Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure / Edition 1

by Monique Guillory, Richard Green

Overview

No other word in the English language is more endemic to contemporary Black American culture and identity than "Soul". Since the 1960s Soul has been frequently used to market and sell music, food, and fashion. However, Soul also refers to a pervasive belief in the capacity of the Black body/spirit to endure the most trying of times in an ongoing struggle for freedom and equality. While some attention has been given to various genre manifestations of Soul-as in Soul music and food-no book has yet fully explored the discursive terrain signified by the term. In this broad-ranging, free-spirited book, a diverse group of writers, artists, and scholars reflect on the ubiquitous but elusive concept of Soul. Topics include: politics and fashion, Blaxploitation films, language, literature, dance, James Brown, and Schoolhouse Rock. Among the contributors are Angela Davis, Manning Marable, Paul Gilroy, Lyle Ashton Harris, Michelle Wallace, Ishmael Reed, Greg Tate, Manthia Diawara, and dream hampton.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814730850
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	12/01/1997
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Monique Guillory is a Mellon Fellow in the Department of Comparative Literature at New York University.

Richard C. Green is a Ph.D. candidate in teh Department of Performance Studies at New York University.

Editorial Reviews

Employs a variety of media, from critical essays to poetry and photography, to define "soul" and the black American experience. The writers address such topics as the writings of James Baldwin, the media's use of Angela Davis's revolutionary image (discussed by Davis herself), the stigmatization of the "blaxploitation" films of the seventies, and the experience of Black American "soul" culture in such places as Brazil and Tanzania. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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