Afropessimism

Course Description

Summary

White supremacy is written into every layer of life, an escapable aspect of the modern condition. This hopelessness, though, is just the beginning for the Afropessimist, who nonetheless plots out a radical course forward–– Could pessimism be the real path to freedom? Through a deep reading of Frank B. Wilderson III and Saidyah Hartman, Jared Sexton (and others), we will mine the generative possibilities of this so-called “pessimism” about the Black condition. Students should expect about 40-60 pages of critical/theoretical reading per week, along with a handful of critical response papers.