logo

41 pages 1 hour read

Paul Gilroy

The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1993

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Index of Terms

Africentrism

Africentrism (sometimes spelled Afrocentrism) is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on Africa, its people, and its history—specifically their contributions to world history and Western civilization. It is often a counter to Eurocentrism and the ways that Eurocentric notions have dominated studies of world history, philosophy, culture, the arts, etc. Gilroy critiques Africentrism throughout The Black Atlantic, particularly noting the ways that its “totalisng conception of black culture” (87) is rooted in Cartesian dualism and cannot account for the multiplicity, changes, and recombinations of Black identities, politics, and cultures in the modern world. Its conception of time and tradition is problematic because it sees modernity and racial slavery as an interruption to Black people’s links with a largely mythic African past that can be recovered and restored, as opposed to seeing modernity and racial slavery as integral aspects to the construction of Black identities, political structures, and expressive cultures.

The Black Atlantic

The Black Atlantic refers to the transnational, fractal structure of “cultural and political exchange and transformation” (15) among Black peoples in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. It exceeds the limits of nationalist and ethnic absolutist boundaries that have been used to demarcate lines of political and cultural expression in dominant narratives of modernity, which have been Eurocentric and Africentric.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 41 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,600+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools