ldquo;When you say; lsquo;Black is Beautiful;rsquo; what in fact you are saying . . . is: Man; you are okay as you are; begin to look upon yourself as a human being.rdquo; With such statements; Stephen Biko became the voice of Black Consciousness. And with Bikorsquo;s brutal death in the custody of the South African police; he became a martyr; an enduring symbol of the horrors of apartheid. Through the lens of visual culture; Bikorsquo;s Ghost reveals how the man and the ideology he promoted have profoundly influenced liberation politics and race discoursemdash;in South Africa and around the globemdash;ever since. Tracing the linked histories of Black Consciousness and its most famous proponent; Bikorsquo;s Ghost explores the concepts of unity; ancestry; and action that lie at the heart of the ideology and the man. It challenges the dominant historical view of Black Consciousness as ineffectual or racially exclusive; suppressed on the one side by the apartheid regime and on the other by the African National Congress.Engaging theories of trauma and representation; and icon and ideology; Shannen L. Hill considers the martyred Biko as an embattled icon; his image portrayals assuming different shapes and political meanings in different hands. So; too; does she illuminate how Black Consciousness worked behind the scenes throughout the 1980s; a decade of heightened popular unrest and state censorship. She shows howmdash;in streams of imagery that continue to multiply nearly forty years onmdash;Bikorsquo;s visage and the ongoing life of Black Consciousness served as instruments through which artists could combat the abuses of apartheid and unsettle the ldquo;rainbow nationrdquo; that followed.
#291715 in eBooks 2015-05-20 2015-05-20File Name: B00XXNN300
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Interesting Read for Artists of ANY GenreBy CPceramicsThis book can be long; wordy and involved reading. I for one was not quite expecting such a deep; philosophical discussion. However; I have enjoyed most of my experience with this great book. Every artist - or anyone interested in art - would greatly benefit from the perspective that Fine brings to the art world in general; not just Folk or Self-Taught Art. He talks about the quandary of defining art as a whole and then again into subdivisions (such as Self-Taught vs. Fine art). He talks about the importance and difficulty of assigning labels (Self-Taught; Folk Art; Outsider Art) and how that can be limiting or empowering. Sometimes he gets more in depth in the Folk Art scene than I have the ability (or interest) to follow; but the philosophical discussion is very valuable.0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. like;itBy SerenityWasnt bad but it was for a class so I couldnt say with confidence that I still would;have bought this otherwise.5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. THIS BOOK IS LONG OVERDUEBy Peter GoodmanWhen "Self-Taught Art"; "Contemporary Folk Art"; "Outsider Art"; "Art Brut" or whatever you wish to call (definition of this style is just one section of the book) is finally looked upon as a ligimate movement of Style this book will be a reference that is constantly looked upon to show the difficulties there was and currently is in the acceptance of this Art into the mainstream.The chapters and their break up are clearly referenced and the debate that they create is magnificent. I thought it was as simple as "Art for Arts sake" before reading this book but now I know that there is a lot more to this genre of Art.Compelling reading that anyone who owns or is looking at venturing into future purchases of "Self Taught Art" should read before opening their wallets.
