Africa in the American imagination
Subtitle: popular culture, racialized identities, and African visual culture
By: Carol Magee
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Jackson [Miss.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 263
ISBN-13: 9781617031526; 9781617031533
Subjects: African influences; Popular culture; Civilization; In popular culture; Identity (Philosophical concept)
Description: In the American world, the presence of African culture is sometimes fully embodied and sometimes leaves only a trace. Explores this presence, examining Mattel's world of Barbie, the 1996 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and Disney World, each of which repackages African visual culture for consumers. Because these cultural icons permeate American life, they represent the broader U.S. culture and its relationship to African culture. This study integrates approaches from art history and visual culture studies with those from culture, race, and popular culture studies to analyze this interchange. Two major threads weave throughout. One analyzes how the presentation of African visual culture in these popular culture forms conceptualizes Africa for the American public. The other investigates the way the uses of African visual culture focuses America's own self-awareness, particularly around black and white racialized identities. From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : popular culture, racialized identities, and African visual culture; title: Race-ing fantasy : the Sports illustrated swimsuit issue in South Africa; title: "It's sort of like National geographic meets Sports illustrated"; title: Fashioning identities : Kente, nostalgia, and the world of Barbie; title: It's a small, white world; title: Africa in Florida : Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge; title: Refrain : Africa in the American imagination.