Dazzled by New Media

Mbembe, Tonda, and the Mystic Virtual

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2098520
AutoresP Geschiere (0000-0002-2290-6984, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen64
Número1
Páginas71-85
Fecha de publicación2021-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrican Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-0206 • E-ISSN: 1555-2462
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/asr.2020.80
OpenAlexW3155925245
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas17

Inspired by Mbembe's emphasis on plasticity as a hallmark of African forms of knowledge, Geschiere notes the risk that this leads to a celebration of Africanness, sliding into culturalism and identity politics. But Mbembe relates this plasticity also to the continent's position as the last frontier of capitalism. Such a historical view converges with Joseph Tonda's work onéblouissement(endazzlement) as a global phenomenon. Everywhere people are now being blinded by an overproduction of images. However, Africans have a long experience of living with multiple realities and "alternative facts." Is this relevant for dealing with the risk that we all become blinded by the images we ourselves have created

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Capitalism · Culturalism · Epistemology · Frontier · Identity (music · Literature · Mysticism · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · History · Law · Philosophy · South African History and Culture