Science fiction and fantasy have always had a major influence in my life. Few other genres exceed science fiction’s ability to portray the expansiveness of the human imagination. The ability to tell larger than life stories through film, TV, music, and art and more it what truly makes Sci-fi special. Science fiction novels, short stories, films and even music have the ability to allow interesting ways for society to reflect and discuss issues of today and the past. The genre provides an opportunity for the exploration of social commentary in new worlds where social problems can be thoughtfully represented and examined. Science fiction offers the ability to explore the political, sociological, philosophic, and cultural tensions in society. However, …show more content…
Afrofuturism is a practice, movement, and a methodology that allows black people to see themselves in a futuristic light despite both their past and present situation. Afrofuturism is an artistic and philosophical movement that puts black history and culture and the African diaspora through a science fiction lens. Ytasha Womack, the author of Afrofuturism: the World of Black Sci-Fi Fantasy and Fantasy Culture, explains the concept stating “Afrofuturism is an intersection of imagination, technology, the future, and liberation. “I generally define Afrofuturism as a way of imagining possible futures through a black cultural lens,” says Ingrid LaFleur, an art curator and Afrofuturist (Womack, 2013, p.9).” Over the last couple decades, Afrofuturism has risen in popular becoming a term that encapsulates many art forms and surges up feelings of awe and excitement within the black community. Afrofuturism as an expression first surfaced in the work of a man considered to the forefather Herman Poole Blount better known as Sun Ra. Blount was a unique jazz composer who mixed various African symbols, poetry, and philosophy with an extra-terrestrial theme mixing jazz music with space fantasy. The genre doesn't stop there Afrofuturistic expression was taken up by Funk musician George Clinton, becoming a notable musical genre Clinton developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science-fiction, outlandish fashion, …show more content…
Dery in his assertion about the lack of African American with the science fiction space is profound for his shocking accurate connection. Pointing out how science fiction as genre highlighted by alienation, abduction, reinterpretations of the past, and speculations on the future offer an ideal means of artistic expression especially for African Americans. Ytasha L. Womack talks about this idea in her book stating “And many found the parallels between sci-fi themes of alien abduction and the transatlantic slave trade to be both haunting and fascinating. Were stories about aliens really just metaphors for the experience of blacks in the Americas (Womack, 2013, p.17)?” I think a major part of what makes some Afrofuturism and sci-fi genre so interesting is that it can act as an analog for the suffering and history of black people. Movies like District 9 although not centered around black people is clearly a film inspired by Afrofuturism. Focusing on a race of aliens that come to earth and are treated like second-class citizens. These alien creatures arrive on earth to make peace with humans however the reality of the situation is that they put in terrible rundown shelters their culture and resources used to for Americas on benefits and their identity stripped away. I think
Afrofuturism is “speculative fiction that treats African American themes and addresses African-American concerns in context of twentieth century techno-culture, and more generally, African- American signification that appropriation images of technology and prosthetically enhance future (Denry, 2).” Afrofuturism is a term I struggle with. I don’t think I am able to define it without having troubles. In doing research I found that Afrofuturism is defined in a number of different ways and that is why I am still fuzzy on the concept. However, I find that the concept of Afrofuturism is limitless. Mark Denry, writer of Black to the Future stated, “If there is an Afrofuturism, it must be sought in unlikely places, constellated from far-flung points (Denry, 3).” I take this to mean that this idea of Afrofuturism is fluid. With that being said I think that Afrofuturism is fluid in a good way in that it leaves room for new ideas related to the concept.
Film could be considered to be the most significant cultural text of the decade. Each of these three films directed by Peter Weir have significance and importance, as they almost force society to look itself in the mirror and get a shock. I encourage readers to watch these films, and think about the importance of their messages.
Science fiction writing began in the early 1800’s as a reaction to the growth in science and technology. The genre is characterized by its intellectual excitement, high adventure, and its making of the fantastic possible. Due to the nature of science fiction, film has become an essential piece to its popularity. Science fiction films have been popular since the earliest silent clips because of the outlandish visuals and creative fictional story lines that capture an audience’s attention. Under the guise of this popular platform writers relay political, social and philosophical messages to their audience. The popular 1931 version of Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, depicts an anti-exploration and anti-intellectual philosophy. In Frankenstein there is criticisms for the immoral behavior that is involved with progresses, the natural tendency for humanity to attempt to be greater than God and the pursuit of knowledge.
