Passersby: The Politics and Poetics of Afropolitanism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/AE.2020.006Keywords
Afropolitanism, ethics, nationality, Taiye Selasi, Achille Mbembe, afropolitanizm, etyka, narodowośćAbstract
PASSERSBY: THE POLITICS AND POETICS OF AFROPOLITANISM
In this article, I discuss the notion of Afropolitanism as presented by Taiye Selasi in various articles and in her Ghana Must Go (2013), “an Afropolitan novel” and an example of Afropolitan literary aesthetics. I present an overview of the major ways in which the concept has been developed and contested and briefly discuss its usage in popular culture and art projects. Throughout the article, I argue that Afropolitanism may function as a useful term for designating the experience of a specific group of contemporary writers variously linked with Africa and that it may open up the space for the emergence of new narratives of the continent and its people. I conclude the essay by outlining some affinities between the concept of Afropolitanism and the ethics of passersby elaborated by Achille Mbembe.
PRZECHODNIE: POLITYKA I POETYKA AFROPOLITANIZMU
Artykuł poświęcony jest dyskusji wokół „afropolitanizmu,” pojęcia zaproponowanego przez Taiye Selasi w 2005 roku do opisania doświadczeń drugiego pokolenia emigrantów z Afryki, zamieszkujących metropolie pierwszego świata. W artykule przedstawiam przegląd najważniejszych pozycji krytycznych zarówno kwestionujących, jak i rozwijających koncepcję afropolitanizmu, a także omawiam specyfikę „afropolitańskiej estetyki” na przykładzie analizy powieści Selasi Ghana Must Go (2013). Artykuł kończę propozycją odczytania figury Afropolitanina poprzez etykę przechodnia opisaną przez Achille Mbembe.
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