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Bevat de naam: Ytasha L. Womack

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Black Panther: A Cultural Exploration, by Ytasha Womack, looks not only at the texts themselves but at the worlds they responded to and the worlds they have helped to create (now and in the future).

I know many people may be tempted to get this book simply because they love the recent movies and this volume is beautiful. By all means do so but read it closely as well. You'll learn about the writers and illustrators from the early years as well as those who brought the character and the story into our present. Most important you'll read about the social context within which the character was created and the changes in both society and popular culture that makes the story so powerful.

In making this journey you will, if you haven't already done so, be introduced to Afrofuturism. If this is an introduction for you, it will be a good one, though I still recommend reading some of the many wonderful books on the topic in literature and music as well as the fandoms. Like any speculative science fiction, though perhaps even more so with works within Afrofuturism, you have to look back to see how we got to where we are, then respond to that. This volume takes us on that trip, both within the publishing world and the society as a whole.

I would recommend this not only to those who are fans of Black Panther (isn't that just about everyone?) but also those who enjoy that area where fiction and real life come into discourse. That dynamic is made clear and understandable in this work.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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pomo58 | Oct 5, 2023 |
There is a LOT of good stuff here, but whew, the book needed a vigorous editor and even fact checker. I grew restless during Womack's discussion of "African cultural astronomy" (she starts throwing this term around a lot without ever precisely defining it) and then had to put the book down when she attributed the destruction of the Library of Alexandria to Napoleon. It's a shame, because there is tough, searching material in this book, and the topic is important.
 
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tungsten_peerts | 3 andere besprekingen | Sep 13, 2021 |
OMG I've only just read the introduction and the first couple paragraphs of the first chapter but I'm already in lurv!

*******************

This was a great book. I'd been a fan of Nnedi Okorafor, Octavia Butler, George Clinton/Parliament, and Sun Ra for some time now, and have been meaning to check out a few other authors in the Afrofuturism and Afrosurrealism vein, but I never really made a connection insofar as a movement or genre. Ytasha Womack is engaging and balances well her personal experiences with an expository look into the movers and shakers of the AF scene. I now have a laundry list of artists, films, and filmmakers to check out. I especially loved the final chapters where Womack connects AF to community outreach, which is something I would LOVE to get involved in.

The only drawbacks to this book:
(1) (echoing another reviewer here) This book would have done well to include a recommended bibliography/discography, etc. As it stands now, just be prepared to take notes! You're going to want to explore.
(2) There were just a couple cringe-worthy incorrect historical notes (one I couldn't get over was that Napoleon had destroyed the library in Alexandria--I believe part of it caught fire with Julius Caesar's Civil War and was later subject to continued destruction by regional bigwigs).
(3) I tired a little with some of the digressions that were along the lines of "so these people aren't exactly AFs, but they did this one thing that could be included in the genre." This wasn't bad by any means, and it generally just illustrated Womack's point that African Americans have a rightful stake in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Surrealist communities, but it did strike me as a little bit of a stretch.

Regardless of these minor setbacks, this is such a terrific primer. I hope lots of people read it and are inspired to look more into the AF genre. I know I'll be thinking and talking about it for a long time.
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LibroLindsay | 3 andere besprekingen | Jun 18, 2021 |
An excellent primer to Afrofuturism. It's accessible and prompts the reader to dig in deeper to the artists referenced.
 
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Bodagirl | 3 andere besprekingen | Feb 12, 2020 |

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Werken
10
Ook door
4
Leden
288
Populariteit
#81,142
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
5
ISBNs
12

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