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Black British Literature :pencil2: - Coggle Diagram
Black British Literature
:pencil2:
is about...
theoretical foundation
Stuart Hall's 'New Ethnicities' (1988):
'Black' as a political term based on shared experiences of racism.
Acknowledges different ethnic backgrounds and histories.
Black British Literature: A unifying framework. yet not exclusive.
early representation
16th-19th c
Black characters written by white authors, performed by white actors.
• Prosthetics and blackface used in theater.
• Examples: "Othello' (1604), "Masque of Blackness" (1605), "Oroonoko" (1688).
• Christian iconography linked blackness with evil in morality plays.
First black and mixed-race authors emerged in 18th-19th centuries.
Genres: Memoirs, letters, pamphlets, not widely recognized in literary canon.
Notables: Phyllis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, Ignatius Sancho, Mary Prince, Mary Seacole.
pre-WWII pioneers
operated only in elite london circles; long work but opressed
Cultural contributions from diasporic intellectuals: C.L.R. James, George Padmore, Una Marson.
Salman Rushdie (1983): Called it a 'chimera'
Stuart Hall: Political term uniting diverse experiences of racism and resistance.
literature written in English by Caribbean, Asian, African, and other people who originated from the ex-British Empire,
Post WWII Era
Empire Windrush: Start of Caribbean mass migration
Racism, hostile reception in post-war Britain, xenophobia;
Restrictive immigration policies
1980s -- Uprisings and Literary Emergence
1st generation and settler writers
: Gilroy, Riley, etc.
genres: poetry, theatre fiction,
2nd generation
mid 90s: British-born black voices emerge;
city-based identity (Manchester, London, Liverpool);
Authors: Zadie Smith, Jackie Kay, Andrea Levy
Terminology Debates
F. Dennis: criticised broad use of " Black British";
Talks on risks of homogenising divers cultures and identities;
Shift toward emphasising specific ethnic and national context
Multiculturalism and Devolution
90s onward: recognising British regional and cultural diversity;
'The Black Atlantic' by Gilroy -- black identity is fragmented and mixed;
debates around national identity, race, gender, sexuality
Postcolonial framework
Black British literature seen through postcolonial lens
Emgages with critiques and reinterprets the British literary canon
Challenges "cultural insiderism" + promotes hybrid perspectives
the belief that a specific culture should only be interpred, understood, represented by those who are part of it
the idea that onle people with authentic perspective have the right to speak in its values
The Fat Black Woman's Poems
published in 1980’s
Caribbean immigrant in England, Nichols’ poems focus on race, migration and womanhood. As the title suggests, she explores being out of place in a white, thin world, as well as taking joy in the unique beauty of being a fat black woman.
Looking at Miss World
comments upon the beauty standarts
they are all slim, conform to the western idea of beauty(white caucasian at that time)
2001- first black African woman was crowned Miss World Agbani Darego
by Grace Nichols
