Afropessimism, Frank B. Wilderson, III
Afropessimism, Frank B. Wilderson, III
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Afropessimism

Author: Frank B. Wilderson, III

Narrator: Frank B. Wilderson, III

Unabridged: 13 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 04/07/2020


Synopsis

Longlisted • National Book Award (Nonfiction) Combining trenchant philosophy with lyrical memoir, Afropessimism is an unparalleled account of Blackness. Why does race seem to color almost every feature of our moral and political universe? Why does a perpetual cycle of slavery—in all its political, intellectual, and cultural forms—continue to define the Black experience? And why is anti-Black violence such a predominant feature not only in the United States but around the world? These are just some of the compelling questions that animate Afropessimism, Frank B. Wilderson III’s seminal work on the philosophy of Blackness. Combining precise philosophy with a torrent of memories, Wilderson presents the tenets of an increasingly prominent intellectual movement that sees Blackness through the lens of perpetual slavery. Drawing on works of philosophy, literature, film, and critical theory, he shows that the social construct of slavery, as seen through pervasive anti-Black subjugation and violence, is hardly a relic of the past but the very engine that powers our civilization, and that without this master-slave dynamic, the calculus bolstering world civilization would collapse. Unlike any other disenfranchised group, Wilderson argues, Blacks alone will remain essentially slaves in the larger Human world, where they can never be truly regarded as Human beings, where, “at every scale of abstraction, violence saturates Black life.” And while Afropessimism delivers a formidable philosophical account of being Black, it is also interwoven with dramatic set pieces, autobiographical stories that juxtapose Wilderson’s seemingly idyllic upbringing in mid-century Minneapolis with the abject racism he later encounters—whether in late 1960s Berkeley or in apartheid South Africa, where he joins forces with the African National Congress. Afropessimism provides no restorative solution to the hatred that abounds; rather, Wilderson believes that acknowledging these historical and social conditions will result in personal enlightenment about the reality of our inherently racialized existence. Radical in conception, remarkably poignant, and with soaring flights of lyrical prose, Afropessimism reverberates with wisdom and painful clarity in the fractured world we inhabit. It positions Wilderson as a paradigmatic thinker and as a twenty-first-century inheritor of many of the African American literary traditions established in centuries past.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jonfaith on July 15, 2022

Again, the Slave wakes up in the morning wondering, What will these Humans do to my flesh? A hydraulics of anxiety that is very different than exploitation and alienation. Afropessimism apparently wasn’t written for me but I’m not sure if there is an intended reader? It isn’t prescriptive, it offers......more

Goodreads review by zara on January 30, 2021

The way Wilderson weaves in theory with personal narrative makes this a good read. His writing about his experiences in South Africa were especially fascinating. But there are limitations to using only his personal experiences to explain Afropessimism, and I think this book would have been a lot str......more

Goodreads review by krn ਕਰਨ on September 09, 2020

A conjuring trick. This thing isn’t really what it looks like. In the stunning first edition by Liveright, it looks like an upmarket hardcover book. Gorgeous dust jacket, dreamy heft to the pages, brilliant typeface and packaging. One is easily lured into thinking, as I was, that it can be read conv......more

Goodreads review by Colin on May 26, 2020

As a critical theory, afro-pessimism makes three important claims: first, blackness was and remains synonymous with slavery, second, the social category "human" (that which is not black) is reinforced and replenished by persistent anti-black violence, and third, humanist theories of progress and lib......more

Goodreads review by Andre on July 29, 2020

Whoa, like just WTF? Thoughts still marinating (7/23) with full review to come once the mind has cleared and processed the challenges to my critical thinking skills! 7/28.Fully processed, I think. If you fancy yourself a critical thinker, this text is your final exam. I mean this is serious business......more