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  • Essay / An Analytical Report on the “Postmodern Blackness” of Bell Hooks

    “Postmodern Blackness” is one of many essays written by bell hooks. It is, by nature, a philosophical essay in which the African-American writer mixes the literary with the racial. She thus attempts to evoke the role of exclusion that postmodernist discourse imposes on the culture and literary experience of Black people in the United States. For bell hooks, this is clearly manifested when this discourse fails to express the concepts of otherness and difference, two extremely central concepts in postmodernist theory. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayBell Hooks (whose name takes lowercase letters of its own choosing) embarks on a mission to affirm the close relationship between African-American culture and postmodernism by highlighting one of her past memories in which she was a guest at a party heavily attended by white people. At the party, the author had a very heated discussion with a group of white people, presumably intellectuals, about whether or not postmodernism was relevant to black people. The negative response of one of these people, the only black guest with the writer, can be considered as the fountain stroke from which the fierce spirit of Bell Hook arose to write this set of pages which have the task to defend not only the black experience. relevance to the postmodernist movement, but also the close attachment of black women to this theory. In fact, bell hooks highlights the fact that the postmodernist movement is completely independent and neglectful of African American culture. Furthermore, she claims that this movement is completely overtaken by the extremely ignorant white male presence of not only black writers but also women. In this regard, bell hooks presents the reader with several details which further prove the fact that the presence The question of the place of women in postmodernist discourse is deeply contested. In connection with this question, she gives the example of Meaghan Morris's bibliography which, although containing some works by female writers, is completely devoid of any work written by a black woman. In fact, bell hooks does not place blame solely on white scholarly writers who exclude black culture, but she blames, to a greater degree, the majority of black writers who refuse to participate and address this subject. As a result, she fully agrees with Cornel West, a black postmodernist writer, who believes that black authors are in fact marginalizing themselves by not integrating themselves into postmodernism. In one of his essays titled “Postmodernism and Black America,” Cornel West clearly suggests that black intellectuals “are marginal – usually languishing at the interface of black and white cultures or deeply embedded in the Euro-American context ". In fact, Cornel West's writings are a kind of encouragement for black literary figures to blend into the depths of postmodernism and thus assert their identity through their writings. In addition to this, bell hooks believes that postmodernist discourse should be a broad space where African Americans could express their needs and desires. It is, according to her, a huge place where their black identity resides and from which it must emerge. Not entirely satisfied with postmodern theory and its consequences for black society in the United States, bell hooks takes on the postmodernist critique of identity which, in her opinion, needs to be completely reshaped. bell hooks believes that this criticism is inherently racist because it attributes certain characteristics and traits to black people based solely on their colorand their race. Therefore, in his opinion, it needs to be expanded further so that it can cover other features that present the right image and bright portrait of African Americans and their culture. Therefore, bell hooks, somewhere in his essay, refers to rap as one of the voices through which black people could express themselves and make their voices heard at the time. “It is no coincidence that 'rap' usurped R&B music's primary position among black youth as the most desired sound, or that it began as a form of 'testimony' for the class marginal. This allowed underprivileged black youth to develop a critical voice. » (page 4). Furthermore, she believes that this cultural practice remains the only one that this part of the population has been able to produce. As a result, bell hooks is somewhat certain that the flourishing of black culture can be observed through their popular culture. In the final paragraphs of his essay, bell hooks highlights one of the most important incidents that the black movement has known. community for the construction of their identity. This is closely related to the postmodern African-American rights group which has unfortunately split into two parts: essentialists and nationalists. The former place great importance on individual identity. In fact, this group speaks to the crucial importance of African American history and heritage. Therefore, essentialists believe that African Americans should not blend in with the rest of American society because this act could result in the complete destruction of their ancient history and ancient heritage. This can, to a large extent, create a kind of animosity in American society, as essentialists move towards creating an identity, African American, completely separate from other American races. As for the second group, they are extremely different from their former counterparts and convinced that the United States is a melting pot where diverse cultures can peacefully assimilate. Therefore, they encourage the assimilation of their race into the wide range of cultures of the United States. However, many black critics believe that this act could result in the loss of African Americans' history and the legacy of their ancestors. In fact, bell hooks disagrees with both hypotheses. According to her, only the Black Power movement was capable of preserving the culture of her race and asserting its identity. The movement also succeeded in changing many black views on civil rights, without negating the importance placed on individuality. Its only flaw, as bell hooks says, was that it was too essentialist, which made its decline a matter of time. On the other hand, bell hooks is not entirely skeptical that another version of this movement will emerge. Indeed, she calls on black people in America to start thinking about some ways that could give rise to a new black power movement provided that it is completely different from anything that has been generated before, without forgetting that it must accumulate all the Afro past. -The Americans are experimenting so that its influence on other races is very present. Despite its detailed and precisely oriented analysis towards the question of postmodernism and its relationship with the black experience, this essay, in some cases, was subject to certain points of weakness such as that which is noticed through the dichotomy between the description of bell hooks the capitalization of her name and the general stance with which she is fully indoctrinated. Bell Hooks is believed to be one of the best-known feminists in the United States. His writings are above all a kind of challenge to=787