Brownness and the Ontology of Analogy

Abstract: This article theorizes the concept of "compulsory analogy" as a reiterated, compelled speech act that fundamentally structures Brown ontology within white supremacy. The author contends that white interpellation forces Brown subjects to define themselves via similitude to position Brown/ness both as whiteness's subordinate and as whiteness's ally in perpetuating anti-Blackness. Subsequently, the essay pivots to considering the function of literary analogies in the work of the contemporary South Asian poet Kazim Ali, suggesting that it offers a model for an analogical logic that vehemently rejects compulsory analogy in favor of a Brown relationality that confounds white inscription and is predicated on antiracist alliances between Brown and Black subjects.