A Heuristic Deconstruction of Black Identity Production Through the Use of African Elements in African American Film
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Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Dissertation “You Must Be African!” A Heuristic Deconstruction of Black Identity Production Through the Use of African Elements in African American Film zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) Institut für Asien-und Afrikawissenschaften Tuleka Prah Dekanin: Prof. Dr. Julia Blumenthal Präsidentin: Prof. Dr.- Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst Gutachter/in: 1. Prof. Flora Veit-Wild 2. Prof. Eva Boesenberg Datum der Einreichung: 10.02.2015 Tag der Verteidigung: 15.06.2015 Abstract In dieser Arbeit werden sowohl afrikanische Charaktere als auch Repräsentationen von Kleidung, Musik, Zeichen oder Symbolen, deren Ästhetik als afrozentrisch beschrieben werden kann, identifiziert und kritisch betrachtet. Zusammenfassend als „afrikanische Elemente“ bezeichnet, dient ihre Präsenz oft der Kontrastierung der in den Vordergrund gestellten afroamerikanischen Charaktere und Geschichten und operiert in dieser Kapazität zwischen der gleichzeitigen Sehnsucht nach und der Ablehnung Afrikas, die sich in den afroamerikanischen Identitäten ablesen lassen. Obwohl in anderen Teildisziplinen der African American Studies - wie etwa den Literatur- oder Theaterwissenschaften - die Beziehungen zu und die Bezugnahme auf Afrika bereits untersucht wurden, sind ähnliche Ansätze auf dem Gebiet der Filmwissenschaften noch deutlich unterrepräsentiert. Die Intention dieser Arbeit liegt deshalb darin, die bestehende Forschung um die Fragestellung zu ergänzen, auf welche Weise diese Elemente dargestellt werden. Wie tragen sie zu den Narrativen bei, in die sie eingeflochten sind und wie spiegelt ihre Einbindung in die ausgewählten Filme die jeweilige Politik, die kulturelle Ästhetik und die sozialen Entwicklungen ihrer Entstehungsära wider? Den konzeptionellen Rahmen der Arbeit bildet eine kumulative Vorgehensweise. Es werden jene Faktoren untersucht, die zur Auswahl, visuellen Umsetzung und Repräsentation der afrikanischen Elemente, auf die Bezug genommen wird, beigetragen haben. Die Arbeit verhandelt dabei auch die Frage, wie und warum bestimmte Auffassungen von Afrika und seinen Bewohnern in den besprochenen Filmen fortbestehen. Schließlich soll mit der Arbeit innerhalb der derzeit bestehenden Forschung ein Grundstein für die differenziertere Betrachtung Schwarzer Erfahrungen in den ausgewählten Filmen gelegt werden. ii Abstract This study identifies and critically assesses African characters as well as representations of dress, music, signs or symbols, which may be described as Africacentric in their aesthetic, in African American film. Collectively termed as African elements, their presence in the selected films is often distinguished from the foregrounded African American characters and stories, and in this capacity, operates between the concurrent desires and negations of Africa in the assertions of African American identities. Although within other scholarly disciplines in African American studies, such as literature or theatre studies, the relations and references to Africa have been explored, similar explorations in the area of film studies are arguably underrepresented. The specific contribution of this study therefore intends to expand on the existing body of work in its assessment of the ways in which these elements are presented, how they contribute to the narratives they are engaged in and how their inclusion in the selected films reflect the contemporary politics, cultural aesthetic and social trends of the era in which they are produced. The conceptual framework of the thesis follows a cumulative approach where the respective determinants that have contributed to the choice, visualisation, and representations of the referenced African elements are examined. The thesis thereby negotiates questions of how and why particular perceptions of Africa and Africans in the selected films persist. Ultimately, it establishes a premise for why in the current scholarship there should be a place for a more differentiated analysis of black experiences within the discussed films. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Dr. Flora Veit-Wild for endorsing and advising me through the writing of this thesis. Though from another discipline, her expertise and knowledge in the fulfilment of this work were invaluable. Thank you. My thanks also go to Professor Dr. Eva Boesenberg, whose opinion I greatly respect, for her input and suggestions as my second supervisor. To Professor Dr. Susanne Gehrmann, my colleagues and fellow students attending the colloquiums in the African and American Studies departments, as well as the staff and students I worked with as a consequence of the courses I gave: I am grateful for the questions, feedback, directions, commendations and administrative assistance. I am grateful to Kwesi Kwaa Prah, for the support he has given in this endeavour. To the rest of my immediate family, your love and assurances have been a source of much-needed empowerment. Thank you to Eva Behrendt for the tireless and constant assistance from the inception of this thesis to its end. It goes without saying that, Eva, I simply could not have done this without you. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Max Fassnacht, Amari Barash, Theresa Kreuggeler, Simikka Marie Hansen and Kieran Moore for their assistance in reading for stylistic and structural kinks. Thank you too for the laughter and conversation that came with your help. I also wish to thank the Tveskov family for providing the comfort of your home and company during breaks away from Berlin. Mimi Quist, your food and personal support have been instrumental in galvanising my spirits. To my dear friends, thank you for the endless encouragement and patience. I look forward to enjoying better and more frequent communication with you. Thank you at last to Signe Emilie Tveskov for being exceedingly generous with your time, for taking excellent care of me and for being there through the especially tough moments. Your innumerable meals, cups of coffee and gentle, loving presence were the daily remuneration I needed to be able to sit through the writing of this work. I am forever grateful. iv Table of Contents Chapter One Complicit Constructions: Film and the Constituting of Black Identities 1 1.1 Film as a Cultural Industry .................................................................................................2 1.1.1 Black Identities in Film ......................................................................................3 1.1.2 African American Cinema and African Elements ..............................................7 1.2 Intersections: Influences, Themes, Objectives and Receptions ..........................................9 1.2.1 Influences: Black Consciousness and African American Self-Determination .............................................................................................9 1.2.2 Themes and Objectives .....................................................................................12 1.2.3 Receptions ........................................................................................................16 1.3 Resonances and the Case for Conscientising ....................................................................20 1.4 Methodology (Tools and Contextualisation) ....................................................................24 1.4.1. African Elements As Signs .................................................................25 1.4.2. Contextualising ...................................................................................27 Chapter Two Black Empowerment Philosophies, Ideologies and Movements 32 2.1 From Civil Rights to Black Power ....................................................................................34 2.1.1 Civil Rights .......................................................................................................35 2.1.2 Black Power ......................................................................................................37 2.2 Afrocentrism .....................................................................................................................41 2.3 Emergent Pitfalls ..............................................................................................................50 2.3.1 Repercussions ...................................................................................................55 Chapter Three Narrative Messages in the Selected Films 58 3.1 Blaxploitation and Beyond: The Politics of The Spook and Shaft in Africa .....................61 3.2 New Black Cinema, Independent Films, Crossover Stars ................................................73 3.2.1 Daughters of the Dust ......................................................................................75 3.2.2 Sankofa .............................................................................................................83 3.2.3 Coming to America ...........................................................................................90 3.2.4 Barbershop .......................................................................................................92 3.3 The Influence of Hood Films: New Jack City ................................................................104 3.3.1 Higher Learning .............................................................................................109 v 3.4 Contextualisation and Understanding Spectator Expectations ......................................118 Chapter Four A Reading of the African Elements 120 4.1 An Outline ......................................................................................................................123