Awards
- Winner of 1999 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Book Award.
Overview
In this critique of aesthetics and the politics of representation, Taylor demonstrates astonishing breadth and depth in arguing for 'breaking the aesthetic contract' that excludes anything that does not conform to Eurocentric notions of beauty.... it brings to black studies and cultural critique an internationalism that emphasizes the richness of forms of creative expression outside the norms set by European aesthetics. Highly recommended..."" -Choice Cultural critic Clyde Taylor exposes the concept of ""art"" as a tool of ethnocentricity and racial ideology. By examining various texts including The Birth of a Nation and The Cotton Club, Taylor demonstrates how rationales of ""art"" are used to mask personal, class, and cultural biases. Other works such as those by Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe, and Spike Lee are scrutinized in terms of resistance to the dominant system of aesthetics.
Full Product Details
Author: Clyde R. Taylor
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.40cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.508kg
ISBN: 9780253211927
ISBN 10: 0253211921
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 22 November 1998
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
In this critique of aesthetics and the politics of representation, Taylor demonstrates astonishing breadth and depth in arguing for 'breaking the aesthetic contract' that excludes anything that does not conform to Eurocentric notions of beauty... it brings to black studies and cultural critique an internationalism that emphasizes the richness of forms of creative expression outside the norms set by European aesthetics. Highly recommended ... --Choice
"""In this critique of aesthetics and the politics of representation, Taylor demonstrates astonishing breadth and depth in arguing for 'breaking the aesthetic contract' that excludes anything that does not conform to Eurocentric notions of beauty... it brings to black studies and cultural critique an internationalism that emphasizes the richness of forms of creative expression outside the norms set by European aesthetics. Highly recommended ..."" --Choice"
Author Information
Clyde R. Taylor, film scholar and literary/cultural essayist, is Professor at the Gallatin School and in Africana Studies, New York University. His publications include Vietnam and Black America and the script for Midnight Ramble, a documentary about early Black independent cinema.
