A Genealogy of Resistance: And Other Essays

Front Cover
Mercury Press, 1997 - History - 233 pages
7. Nourbese Philip combats the holy trinity of tokenism, multiculturalism, and the inexorable exclusion of The Other artist within our democratic Canadian mosaic. (Her essays) are significant not only because they broach the subject of racism in the arts, but because they project a detailed, unconventional exegesis of the problem. -- Julian Samuel, MatrixPhilip's questions are difficult, and of an intensity of insistence rarely achieved. -- Erin Mour, Books in CanadaPhilip deploys all thoughtful ways of making readers aware of how history is created. And how it is denied. -- Canadian Materials...powerful and provocative... 'Looking for Livingstone' provides the next step in feminist theorizings of language and silence. Moving beyond the experiments of Irigaray and Wittig, Philip uses history, geography, and race as well as gender to explore the multiple expressions of silence in its ongoing intercourse with the word. -- Cristanne MillerA Genealogy of Resistance is a brilliant, compelling exploration in cultural history. Elegant, by turns fiercely questioning, magically lyrical, and gently probing, Philip's examination of issues of race and culture is always eloquent and commanding.The central essay in this book is an exploration of the roots of Carnival within the wider history of the African diaspora which began with the Middle Passage 400 years ago. Carnival and Caribana are more than summer festivals of celebration; they are the living, transplanted, hard-fought-for cultural memory in the present of African-Canadian and other African-North-American peoples. Philip's approach to her material is lyrical, beautiful, and powerful; history is told as a story.

From inside the book

Contents

A Genealogy of Resistance
9
Whose Idea Was It Anyway?
31
The Absence of Writing or How I Almost Became a Spy
41
Copyright

5 other sections not shown

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information