Linguistic Rebellion: Re-signifying Standard English in LeRoi Jones’ Black Dada Nihilsmus

The African American poet LeRoi Jones (1934-2014), was celebrated as the groundbreaker of Western ideas associated with the deliberate degradation of the blacks in the United States. He was dissatisfied with the signifying system of the standard English language due to his belief that this system is biased and does not reflect the needs and desires of black people. Many studies dealt with his revolutionary writings, yet no study examines his linguistic rebellion. Thus, this article investigates his rebellion against the English language signifying system in Jones Black Dada Nihilsmus in light of Gates theory of The Signifying Monkey (1988). This theory explains the linguistic attempts of African American writers of challenging the standard English. The article concludes that Jones linguistic rebellion is a vital technique of rejecting English language biased signification. Additionally, it re-signifies new meanings that fit the articulation of the African American voice in Jones poem.