The Art of Being Black: The Creation of Black British Youth Identities / Edition 1

by Claire E. Alexander

Overview

The Art of Being Black explores how young black Britons create their cultural identities. Claire Alexander rejects the common tendency to view black communities in terms of conflict, or as the focus of a problem; she offers a fresh exploration of the strengths and ambiguities of black youth representations as they are imagined and lived through, focusing in particular on community, "class", social life, and masculinity.

Young black men have been typecast as hostile and culturally confused, alienated from their parents and from society; as "folk devils" (the stock images of the black mugger, the Rastafarian drug dealer, the rioter) creating problems for society in general. To get a truer view, Dr Alexander spent twelve months as "one of the boys" in a group of young black Londoners; the resulting highly personal, in-depth, and very readable study counters the usual image of ethnic identity as fixed and immutable.
Drawing on contemporary debates about culture and ethnicity, this book offers the close observation and informed analysis needed to bring to life theories of black cultural identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198279822
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/25/1996
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.81(h) x 0.67(d)
Lexile:	1260L (what's this?)

About the Author

Claire E. Alexander is a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Open University. She was previously Junior Dean at Somerville College, Oxford.

Editorial Reviews

"This study is excellent....While we have so very many studies that simply assume the nature of a 'black' identity, we have almost none that demonstrate how such a black identity is constructed. This is what Alexander's work does, and does in such marvellous detail."—Henry Louis Gates

From the Publisher

The author spent a year as "one of the boys" in a group of young black Londoners, resulting in a readable, personal study countering the usual image of ethnic identity as fixed and immutable. Material from interviews offers a vivid portrait of the young men as they create cultural identities and encounter issues of community, class, social life, and masculinity. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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