Signifying blackness: the black aesthetic revisited

Abstract

This short paper seeks to interrogate certain notions that work against the formulation of a black theory of art. it reles in part on audience-related theories in outlining an alternative way of theorizing black aesthetic. In the main it suggests that a crdible theory of black art must aknowledge shared preferences among black peoples of the world, and that such a theory must, in addition, take cognizance of the link between various forms of cultural expression -- literature, music, painting, drama and film -- within the cultural universe of the black world.