The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness

Description

Afrocentrism, Eurocentrism, Caribbean Studies. To the forces of cultural nationalism trapped in their respective camps, this bold book sounds like a liberating call. There is, Paul Gilroy tells us, a culture that is not specifically African, American, Caribbean, or British, but all of these at once; a black Atlantic culture whose themes and techniques transcend ethnicity and nationality to produce something new and, until now, unremarked. Challenging the practices and assumptions of cultural studies, The Black Atlantic also enriches our understanding of modernism.

Paul Gilroy was born in London in 1959. He is the author of There Ain't no Black in the Union Jack (1987), Small Acts (1993), The Black Atlantic (1993), Between Camps (2000), and After Empire (2004), among other works. Gilroy was also co-author of The Empire Strikes Back: Race and Racism in 1970s Britain (1982). Gilroy was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of London by Goldsmiths College in September 2005 and in 2014 he was elected a fellow of the British Academy. He is currently Professor of American and English Literature at King's College London.

Whilst others scarcely put a toe in the water, in The Black Atlantic Gilroy goes in deep and returns with riches. * Guardian * Paul Gilroy is one the most incisive thinkers of his generation ... One can only hope that his voice travels far and wide. * Independent * In debates in recent years around questions of race, nation and culture, Paul Gilroy has stood out as an independent, unorthodox and (often for that very reason) exciting new voice. With his new book The Black Atlantic this voice continues to provoke and stimulate. * Times Higher Educational Supplement *