Talk:Afro-Surrealism

Unsupported claim, evaluative denigration

Example: second paragraph flatly states: Négritude, a pan-African, anti-colonial cultural and literary movement was too grounded in Afro-surrealism.

What scholar or critic made this claim? OR would the simple deletion of the word “TOO” with the link to néfritude where the resulting claim is substantiated be enough to rectify this one small example of editorial license / liberty taken? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.193.170.100 (talk) 19:17, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

I think the "too" in this case meant "also" not "too much", but it's a confusing construction (which no longer seems to be in the article).  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  02:50, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Examples of Afro-Surrealism

I feel like this can (and should) be expanded as there's lots of more recent examples such as the TV show Atlanta , the movie Candyman , or the movie Sorry to Bother You. Narbine (talk) 23:08, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

References

Spencer's book

Should probably mention and/or cite AfroSurrealism: The African Diaspora's Surrealist Fiction by Rochelle Spencer (Routledge, 2019). She's also co-editor, with Jina Ortiz, of All About Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color (University of Wisconsin Press, 2014). She was or is teaching Afro-surrealism at Sarah Lawrence College and online at Fisk University.

• https://LAReviewOfBooks.org/contributor/rochelle-spencer/
• https://Pivot.Journals.YorkU.ca/index.php/pivot/article/view/40261

 — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  02:47, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Some semi-recent articles

These might be usable as sources for something:

• Solarin, Ayoola (10 November 2020). "The importance of Afrosurrealism in 2020". i-D. Vice Media. Retrieved 15 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• Murphy, Lacy; McCoy, Kevin (19 February 2019). "Afro-Surrealism: What Black Is and Can Be". Humanities.WUStL.edu. Center for the Humanities, Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved 15 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• Spencer, Rochelle; Riley, Boots; Moore, Opal; Marshell, Kyla; Allen, Jeffery Renard (3 June 2020). "Writing from the Inside Out: A Roundtable on AfroSurrealism". Apogee. Retrieved 15 March 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• Spencer, Rochelle (1 September 2015). "Why Black Science Fiction Studies Matter". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 20 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

 — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  03:17, 16 March 2023 (UTC); added another 03:30, 16 March 2023 (UTC); another 22:43, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

JSTOR search results

There's a lot of more academic material out there, but most of it requires access to journal achives through an institutional account.

• https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=afro-surrealism
• https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=afrosurrealism

 — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  03:24, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

AfroSurreal Writers Workshop (organization)

Might be worth writing up. Not sure it's notable enough yet for its own article.

• https://AfroSurrealWriters.Wordpress.com/
• https://www.PW.org/content/the_afrosurreal_writers_workshop_on_creative_community
• https://SFBayView.com/2020/02/a-feast-of-black-centered-literary-events-lit-up-the-bay-area-february-2020

 — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  04:02, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

This article is a trainwreck

I've said this at some wikiproject pages, but it's best said right here: This article has been WP:OWNed for several years by a clear WP:COI editor who keeps writing promotionally about himself (D. Scot Miller) and reshaping all the material to suit his personal vision of the genre and its history (and seems to want to avoid any mention of Rochelle Spencer's work; someone I know offsite who is a writer and familiar with the parties said there's some kind of beef between Miller and Spencer). I think some worthwhile material Miller deleted can be recovered from page history, but overall it just seems to need a major, multi-editor rewriting effort.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  05:51, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

D. Scot here. I didn't create this Wiki page. A young student made it for a class assignment a number of years ago. Since that time, I've had to make corrections because many of the things added had no citation and some were patently false. For example, Rochelle Spencer and her "Afrosurreal Writer's Workshop" did not come into being until five years after the publication of the Afrosurreal Manifesto in 2009. Spencer told me herself that she planned to become THE expert on Afrosurrealism after approaching me at a Litquake event I was hosting that year, and has intentionally defamed and discredited my work not only at the schools that you mentioned but also in her dissertation. I refuse to call it book because it's less than 125 pages long and is composed of fabrications that the very institutions where she taught have come to acknowledge and reached out to me for corrections. Just because Spencer is your colleague does not make this not true.

As for the other articles you mentioned: Terri Francis approached me in 2012 asking to include my manifesto in an issue of Black Camera she was editing in 2012 (JSTOR). Lacy Murphy wrote her article as companion-piece to a lecture I gave at Washington University in St. Louis (2019), and the illegitimate "Afrosurreal Writer's Workshop" awarded Sumiko Saulson $100 from $10,000 grant she received from the NEA under false pretenses.

