What is Afrosurrealism?The term "Afrosurrealism" originates from the introduction to the Henry Dumas novel Ark of Bones and Other Stories by Amiri Baraka, explaining Dumas' “skill at creating an entirely different world organically connected to this one … the Black aesthetic in its actual contemporary and lived life.” The term was later defined further in the Afrosurreal Manifesto by D. Scot Miller.
Afrosurrealism is linked to the Surrealist movement, but is defined by its connection to Black identity, culture, and rights. It explores the absurdity and unlikelihood present in the realities of Black life. Examples of Afrosurrealist works include:
Read D. Scot Miller's Afrosurreal Manifesto below.
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What is Afrofuturism? Ytasha L. Womack defines Afrofuturism as "an intersection of imagination, technology, the future, and liberation."
"Afrofuturism" was first coined by cultural critic Mark Dery, defined as "speculative fiction that treats African-American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of 20th century technoculture — and more generally, African-American signification that appropriates images of technology and a prosthetically enhanced future." This definition has been refined and expanded further into the idea of an aesthetic based around projecting Black futures based on Afrodiasporic experience. Examples of Afrofuturist works include:
As Ruth La Ferla explains in the New York Times, "You will likely know it when you see it: a high-shine mash-up of cyborg themes, loosely tribal motifs, android imagery and gleaming metallics that might be appropriate for a voyage to Pluto’s outer reaches." To learn more about Afrofuturism, you can read Jamie Broadnax's article in the Huffington Post, Grinnell College's page, and Ruth La Ferla's article in the New York Times. |