Afro-Gothic

Abstract

The introduction presents Afro-Gothic as an aesthetic and theoretical framework for understanding the various works in the special issue, which includes essays, interviews, a playlist, and a roundtable. Taking up Cauleen Smith's Crow Requiem (2015) as its point of departure, the authors discuss how the experimental video illustrates Afro-Gothic sensibilities in its allegorizing the ambient feeling of precarious and collective vulnerability to gratuitous violence that characterizes our everyday. The introduction considers how theoretical formulations of Afro-Gothic as mood (Leila Taylor) and aesthetic tool (Kobena Mercer) are especially relevant to the present study before moving on to summarize the contents of the issue. Rather than argue for the originality or definitiveness of this work, the authors propose this special issue as a contribution to a growing body of exciting scholarship by authors in the burgeoning field of black Gothic studies.