Before you make you make any assumptions on your knowledge of Black cultural production, I suggest you do your research. You failed to mention both Amiri Baraka and Robin DG Kelley, which indicates to me that you did not. 2600:1700:CF90:ED80:E01B:5252:7A0C:5C88 (talk) 17:39, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Mr. Miller, if you're not logged into your account, you should be aware of this notification. BubbaJoe123456 (talk) 13:22, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

I am the Founder of the Afrosurreal Arts Movement through my publication of The Afrosurreal Manifesto in The San Francisco Bay Guardian in May, 2009. This Wiki page does nothing to hide that truth, and your "ban" does nothing to deny that fact. You, like Spencer and several others, are more than welcome to continue to attempt rewriting history. After 14 years of failed attempts, I've stopped paying attention, and the world knows the truth even as your kind continue to try. Have at it. 2600:1700:CF90:ED80:4D04:8869:5893:6877 (talk) 14:49, 17 March 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Graphic Design History

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 28 August 2023 and 15 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): HAHA2424 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Ktrachsel01 (talk) 01:07, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Evaluation of the article

In my evaluation of the article on Afro surrealism, I found that the lead section clearly presented the genre, nevertheless, it is not straightforward enough for a reader that does not know anything about the topic. The introduction does not give us an overview of the article and in my opinion it does not state its relation with other movements like Afrofuturism. It could be more concise when it comes to the writers and topics influential in Afro surrealism. The article in itself is relevant, but not summarize enough. Reference dates from 2009, It could definitely be updated. This article talks about marginalized communities and underrepresented populations, specifically black artists and writers. It does lack information about the movement influence outside of the western world. The article keeps a neutral tone but subjective at time when it talks about the importance of certain writings. The sources and reference could be more academic. Nevertheless, it does include different. Perspectives of historically marginalized individuals.. The article lacks images, something that could help visualize what Afro surrealism is. In to talk Beach discussion it seems to be an ongoing conversation about who founded the Wikipedia page and who is using it for personal promotion. However, this article was used in a wiki education assignment in 2023 but that is the only one.

My overall impressions are that this article is clearly developed, but could be expanded and summarized in a better way. It is strong and inclusive, nevertheless it could benefit from a better structure and more academic sources as well as more images. To summarize, the article covers a lot of basics about the movement. It could be better represented visually with content that is more academic and better structured.

Gsarr01Gsarr01 (talk) 23:11, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

Evaluation of Article

In my evaluation of the Article ‘Afro-Surrealism’ I will write about how the article does accomplish one of its goals by making us want to know more about the subject, but it fails to give us enough information to clearly understand what ‘Afro-Surrealism’ is. While the meaning of Afro- Surrealism can be pieced together from other parts of the text the introduction doesn’t do a very good job in telling us about the subject and what the article will aim to cover. It would also begin new ideas throughout the article which it would take no time in expanding( for example ‘European Surrealism is empirical. African Surrealism is mystical and metaphorical’). The transitions between paragraphs were not done very well and the incohesive insertions of quotes were disruptive. Even if  quotes are useful, the constant inclusion of them made the article hard to follow.

It is also apparent ,not necessarily through the use of language, but through the strife of the author to paint Afro-surrealism in a positive light that the article's tone is biassed in favour of the subject. Although it still does a good job in including as many perspectives as possible and presenting different examples of the subject(the last page where it included past and modern examples), there are certain hints that make you doubt the article's reliability. For example, there is a conflict on the talk page where people accuse the author of biassed viewpoints and self-promotion. While the author of the article seems to dispute this, he also makes it clear that he has a personal connection to what he is writing about. The lack of imagery in an article that speaks of art and  could make use of it to present a better understanding is also disappointing.

Even with the acknowledgment of the article's many shortcomings it does a good job of differentiating between Surrealism and Afro- surrealism and stating the significance in their distinction. Stating things like "Afro-Surrealism sees that all 'others' who create from their actual, lived experience are surrealist ....". It signals to us the importance in recognizing the difference in Afro- Surrealism and Surrealism. Telling us that “Afro-surrealism, which couples the bizarre with ideas of black identity and power, allows for more expansive explorations of blackness.”. Meaning that the genre of Afro Surrealism allows more room for cultures to express themselves in ways that are not necessarily linear.

All in all, the article was well done in the sense that even if it was not very informative it aided in introducing the subject and induced me to learn more. It had clear reliable sources and examples that gave me a well rounded idea on what Afro-Surrealism was by the end. For those reasons I think it is a helpful article and would encourage those interested in the subject matter to read it. ~~~~ Emawayesh (talk) 20:28, 30 September 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Black American Music F24

This article is currently the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 26 August 2024 and 9 December 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Sterie Simone 87 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Editor 5224 (talk) 07:07, 25 October 2024 (UTC)