Falling, Floating, Flickering: Disability and Differential Movement in African Diasporic Performance

Falling,Floating,Flickering emphasizes the importance of embodiment and movement in the creation and survival of Black sociality, challenging stereotypes of Africa as less progressive than the West. It explores alternate morphologies and movement practices across geohistories and cultural forms, highlighting the engagement of diasporic Africans in gesture toward a liberatory Black sociality.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 24 January 2023
Publisher: New York University Press

Falling, Floating, Flickering: Approaches to Disability Transnationally by Centering Black, African, and Diasporic Experiences

Falling, Floating, Flickering: Approaches to Disability Transnationally by Centering Black, African, and Diasporic Experiences is a groundbreaking book that delves into the importance of embodiment and movement in the creation of Black sociality. By linking African diasporic performance, disability studies, and movement studies, the book offers a transdisciplinary perspective on disability that centers Black, African, and diasporic experiences.

One of the key insights of Falling, Floating, Flickering is its rejection of the capital-weighted calculus that determines which bodies hold value. Instead, the book focuses on alternate morphologies and movement practices that have been dismissed as abnormal or unrecognizable. By doing so, it challenges the dominant narratives that perpetuate ableism and other forms of discrimination against disabled people.

Hershini Bhana Young, the author of Falling, Floating, Flickering, traverses multiple geohistories and cultural forms, ranging from the United States and the Mediterranean to Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and South Africa. Through her analysis, she argues for the importance of differential embodiment and movement in the creation and survival of Black sociality. She refutes stereotypic notions of Africa as less progressive than the West in recognizing the rights of disabled people and highlights the engagement of diasporic Africans, who are still reeling from the violence of colonialism, slavery, poverty, and war, as they gesture toward a liberatory Black sociality by falling, floating, and flickering.

Falling, Floating, Flickering is a powerful book that offers a fresh perspective on disability and its impact on Black, African, and diasporic communities. It challenges the dominant narratives and promotes a more inclusive and equitable understanding of disability. By centering the experiences of Black, African, and diasporic people, the book contributes to the ongoing struggle for social justice and equality.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479818440