The Cambridge Companion to the Black Body in American Literature

This Companion centers Black thinking about Black embodiment from current, diverse, and intersectional perspectives.

Cherene Sherrard-Johnson (Edited by)

9781009204156, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 May 2024

330 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.5 cm, 0.63 kg

'Recommended.' B. Taylor-Thompson, CHOICE

Whether invisible or hyper-visible, adored or reviled, from the inception of American literature the Black body has been rendered in myriad forms. This volume tracks and uncovers the Black body as a persistent presence and absence in American literature. It provides an invaluable guide for teachers and students interested in literary and artistic representations of Blackness and embodiment. The book is divided into three sections that highlight Black embodiment through conceptual flashpoints that emphasize various aspects of human body in its visual and textual manifestations. This Companion engages past and continuing debates about the nature of embodiment by showcasing how writers from multiple eras and communities defined and challenged the limits of what constitutes a body in relation to human and nonhuman environment.

List of Figures
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Celestial Bodies: An Introduction Cherene Sherrard Johnson
Part I. Extraction and Abstraction: 1. Theorizing black bodies Sam Plasencia
2. The black body and the medical archive Julius B. Fleming
3. Laboring bodies Crystal S. Donkor
4. Animalia Americana Joshua Bennett
5. Black ecological insurgencies J. T. Roane
6. The black body in nature Anissa Wardi
Part II. Black Optics: Invisibility and Hypervisibility: 7. Synesthetic embodiment Yanie Fecu
8. Dancing bodies Rachel Farebrother
9. Celebrity bodies Samantha Pinto
10. Embodied black aliveness Lisa Woolfork
11. Staging racial passing Kyle Frisina
12. Passing bodies Lisa Mendelman and Octavio R. Gonzalez
Part III. Quare Bodies: 13. Body of knowledge: Audre Lorde's Zami Alexandria Smith
14. The Black body, violence, and religion Ahmad Greene Hayes
15. Black Cripistemologies Anna Laquawn Hinton
16. Black erotic bodies Julian Kevon Glover
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]