We would like to congratulate and recognize Jessyka Finley, the American Humor Studies Association's winner of the Jack Rosenbalm Prize for 2016-2017. Her essay "Black Women’s Satire as (Black) Postmodern Performance,” appeared in Studies in American Humor (Series 4, Volume 2, Number 2, 2016).
The Jack Rosenbalm Prize is awarded to the best article on American humor by a pre-tenure scholar, graduate student, adjunct professor, or independent scholar published in a peer-reviewed journal or book published during the award eligibility window.
The next award is for 2018-2019 and you can find out how to submit here.
The judges wrote about this article:
In "Black Women’s Satire as (Black) Postmodern Performance,” Jessyka Finley examines the under-explored work of African-American women’s postmodern humor which functions to destabilize historical narratives that “relegate black women to the margins of United States society.” She explores the performances of Danitra Vance and Leslie Jones on Saturday Night Live as well as the work of web-series performers Azie Mira Dungey in Ask a Slave and Issa Rae in The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl. Throughout this well-crafted and compelling discussion, Finley contends that black women’s satire “becomes a postmodern performance tactic for comprehending, and engaging with, their personal and political interventions.”
Employing careful readings of individual performances, she demonstrates the depth and complexity of material that merits more critical attention. The resulting essay is a formidable contribution toward meeting that need. Finley’s analysis breaks new ground in the field of postmodern studies of black comediennes and opens the door for further examinations generated by this illuminating inquiry.
This sounds like an important and fascinating essay -- be sure to check it out!