Hortense Spillers on Afropessimism
If you are examining issues of race within higher education, you are likely to have heard about "Afropessimism" which provides a critical framework for understanding how colonialism and historical enslavement impact contemporary reality. One of its most significant assertions is that the impetus for Black pain will never be eradicated because the function of Black pain is to create White wholeness. James Baldwin's critique of this is particularly relevant in his works such as I Am Not Your Negro. (See "I Am Not Your Negro," in Media Diversified for more analysis.) Baldwin makes similar assertions but expands upon this to come to the conclusion that White angst is directly tied to a lack of identity and worth under the racial rubric of "White."
As one example, White women in 19th Century America understood the definition of "lady" as being everything a Black woman was not: sexually pure, educated, and a producer of citizens (using this term in a broad and philosophical manner). By contrast, Black enslaved women were presumed to be sexually available, uneducated (particularly after laws forbiding their education), and producers of labor units - not citizens. (See this article "The Jezebel Stereotype" featured on the website, The Jim Crow Museum. This provides pictures of artifacts and cinematic anlysis of movies such as Monsters Ball to help examine the Jezebel stereotype as a form of gendered anti-Blackness, or what we now call "misogynoir.")
When Black scholars come against assumptions about their very bodies and intellect which keep them out of lectureships, professorships and even postdoctoral fellowships, a rigorous analysis of "why" these things occur is relevant within our theoretical framework.
Scholars of Afropessimism have quoted and used the work of thinkers such as Achille Mbembe, Christina Sharpe, Sylvia Wynter, Saidiya Hartman and Hortense Spillers in their analysis. Yet, not all of these scholars agree with the way their work is aligned with Afropessimism. African descended academics will find these debates worth understanding when we identify appropriate theoretical frameworks for our own critical intellectual projects.
Here at M2M, we previously shared a video of Frank Wilderson engaging with the topic of Afropessimism as one of the founders of this school of thought. Today, we are sharing another video, where Hortense Spillers explores the relevance for and implications of Afropessimism. We believe this will encourage greater engagement with these frameworks.
We've added links to many of the scholars and information listed above as you further engage with this topic. However, you may need to use your university account to access some of the articles referenced.
If you are examining issues of race within higher education, you are likely to have heard about "Afropessimism" which provides a critical framework for understanding how colonialism and historical enslavement impact contemporary reality. One of its most significant assertions is that the impetus for Black pain will never be eradicated because the function of Black pain is to create White wholeness. James Baldwin's critique of this is particularly relevant in his works such as I Am Not Your Negro. (See "I Am Not Your Negro," in Media Diversified for more analysis.) Baldwin makes similar assertions but expands upon this to come to the conclusion that White angst is directly tied to a lack of identity and worth under the racial rubric of "White."
As one example, White women in 19th Century America understood the definition of "lady" as being everything a Black woman was not: sexually pure, educated, and a producer of citizens (using this term in a broad and philosophical manner). By contrast, Black enslaved women were presumed to be sexually available, uneducated (particularly after laws forbiding their education), and producers of labor units - not citizens. (See this article "The Jezebel Stereotype" featured on the website, The Jim Crow Museum. This provides pictures of artifacts and cinematic anlysis of movies such as Monsters Ball to help examine the Jezebel stereotype as a form of gendered anti-Blackness, or what we now call "misogynoir.")
When Black scholars come against assumptions about their very bodies and intellect which keep them out of lectureships, professorships and even postdoctoral fellowships, a rigorous analysis of "why" these things occur is relevant within our theoretical framework.
Scholars of Afropessimism have quoted and used the work of thinkers such as Achille Mbembe, Christina Sharpe, Sylvia Wynter, Saidiya Hartman and Hortense Spillers in their analysis. Yet, not all of these scholars agree with the way their work is aligned with Afropessimism. African descended academics will find these debates worth understanding when we identify appropriate theoretical frameworks for our own critical intellectual projects.
Here at M2M, we previously shared a video of Frank Wilderson engaging with the topic of Afropessimism as one of the founders of this school of thought. Today, we are sharing another video, where Hortense Spillers explores the relevance for and implications of Afropessimism. We believe this will encourage greater engagement with these frameworks.
We've added links to many of the scholars and information listed above as you further engage with this topic. However, you may need to use your university account to access some of the articles referenced.
The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network 2023