In the Dark

The artist’s duty is to “reflect the times,” said Nina Simone. Poets too, have this political duty. As a queer Black woman, I share my lived experience(s) as a political form of engagement and resistance, both in writing and onstage. Inspired by Audre Lorde’s (1984) text Sister Outsider, this piece...

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Main Author: Charlie Hope Dorsey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Alberta 2018-03-01
Series:Art/Research International
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ari/index.php/ari/article/view/29335
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author Charlie Hope Dorsey
author_facet Charlie Hope Dorsey
author_sort Charlie Hope Dorsey
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description The artist’s duty is to “reflect the times,” said Nina Simone. Poets too, have this political duty. As a queer Black woman, I share my lived experience(s) as a political form of engagement and resistance, both in writing and onstage. Inspired by Audre Lorde’s (1984) text Sister Outsider, this piece of personal performance poetry explores Della Pollock’s notion that performative writing is citational. Blending references to white poets such Emily Dickinson with allusions to writers, artists, and theorists of color, this piece makes space for black culture in the academy and recounts my return home after a period of self-imposed exile. It surveys the liminal space between the dark of writing and the light of performance and also critiques the hierarchal academic structures that subjugate knowledge, people, and spoken word poetry. It was originally written and performed in a show entitled Greyscale: Performing Across Difference, in the Marion Kleinau Theatre, in March 2017.
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spelling doaj.art-c8bbe650f0c04a40a6e945d4a49b315b2022-12-22T02:46:32ZengUniversity of AlbertaArt/Research International2371-37712018-03-013124725710.18432/ari2933519737In the DarkCharlie Hope Dorsey0Southern Illinois University, CarbondaleThe artist’s duty is to “reflect the times,” said Nina Simone. Poets too, have this political duty. As a queer Black woman, I share my lived experience(s) as a political form of engagement and resistance, both in writing and onstage. Inspired by Audre Lorde’s (1984) text Sister Outsider, this piece of personal performance poetry explores Della Pollock’s notion that performative writing is citational. Blending references to white poets such Emily Dickinson with allusions to writers, artists, and theorists of color, this piece makes space for black culture in the academy and recounts my return home after a period of self-imposed exile. It surveys the liminal space between the dark of writing and the light of performance and also critiques the hierarchal academic structures that subjugate knowledge, people, and spoken word poetry. It was originally written and performed in a show entitled Greyscale: Performing Across Difference, in the Marion Kleinau Theatre, in March 2017.https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ari/index.php/ari/article/view/29335poetry, performance, spoken word, politics, identity
spellingShingle Charlie Hope Dorsey
In the Dark
Art/Research International
poetry, performance, spoken word, politics, identity
title In the Dark
title_full In the Dark
title_fullStr In the Dark
title_full_unstemmed In the Dark
title_short In the Dark
title_sort in the dark
topic poetry, performance, spoken word, politics, identity
url https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ari/index.php/ari/article/view/29335
work_keys_str_mv AT charliehopedorsey inthedark