Darkly
Black History and America's Gothic Soul
Published on 12. November 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
206 pages
978-1-912248-54-4 (ISBN)
Description
Haunted houses, bitter revenants and muffled heartbeats under floorboards - the American gothic is a macabre tale based on a true story.
Part memoir and part cultural critique, Darkly reveals the heart of America's darkness in the specters left from chattel slavery and the persistence of white supremacy. Locating the gothic in technologies of terror, the insurgency of melancholy, and the guilty conscience of a country that got away with murder, Darkly shows how this trauma has been metabolized into art, music, film, and literature.
America's story is founded in horror, with a culture shaped from the Black experience, proving that you can't get more goth than Black.
Part memoir and part cultural critique, Darkly reveals the heart of America's darkness in the specters left from chattel slavery and the persistence of white supremacy. Locating the gothic in technologies of terror, the insurgency of melancholy, and the guilty conscience of a country that got away with murder, Darkly shows how this trauma has been metabolized into art, music, film, and literature.
America's story is founded in horror, with a culture shaped from the Black experience, proving that you can't get more goth than Black.
Reviews / Votes
"I am struck by the depth of Leila Taylor's vision. The generosity shown in the way a history (and present) is illuminated. This book does so much beautiful work to widen the expectations and understandings of blackness, and I am immensely thankful for it." "Takes us on a path that connects the Middle Ages, Edgar Allen Poe, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Afropunk, Prince, Black Lives Matter, and Hot Topic. It's an incredible journey..." "Fascinating. A revelatory exploration of blackness, goth culture and the ramifications of inherited trauma."More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Watkins Media Limited
Edition type
New edition
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
208 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-912248-54-4 (9781912248544)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Leila Taylor is a former goth kid and current Creative Director at Brooklyn Public Library. She's given talks at the International Gothic Association and the Morbid Anatomy Museum, has an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University and an MA in Liberal Studies from The New School of Social Research. This is her first book.