Afro-Surrealism

Afro-Surrealism (also Afro-surrealism, AfroSurrealism) is a genre or school of art and literature.[1] In 1974, Amiri Baraka used the term to describe the work of Henry Dumas.[2] D. Scot Miller in 2009 wrote "The Afro-surreal Manifesto"[3] in which he says: "Afro-Surrealism sees that all 'others' who create from their actual, lived experience are surrealist ...." The manifesto delineates Afro-Surrealism from Surrealism and Afro-Futurism. The manifesto lists ten tenets that Afro-Surrealism follows including how "Afro-Surrealists restore the cult of the past", and how "Afro-Surreal presupposes that beyond this visible world, there is an invisible world striving to manifest, and it is our job to uncover it".

Afro-Surrealism, is practiced and embodied in music, photography, film, the visual arts and poetry. Notable practitioners and inspirations of Afro-Surrealism include Ted Joans, Bob Kaufman, Krista Franklin, Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, René Ménil, Kool Keith, Terence Nance, Will Alexander, Kara Walker, Samuel R. Delany, and Romare Bearden.

  1. ^ Poniewozik, James (1 August 2018). "Review: 'Random Acts of Flyness' Is a Striking Dream Vision of Race". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Baraka, Amiri (Summer 1974). "Henry Dumas: Afro-Surreal Expressionist". Black American Literature Forum. 22 (2): 164–166. doi:10.2307/2904491. JSTOR 2904491.
  3. ^ "Call it Afro-Surreal".