The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness is a 1993 history book about a distinct black Atlantic culture that incorporated elements from African, American, British, and Caribbean cultures. It was written by Paul Gilroy and was published by Harvard University Press and Verso Books.
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- The Black Atlantic as a Counterculture of Modernity
- Masters, Mistresses, Slaves, and the Antinomies of Modernity
- "Jewels Brought from Bondage": Black Music and the Politics of Authenticity
- "Cheer the Weary Traveller": W. E. B. Du Bois, Germany, and the Politics of (Dis)placement
- "Without the Consolation of Tears": Richard Wright, France, and the Ambivalence of Community
- "Not a Story to Pass On": Living Memory and the Slave Sublime
The first chapter of the Black Atlantic describes the double-consciousness maintained by Africans in the diaspora.[1] The chapter asserts that Black identity is multifaceted and difficult to define due to the multinational position of Blackness. Gilroy utilizes the imagery of the slave ship to demonstrate the position of Black bodies between two (or more) lands, identities, cultures, etc. which is unable to be defined by borders.[1] Additionally, Gilroy discusses how western nationalism results from a narrative created by whites that ties western nationalism to whiteness.[1] This narrative inherently others Black folk who often partly belong to the same national identity. He highlights artistic expression (particularly through music from Black diasporic communities) as a means of exploring the transient nature of Blackness.[1] Pointedly, he speaks of the song "Keep on Moving" which he asserts expresses "the restlessness of spirit which makes that diaspora culture vital".[1] In many ways, the song exemplifies the state of the diaspora as Black bodies have existed in numerous spaces and cannot be defined solely by where they have been, where they are, or where they are going. Black diasporic music remains of great importance to Gilroy's narrative as it is demonstrative of the manner in which Black individuals are able to embrace a communal identity despite many individuals in the diaspora's original cultures being stolen from them. Ultimately, Gilroy asserts that the Black experience is coupled with the varied narratives relating to belonging and history, still, in many ways, the narratives are mitigated by music which allows for Black expression and community to be shared beyond borders.[1]
Gilroy's attention to "Black Europeanness" in The Black Atlantic brings up themes of double consciousness and its presence in Black Europeans. He expresses how the existence of racist and nationalist discourse have interacted in a manner that portrays them as separate identities and opinions. They contrive political relationships in a way that isolates each identity, making them seem mutually exclusive. The effect of this is that there exists no blending or interweaving of these identities and any effort in forming connections or walking the middle ground between them is politically provocative and insubordinate.[2] Gilroy connects this to the black Atlantic, which he defines as a "modern political and cultural formation", by expressing his desire for it to break free from the structures and nation states that facilitate racist and nationalist politics.[3]
Gilroy, Paul (1993). The Black Atlantic. Harvard University Press. pp. 1–40.
Gilroy, Paul (1993). The Black Atlantic. Harvard University Press. pp. 1–15.
Gilroy, Paul (1993). The Black Atlantic. Harvard University Press. pp. 1–19.
- Anderson, Paul A. (1995). "Ellington, Rap Music, and Cultural Difference". Musical Quarterly. 79 (1): 172–206. doi:10.1093/mq/79.1.172. ISSN 0027-4631. JSTOR 742521.
- Aronowitz, Stanley (1996). "The Double Bind". Transition (69): 222–235. doi:10.2307/2935249. ISSN 0041-1191. JSTOR 2935249.
- Benjamin, Richard M. (1994). "Review of Small Acts: Thoughts on the Politics of Black Cultures". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (3): 105. doi:10.2307/2963122. ISSN 1077-3711. JSTOR 2963122.
- Burton, Antoinette (October 1998). "Some Trajectories of 'Feminism' and 'Imperialism.'". Gender & History. 10 (3): 558–568. doi:10.1111/1468-0424.00121. ISSN 0953-5233. S2CID 144400215.
- Chrisman, Laura (September 1997). "Journey to death: Gilroy's Black Atlantic". Race & Class. 39 (2): 51. doi:10.1177/030639689703900204. ISSN 0306-3968. S2CID 143530599.
- Chude-Sokei, Louis (1996). "The Black Atlantic Paradigm: Paul Gilroy and the Fractured Landscape of "Race"". American Quarterly. 48 (4): 740–745. doi:10.1353/aq.1996.0037. ISSN 0003-0678. JSTOR 30041559. S2CID 144625621.
- Critchley, Simon (October 1994). "Review of The Black Atlantic, Modernity and Double Consciousness". Sociology. 28 (4): 1008–1010. doi:10.1177/0038038594028004016. ISSN 0038-0385. JSTOR 42857785. S2CID 220644266.
- Curry, Renee R. (May 1994). "Book reviews". Canadian Review of American Studies. 24 (2): 158. ISSN 0007-7720.