In African American Studies/Literature I walked in thinking that I could be told nothing about African American culture or history because I’m African American. In some ways I knew that racism existed but I learned how it has been subtle in control the way we think. We have learned that colonization has not ended and that in many ways we are still being oppressed. In this paper I’m going to show how African American has used hip hop and black hair are two ways in which African Americans embrace their culture and fighting oppression. However, as we have review in many classes oppression is not easily escaped. So in this paper I’m going to show how cultural appropriation is used as a way of oppressing black culture. So this paper will be an expansion of what we have learned in the
African-American culture was spread through several artistic forms and mediums through the decades that the Harlem Renaissance took place in. One of the biggest and arguably the most important forms that Black culture was spread in was the form of music. During this era, music was an indispensable form of artistic expression that conveyed the thought and feeling of the Black people occupying Harlem and the surrounding areas. Music was an important art form at the time as “No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz. Jazz flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of city dwellers flocked night after night to see the same performers”. This music created by the African-Americans in Harlem transformed the negative outlook of many into a positive one or one of some understanding toward the Black populus. This introduction of Jazz and Blues into the society of the era gave birth to several influential and pivotal artists such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. This popularized the Jazz and Blues music genres and brought major notoriety to African-American bringing much needed change in the perceptions of Black
According to Jordi Oliveres, “Afrofuturism is not black sci-fi. It’s not black fantasy. It’s not an easily definable artistic genre but, rather, a sweeping, cultural aesthetic that examines issues around black representation, the black future and black agency using music, novels, visual media, history and myth to create something else entirely.” This means that afrofuturism is an idea/ movement in which black people have the chance to show how they want to be represented in the future. Whether it be their fashion, dance moves, or their music, Michael and Janet Jackson are the definition of afrofuturism in my book. This especially is seen in their music video they did together called Scream.
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans.
Darko Suvin defines science fiction as "a literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and cognition, and whose main formal device" (Suvin 7-8) is a fictional "novum . . . a totalizing phenomenon or relationship" (Suvin 64), "locus and/or dramatis personae . . . radically or at least significantly" alternative to the author's empirical environment "simultaneously perceived as not impossible within the cognitive (cosmological and anthropological) norms of the author's epoch" (Suvin viii). Unlike fantasy, science fiction is set in a realistic world, but one strange, alien. Only there are limits to how alien another world, another culture, can be, and it is the interface between those two realms that can give science fiction its power, by making us look back at ourselves from its skewed perspective.
In his documentary Classified X, Martin Van Peebles describes three areas where African-Americans could be receive some sanctuary from the racism that pervaded almost all Hollywood films. These three places were: the Hollywood version of an all-Black film, the church, and entertainment. Black culture and music is prominent in mainstream society, but the people behind this culture don’t always receive recognition and respect for their creations. Mainstream White pop culture excitedly consumes and appropriates Black culture, but disrespects the source.
African American culture is defined as the learned, shared and transmitted values, beliefs, norms, and life ways carried by this group of people, which guides their decisions, thinking, and actions in patterned ways. The individual in society is bound by rules of their culture. Culture of people are different in that the same events that maybe fear- inducing in one culture, maybe anger-inducing in another culture (Leininger's, 1991).
The infectious nature of African American music, which has appeared in a variety of styles, most notably jazz, soul, rap, rhythm and blues, spread through the American public quickly and broke the barriers from where they originated. Beginning in the seventeenth century music was critical in the organization of early slave uprisings. When brought to the United States, drums were used as a means of communication: spreading messages in a rhythmic language undeciphered by white people. They were used to orchestrate resistance and revolts. After a ban was placed on slave drumming, they retaliated by preserving those rhythms through adaptation to new instruments. Following the American Civil War, the blues reflected the disheartening realization that, although emancipation was granted, equality for African Americans wasn’t guaranteed. Blues vocals communicated disappointment and melancholia. They were reminiscent of African griots, singers, and storytellers. The blues mirrored American race relations, documenting the struggle and conflict on the one hand, but also suggesting a future based on cooperation and understanding. Jazz was initially considered a lesser form of music or not music at all. Many notable 20th century composers, Aaron Copland, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky, embraced jazz as a powerful music genre. Sam Cooke is the first great figure in soul. His music marked a change from emotional to social and political issues, as evident in the song “A Change is Gonna Come.” From the 1960’s up until the 1970’s, soul had moved to songs of political awareness and protest, p...
Kalamu ya Salaam. “Historical Background of the Black Arts Movement (BAM)– Part2” The Black Collegian Online. 28 Nov. 2004.
Culture carries the history and stories of those who belong to that culture. History is deeply embedded in African culture. No matter what region of the world people of black descent can relate to African culture. The differences in culture found in the different regions of the world come from the diaspora of black identity and because of this African culture is home. America is heavily influenced by African culture, the history of slaves in America is the main reason why black culture is an important aspect of America's history. In Michelle Hay text, “Popular culture : pan-African dimensions : a survey of scholarship”, she touches upon the spread of ideas and history that ultimately black people around the world seek even when they aren't
Addison Gayle proclaims that the black aesthetic “call for a set of rules by which black literature and art are to be judged and evaluated” (Gates 1911). Reginald Martin states the term black aesthetic means "a black way
Science fiction deals with the impact of actual and imagined science on society or individuals. It mostly speculates the technological advancement that may be obtained in the near future. Although most of the story is based on fiction, different elements of science that exist in the real world are also depicted in it. Some schools show science fiction movies to the students to enhance the learning process, while others only rely on text books. Not all classroom materials can be covered by science fiction narratives. However, making this genre a part of the education system can help students learn better and become more enthusiastic about any subject matter.