--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In [Ralph] Ellison's case, it's more…" description: "\"In [Ralph] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it is phenomenal, and it's conditioned by anger, animosity, and lack of desire to engage with t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/kerry-james-marshall-5157_animosity_in-ralph-ellison-s-case-it-s-more-psycho_338598.jpg" --- # In \[Ralph\] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it… ![“In [Ralph] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it is phenomenal, and it's conditioned by anger, animosity, and lack of desire to engage with the black body. There was always simultaneity that had nothing to do with visuality. You can be there and not be there at the same time and be fully…” quote by Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/kerry-james-marshall-5157_animosity_in-ralph-ellison-s-case-it-s-more-psycho_338598.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/kerry-james-marshall-5157_animosity_in-ralph-ellison-s-case-it-s-more-psycho_338598.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a13/kerry-james-marshall-5157_animosity_in-ralph-ellison-s-case-it-s-more-psycho_338598.jpg) > “In \[Ralph\] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it is phenomenal, and it's conditioned by anger, animosity, and lack of desire to engage with the black body. There was always simultaneity that had nothing to do with visuality. You can be there and not be there at the same time and be fully visible all the time. That's what really struck me about Ellison .” [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ellison's work highlights the tension between visibility and invisibility of Black bodies, shaped by emotional and social forces. **In simple terms:** Black presence is both seen and unseen due to societal attitudes. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge hidden biases. Themes art racial identity perception Mood reflective critical Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - educational curricula - public discussions Key Concepts visibility psychology social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - How does visibility affect identity? - In what ways do emotions shape perception? A Different Perspective Complexity of visual representation may be oversimplified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animosity/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Phenomenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phenomenal/) [Psychological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychological/) [Simultaneity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simultaneity/) ## Related quotes > [The condition of visibility as it relates to black people was crucial. Connected to that, I've always been interested in science fiction and horror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/the-condition-of-visibility-as-it-relates-to-black-people-was-crucial/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [Photography's vaunted capture of a moment in time is the seizure and freezing of presence. It is the image of simultaneity, of the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-e-krauss/photography-s-vaunted-capture-of-a-moment-in-time-is-the-seizure-and/) [Rosalind E. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-e-krauss/) > [“It is a pity that no one in Paris bothered to quote Coleridge, who wrote, long before cubism, that the true poet is able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-c-breunig/it-is-a-pity-that-no-one-in-paris-bothered-to-quote-coleridge-who/) LeRoy C. Breunig > [Absolute time would exist in a causal structure for which the concept indeterminate as to time order lends to a unique simultaneity, i.e., for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-reichenbach/absolute-time-would-exist-in-a-causal-structure-for-which-the-concept/) [Hans Reichenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-reichenbach/) > [Polyphonic painting is superior to music in that there, the time element becomes a spatial element. The notion of simultaneity stands out even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/polyphonic-painting-is-superior-to-music-in-that-there-the-time/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [It win be a device that will permit communication without any time interval between two points in space. The device will not transmit messages,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/it-win-be-a-device-that-will-permit-communication-without-any-time/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The fundamental unity of the Sequence and Simultaneity points of view became plain; the concept of interval served to connect the static and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-fundamental-unity-of-the-sequence-and-simultaneity-points-of-view/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Two fixed ideas can no more exist together in the moral world than two bodies can occupy one and the same place in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/two-fixed-ideas-can-no-more-exist-together-in-the-moral-world-than/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [The idea of the vital movement of the world and its movement is simultaneity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-delaunay/the-idea-of-the-vital-movement-of-the-world-and-its-movement-is/) [Robert Delaunay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-delaunay/) > [There certainly is a tension between the relativity of simultaneity and non-locality in quantum theory, but it's not strong enough to add up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/there-certainly-is-a-tension-between-the-relativity-of-simultaneity/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [Perhaps it is our perennial fate to be surprised by the simultaneity of events, by the sheer extension of the world in time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/perhaps-it-is-our-perennial-fate-to-be-surprised-by-the-simultaneity/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To demonstrate this simultaneity is by no means trivial, because it may for example happen that the product nucleus always forms in an activated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walther-bothe/to-demonstrate-this-simultaneity-is-by-no-means-trivial-because-it/) [Walther Bothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walther-bothe/) > [Simultaneity in light is harmony, the rhythm of colors which creates the Vision of Man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-delaunay/simultaneity-in-light-is-harmony-the-rhythm-of-colors-which-creates/) [Robert Delaunay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-delaunay/) > [I was allowed to write about race using an elevator metaphor because of Toni Morrison and David Bradley and Ralph Ellison. Hopefully, me being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-was-allowed-to-write-about-race-using-an-elevator-metaphor-because/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [“Thanks in part to the rapid mechanization of cotton production in the early 1940s, which ultimately threw millions of farm laborers out of work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-patterson/thanks-in-part-to-the-rapid-mechanization-of-cotton-production-in-the/) [James T. Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-patterson/) ## More by Kerry James Marshall > [There's nothing more special than intellect and labour that makes painting work. There's no magic there; it's information, and it's work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/there-s-nothing-more-special-than-intellect-and-labour-that-makes/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [When art works travel from place to place, what you have is the opportunity to engage with the intellect of another person who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/when-art-works-travel-from-place-to-place-what-you-have-is-the/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [I try to make work about things that matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/i-try-to-make-work-about-things-that-matter/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [I stumbled upon Charles White purely by chance while looking through a book 'Great Negroes, Past and Present' in the library at Forty-Ninth Street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/i-stumbled-upon-charles-white-purely-by-chance-while-looking-through/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [The lighter the skin, the more acceptable you are. The darker the skin, the more marginalised you become. I want to demonstrate that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/the-lighter-the-skin-the-more-acceptable-you-are-the-darker-the-skin/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [Artwork operates on two different levels: On one level there's artwork as a mode of expressivity, and then there's the other side, where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/artwork-operates-on-two-different-levels-on-one-level-there-s-artwork/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [One of the things I recognized early on, doing whatever studies of black history I have, is that even though black folks were transported…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/one-of-the-things-i-recognized-early-on-doing-whatever-studies-of/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [If you walk into any magazine store, I guarantee that nine out of 10 covers will feature white, blonde, blue-eyed, slim women because that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/if-you-walk-into-any-magazine-store-i-guarantee-that-nine-out-of-10/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [For black people who are really dark - and a lot of black people were averse to be dark skinned - it was believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/for-black-people-who-are-really-dark-and-a-lot-of-black-people-were/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [Before people outside of the Western European tradition started asking to be in there, the people who were accumulating objects for the museum were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/before-people-outside-of-the-western-european-tradition-started/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [What I hope 'Mastry' ends up doing is completely undermining or doing away with the notion that artists are a savant: that they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/what-i-hope-mastry-ends-up-doing-is-completely-undermining-or-doing/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [My dream was always to be in museums. It's a big and important milestone and a fulfillment of one of my primary ambitions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/my-dream-was-always-to-be-in-museums-it-s-a-big-and-important/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [When I started, I was aware of using the black as a rhetorical device. It's understanding that black people come in a wide range…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/when-i-started-i-was-aware-of-using-the-black-as-a-rhetorical-device/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [No one has a right to occupy the privileged position all the time, so it should be contested. It should always be messy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/no-one-has-a-right-to-occupy-the-privileged-position-all-the-time-so/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) > [I don't want the pictures to mean things. But the implication of the image and its relationship to the people that are viewing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-james-marshall/i-don-t-want-the-pictures-to-mean-things-but-the-implication-of-the/) [Kerry James Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) [Explore all 103 Kerry James Marshall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-james-marshall/) ## More Animosity quotes > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [We live in a country where there is a lot of animosity. If your politics is radical it antagonises. People might think I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-live-in-a-country-where-there-is-a-lot-of-animosity-if-your/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [Life Appears To Be Too Short To Be Spent In Nursing Animosity Or Registering Wrong...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/life-appears-to-be-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) Pacifiersucker > [You look out into the audience and you see so much joy on people's faces. You make eye contact with people who are almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-mcvie/you-look-out-into-the-audience-and-you-see-so-much-joy-on-people-s/) [Christine McVie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-mcvie/) > [Where there has been racial hatred, it must be ended. Where there has been tribal animosity, it will be finished. Let us not dwell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jomo-kenyatta/where-there-has-been-racial-hatred-it-must-be-ended-where-there-has/) [Jomo Kenyatta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jomo-kenyatta/) > [ \[Football is\] a game that requires the constant conjuring of animosity. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/football-is-a-game-that-requires-the-constant-conjuring-of-animosity/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [“No matter how powerful hate seems, it cannot usurp the throne of love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/no-matter-how-powerful-hate-seems-it-cannot-usurp-the-throne-of-love/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“You could start a fire with the heat between you two." "You're mistaking bitter animosity for heartfelt affection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-hodkin/you-could-start-a-fire-with-the-heat-between-you-two-you-re-mistaking/) [Michelle Hodkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-hodkin/) > [But if you should take the bond of goodwill out of the universe no house or city could stand, nor would even the tillage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/but-if-you-should-take-the-bond-of-goodwill-out-of-the-universe-no/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [It is extremely interesting to me that black males, and other black folk, are viewed as self-pitying, by either other blacks who have failed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/it-is-extremely-interesting-to-me-that-black-males-and-other-black/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [The second effort was spreading the word among the people, first, in a bid to raise their morale, and second to instil in them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-nasrallah/the-second-effort-was-spreading-the-word-among-the-people-first-in-a/) [Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-nasrallah/) > [I've been in and out of Wall Street since 1949, and I've never seen the type of animosity between government and Wall Street. 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You go through all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-hawke/what-i-learned-about-acting-from-my-experiences-directing-is-why-so/) [Ethan Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-hawke/) [Browse all 187 Animosity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animosity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In [Ralph] Ellison's case, it's more psychological than it is phenomenal, and it's conditioned by anger, animosity, and lack of desire to engage with the black body. There was always simultaneity that had nothing to do with visuality. You can be there and not be there at the same time and be fully visible all the time. 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