- Elmer, Jonathan (2005). "The Black Atlantic Archive". American Literary History. 17 (1): 160–170. doi:10.1093/alh/aji009. ISSN 0896-7148. S2CID 143995712.
- Erickson, Peter (1997). "Review of The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness". African American Review. 31 (3): 506–508. doi:10.2307/3042577. ISSN 1062-4783. JSTOR 3042577.
- Gikandi, Simon (1996). "In the shadow of Hegel: Cultural theory in an age of..." Research in African Literatures. 27 (2): 139–150. ISSN 0034-5210.
- Griffin, Iverson (1995). "Review of The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness". Contemporary Sociology. 24 (3): 399–400. doi:10.2307/2076536. ISSN 0094-3061. JSTOR 2076536.
- Howe, Stephen (November 5, 1993). "Ocean waves". New Statesman & Society. 6 (277): 37. ISSN 0954-2361.
- Jaji, Tsitsi Ella (2014). "Stereomodernism: Amplifying the Black Atlantic". Africa in Stereo: Modernism, Music, and Pan-African Solidarity. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 9780199346455.
- Judy, Ronald A.T. (1997). "Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic and the place(s) of English in the global". Critical Quarterly. 39 (1): 22–29. doi:10.1111/1467-8705.00076. ISSN 0011-1562.
- Kale, Madhavi (April 1996). "Review of The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness". Social History. 21 (2): 252–256. ISSN 0307-1022. JSTOR 4286351.
- King, Richard H. (June 1995). "The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (Book)". Ethnic & Racial Studies. 18 (3): 659–661. ISSN 0141-9870.
- Lipsitz, George (1995). "The scar of race (Book Review); Living with racism (Book Review); Race in America (Book Review); The black Atlantic (Book Review) (Undetermined)". American Literary History. 7: 700–725. doi:10.1093/alh/7.4.700. ISSN 0896-7148.
- Lipsitz, George (January 1995). "Book reviews". Social Identities. 1 (1): 193. ISSN 1350-4630.
- Lott, Tommy Lee (January 1995). "Book reviews". Social Identities. 1 (1): 200. ISSN 1350-4630.
- McArdle, Molly (2014). "Retrieving the Human: Reading Paul Gilroy". Library Journal. 139 (18): 100. ISSN 0363-0277.
- McBride, Dwight (1995). "Comparative and cultural studies". Modern Fiction Studies. 41 (2): 388. doi:10.1353/mfs.1995.0070. ISSN 0026-7724. S2CID 162292935.
- Moses, Yolanda T. (August 1994). "Review of The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness". American Anthropologist. 96 (3): 733–734. doi:10.1525/aa.1994.96.3.02a00370. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 682330. S2CID 162823007.
- Mostern, Kenneth (1998). "Review Essay: Social Marginality/Blackness: Subjects of Postmodernity". MELUS. 23 (4): 167–187. doi:10.2307/467834. ISSN 0163-755X. JSTOR 467834.
- Palumbo-Liu, David (January 2001). "Against Race, Yes, but at What Cost?". Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies. 23 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1080/1071441010230102. ISSN 1071-4413. S2CID 145526844.
- Pettinger, Alasdair (1998). "Enduring Fortresses: A Review of "The Black Atlantic"". Research in African Literatures. 29 (4): 142–147. ISSN 0034-5210. JSTOR 3820848.
- Piot, Charles (2001). "Atlantic Aporias: Africa and Gilroy's Black Atlantic". South Atlantic Quarterly. 100 (1): 155–170. doi:10.1215/00382876-100-1-155. ISSN 0038-2876. S2CID 143582040.
- Silverman, Max (December 31, 1993). "Neither volkish nor voguish". Times Higher Education Supplement (1104): 21. ISSN 0049-3929.
- Thomas, Deborah A.; Wells, Diana E. (November 1997). "The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness/Cut 'N Mix: Culture, Identity, and Caribbean Music (Book)". Identities. 2 (1/2): 177. ISSN 1070-289X.
- Tomich, Dale (1996). "The Black Diaspora". History Workshop Journal (42): 230–235. doi:10.1093/hwj/1996.42.230. ISSN 1363-3554. JSTOR 4289480.
- Walker Jr., Theodore (1998). "The Black Atlantic (Book)". Journal of Religious Thought. 54/55 (2/1): 81. ISSN 0022-4235.
- Wild, Rosie (March 2004). "{Radical Narratives of the Black Atlantic} (Undetermined)". Journal of American Studies. 38 (1): 159–160. doi:10.1017/S0021875804478396. ISSN 0021-8758. S2CID 143620680.
- Williams, Brackette F. (January 1995). "Book reviews". Social Identities. 1 (1): 175–220. doi:10.1080/13504630.1995.9959432. ISSN 1350-4630.
