Wiley-Blackwell Black Feminist Cultural Criticism (KeyWorks in Cultural Studies)

Black Feminist Cultural Criticism is the first comprehensive analysis of the full range of Black women's creative achievements. In this outstanding collection, writers and scholars in literature, film, television, theater, music, spoken word, art, material culture, and other cultural forms explicate Black women's artistry within the context of an activist framework. The contributors examine the politics of cultural production and the ways in which Black women artists have formed a cultural movement impelling collective actions for progressive social change. The volume addresses the origins of quilt traditions, the innovative story quilts of Faith Ringgold, and the role music and other cultural practices play in preserving and perpetuating vital traditions. The volume charts new directions by expanding the contours of how we conceptualize and analyze creativity. It is a praisesong to those who have contributed greatly to resistance efforts against racial, sexual, and other devastating oppressions while designing for themselves and their families a better world. Their handicrafts, quilt designs, decorations, foods and recipes, rituals and sacraments - handed down through generations - are integral components of Black women's cultural legacy. Review "Jacqueline Bobo helps us to see afresh the conscious creativity underlying Black women's cultural productions. What we have here is not so much 'criticism' as a reframed revelation." Akasha Gloria Hull, University of California, Santa Cruz. "Professor Bobo's text consist of seminal sources on Black women and Black feminist thought that will quicken and enliven contemporary discourse. It is an important work." Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. From the Back Cover Black Feminist Cultural Criticism is the first comprehensive analysis of the full range of Black women's creative achievements. In this outstanding collection, writers and scholars in literature, film, television, theater, music, spoken word, art, material culture, and other cultural forms explicate Black women's artistry within the context of an activist framework. The contributors examine the politics of cultural production and the ways in which Black women artists have formed a cultural movement impelling collective actions for progressive social change. The volume addresses the origins of quilt traditions, the innovative story quilts of Faith Ringgold, and the role music and other cultural practices play in preserving and perpetuating vital traditions. The volume charts new directions by expanding the contours of how we conceptualize and analyze creativity. It is a praisesong to those who have contributed greatly to resistance efforts against racial, sexual, and other devastating oppressions while designing for themselves and their families a better world. Their handicrafts, quilt designs, decorations, foods and recipes, rituals and sacraments - handed down through generations - are integral components of Black women's cultural legacy. About the Author Jacqueline Bobo is Chair and Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Associate Director of the Center for Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She holds a Ph.D. in Film and is author of Black Women as Cultural Readers (1995) and editor of Black Women Film and Video Artists (1998). Her areas of research focus on Black women as producers, audience members, and critics of cultural forms.