norms. On the one hand, he focuses on the ambiguity of the African American identities in American society as a result of the White American society pressures on them. On the other hand, he interrogates Black literature as separate, but also as one responding to well-defined criteria. Because all these preexisting conditions are part of the common ideology of a Black psyche, culture and past, they have become the norm. Kelley deconstructs them to create anew. His approach is both creative and of agitprop.
“Chig Dunford and the Idea of Life in Cycle – From Insouciance to Awareness, and Conversely”
Presentation at the CAAR “Dreams Deferred, Promises and Struggles: Perceptions and Interrogations of Empire, Nation, and Society by Peoples of African Descent” symposium, Agnes Scott College, Decatur/Atlanta. March 13-16, 2013.
By focusing on Chig Dunford, one of the protagonists in William Melvin Kelley’s Dunfords Travels Everywheres, the goal of this paper is to show how the writer creates a never-ending story to expose the everlasting struggle African Americans must fight for their rights and self-determination.
In the novel, Chig’s insouciance is not that of an African American who does not know what it is to be Black in the Unites States in the 1960s, it is that of a Black man who has never faced the realities of being black in his own country. As the story unfolds, he rediscovers his blackness in two ways: first through the plot itself and its events, then through the secondary story told in “dream language,” a language invented by Kelley to reveal the truth of U.S. society to his African American characters.
“Making Blackness Meaningful or When William Melvin Kelley’s Characters Become Self-Conscious”
Presentation at the CAAR “Black States of Desire: Dispossession, Transformation, Circulation symposium, Université Paris 7 Denis Diderot. April 6-9, 2011.
Because they are constructed in an intertextual context, the characters in William Melvin Kelley’s stories expand a lot. These characters are aware of their skin color in a context defined to make them realize it and as they grow to understand the consequences the color of their skins has on them and on those around them.
In stories set in the 1960s, Kelley’s characters go from a life of submission to a fully lived life, i.e., without pretense or assimilation. This is a fact Kelley endeavors to pass on to his reader, the final person he wants to convince into a life without boundary due to the color of their skins. His mission is to make blackness meaningful again for Black people who must become confident of their own worth.
Soon
« Hypermasculinité/hypersensibilité : les masculinités noires dans le rap US, entre retournement et revendications »
Presentation at the “‘Fight the Power’ ? Musiques hip-hop et rapports sociaux de pouvoir” seminar organized by Princia Andrianirina, Emmanuelle Carinos Vasquez, Keivan Djavadzadeh, Marie Sonnette-Manouguian, Université Paris 8. June 12, 2026.
Souvent cantonnés à l’image du « gangsta », supposé être hypersexuel et hypermasculin, les hommes noirs aux États-Unis sont à l’intersection de plusieurs images contradictoires. Cela est d’autant plus vrai quand la culture hip hop est prise en considération comme élément monolithique de représentation de ces hommes noirs. Dans leur quête de crédibilité, une grande part de rappeurs « gangsta » des années 1980-2000 ont créé des personnages qui mettaient surtout en avant une hypermasculinité débordante. Ce faisant, ils ont saturé le rap de thèmes misogynes, homophobes, matérialistes, et ont aussi fait l’éloge de la promiscuité sexuelle – des éléments omniprésents dans leurs couplets et leurs clips vidéo. Néanmoins, nombre d’artistes (notamment des artistes queer) se sont aussi servis du rap pour montrer une autre image des hommes noirs – en un retournement du stigmate qui leur permet de montrer la complexité de leurs expériences et de leurs identités. Dans cette présentation, il s’agira de voir comment le hip hop, en tant que forme d’expression, sert à ces derniers artistes à montrer une diversité des masculinités noires. À travers les tracks, clips, performances, réseaux sociaux, etc., il s’agira surtout de considérer la façon dont ils luttent contre l’essentialisation de ces masculinités afin de revendiquer des identités intersectionnelles dans l’environnement social des US.
Yannick Blec 