Following recent research in historical and cultural studies of “the book” and the practitioner field of book arts, the book is now approached no longer only as a vehicle for content but as a rich and mutable material entity. But … Continue reading “Communist Objects and the Values of Printed Matter”
Issue: Issue 103
People-of-Color-Blindness
jared sextonThis article offers a critique of the concept of “people of color,” highlighting a form of blindness to the singularity of racial slavery internal to its articulation. It pursues a theoretical itinerary that reads the radical black feminism of Saidiya … Continue reading “People-of-Color-Blindness”
Dependency, Appetite, and Iconographies of Hunger in Mambéty's Hyenas
burlin barrThis essay offers a close reading of the Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty’s film Hyenas and looks especially at the way the film addresses issues of development and dependency in postcolonial and contemporary Africa. Released in 1992, Hyenas is an … Continue reading “Dependency, Appetite, and Iconographies of Hunger in Mambéty's Hyenas”
Style, Tsotsi-style, and Tsotsitaal
rosalind morrisThis essay examines the historical emergence and recent revival of the figure of the tsotsi via the transatlantic migration of aesthetic forms and their dispersal across generic and social spaces. The historical arc of the tsotsi traverses a period that … Continue reading “Style, Tsotsi-style, and Tsotsitaal”
Introduction: Césaire in 1956
brent hayes edwardsThis editorial note introduces the translations that follow of two pieces written in fall 1956 by Aimé Césaire: his speech “Culture and Colonization,” delivered at the first Congrès International des Ecrivains et Artistes Noirs, hosted by the journal Présence Africaine … Continue reading “Introduction: Césaire in 1956”
Culture and Colonization
aime cesaire“Culture and Colonization,” which has long been unavailable in English translation, was Aimé Césaire’s speech at Le Premier Congrès International des Ecrivains et Artistes Noirs, hosted by the journal Présence africaine in Paris in September 1956. The congress is one … Continue reading “Culture and Colonization”
Letter to Maurice Thorez
aime cesaireAimé Césaire’s Lettre à Maurice Thorez, which appears here in a new translation by Chike Jeffers, is the Martinican poet, playwright, theorist, and politician’s letter of resignation from the French Communist Party (PCF). He first explains his resignation by making … Continue reading “Letter to Maurice Thorez”