Afro-surrealism in screen arts as an experience of the Otherworldly

Prokudin Gleb Andreevich ORCID: 0000-0002-4682-7092 Postgraduate student, GITR Film and Television School 125284, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Khoroshevskoye highway, 32A ya.law-pro@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

This study is devoted to such a phenomenon in art as "Afro-surrealism", but before proceeding to the analysis of examples of works, it is necessary to identify the boundaries beyond which this work will not go. Afro-surrealism is a complex phenomenon that originated partly due to the difficult social and political situation of the black population at the beginning of the 20th century. Thus, Afro-surrealist works always have, to a greater or lesser extent, an agenda of racial segregation. It can be traced both in the "Afrosurreal Manifesto", which will be discussed below, and in the screen works that are selected for analysis in this study. The study considers Afro-surrealism, on the one hand, as a style combining various types of art with a common theme, on the other, in a narrower sense, as a genre of screen works, which has a specific set of language elements. The racial agenda is inseparable from Afro-surrealism as a style, since it is part of its identity, which is evident even from the name, although some researchers say that modern American Afro-surrealism is already moving away from its roots: "... in American Afro-surrealism itself, one can find connections with European trends calling for new forms of expression of everyday experience" write R. Perez and V. Chevalier ^{[1, p. 77]}. Nevertheless, this article focuses primarily on the art and cultural aspects of the problem and considers Afro-surrealism as a genre. The social and political features of the style are not the subject of research and are mentioned only in the context of historical analysis, the points of the "manifesto" appealing to social themes are excluded from citation, since they do not relate to the study of Afro-surrealism as a genre. When analyzing the series "Atlanta", the socio-political aspects of its content are left aside, because although they are clearly present in the text of the work, they are outside the scope of this study.

The history of the genre

Afro-surrealism is one of the youngest and least studied trends in art. Its origins can be traced back to the 30s of the XX century. As is the case with many movements that originated at the beginning of the last century among black Americans, the emergence of Afro-surrealism can be associated with the clash of cultures and the struggle for the rights of blacks. One of the key concepts that formed the basis of the current even before its formation as such is the concept of a miracle. The key figures of Afro-surrealism of those years – Suzanne Cesar, Aime Cesar, Rene Menil – mentioned the "wonderful" in their articles and magazines. Suzanne Cesar wrote about the desire for "the Miraculous, not miserablism" ^{[2, p. 36]}. This desire later almost completely determined the vector of development of Afro-surrealism. Inspired by Cesar's call to "Be constantly ready for the Miraculous," Rene Menil and his colleagues create the creative group "Tropiques", for which this phrase becomes a creative credo. In his work "Introduction to the Miraculous," Menil writes: "The true task of humanity is solely to try to bring the miraculous into real life so that life can become more comprehensive. Until the mythical imagination can overcome every boring mediocrity, human life will be nothing but useless, dull experiences, just killing time, as they say" ^{[3, p. 27]}. In this thought, we can hear the idea that we are exploring, that the world around us is more than just reality, which we perceive through our senses. Reality cannot be considered fully conceived if it does not include an element of the unknowable, but tangible presence of the otherworldly, sacred, or, as representatives of Afro-surrealism themselves called it, miraculous.

The term "Afro-surrealism" itself ^{[4, p. 164]} appeared in 1974, when Amiri Baraka used it in his essay to characterize the work of avant-garde writer Henry Dumas. But the period from the origins to the appearance of the term, of course, was not a period of stagnation of the current. At this time, the direction was being formed in terms of both ideas and forms. It absorbed the features of surrealism, avant-garde, expressionism. At the same time, the period of formation of Afro-surrealism coincided with the period of struggle of the black American population for their rights. The special position of African Americans in society and the events that took place in the midst of this struggle gave the artists of this trend a set of key themes, which are more or less concerned with most of the works in the genre of Afro-surrealism.

Another important idea, besides "wonderfulness", for Afro-surrealism is the idea of invisibility. D. S. Miller, in his article on Afro-surrealism, writes about the significance of this invisibility for the current using the example of R. Ellison's novel "The Invisible Man": "There is a "Wonderful", and on the other side of the coin – the "Invisible"". There is a way to define invisibility in Wikipedia definitions that apply exclusively to Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man." This kind of invisibility is related to the fact that you are not seen because you are not recognized or not noticed because of their oppressed status or social status. Wiki defines this as "psychological invisibility"^[5]. Here, the socio-political context in which the current originated is clearly traced, but within the framework of this study we are interested in the very aspect of invisibility, especially in more modern works of the genre.

The Manifesto of Afro-Surrealism

The works of Afro-surrealism are important material for this study for a reason. The fact is that this genre, by its very nature, is designed to work with the modern reality of the author, thereby becoming a very clear and responsive marker of the flow of ideas in culture, which are transmitted through works of art, including through audiovisual works. The principle of working with the present is laid down in the manifesto of Afro-surrealism, published by D. S. Miller in 2009. Miller divides the text of the manifesto into parts that explain the origins of the current, its postulates and a separate point – what this current is not. Here Miller explains the difference between Afro-surrealism and surrealism and Afro-futurism:

"A) Surrealism:

Leopold Senghor– the poet, the first president of Senegal, an African Surrealist, drew this line: "European Surrealism is empirical. African Surrealism is mystical and metaphorical." Jean-Paul Sartre said that Senghor's art and the African Surrealism movement are "revolutionary because they are surreal, but surreal because they are black." Afro-surrealism believes that all the "others" who create based on personal lived experience are surrealists, for example, Frida Kahlo. The root "Afro-" is also found in the word "Afro-Asian", which means a language common to blacks and Asians around the world. What was once called the "third world" until the first two collapsed.

B) Afro-Futurism:

Afro-Futurism is a diaspora of intellectual and creative movements that turn to science, technology and science fiction to reflect on the possibilities of blacks in the future. Afro-surrealism is about the present. ...For the Afro-surrealist, the shock is happening here and now. ...The future has existed for so long that now it is the past.

Afro-surrealists expose this "future-past" by saying that it is called RIGHT NOW.

RIGHT NOW, Barack Hussein Obama is the first black president of the United States.

RIGHT NOW, Afro-surrealism is the best description of those reactions, kneeling, twists and unexpected events that produced the "blackening" of the White–Hetero-Male-Western Civilization" ^[6].

We will not touch on the socio-political aspect of this text, but note the emphasis on the present. What the author put into his work is what he saw here and now. For cultural studies, such material is a unique opportunity to consider the cultural characteristics of the era, being directly in it.

Now that it is clear what Afro-surrealism is not, it is necessary to understand what it is. There are 10 points in the manifesto that comprehensively characterize the current, these are the ones that are of particular interest to us:

«…

2. Afro-surrealism assumes that on the other side of the visible world there is an invisible world that longs to manifest itself, and it is our task to reveal it. ...Nature (including human nature) generates more surreal experiences than any other process can hope to produce.

3. Afro-surrealists restore the cult of the past. We return to old ideas with new eyes. ...We rediscover "madness" as a sign of the divine and agree that magic is possible. We turn to the ancient obsession and foment the disease. We purify the collective unconscious while it generates these dreams called culture.

...

5. Afro-surrealists yearn for Rococo. Beautiful, sensual and changeable. ..."There is no objective image. And there is no way to objectively see the image itself."

...

10. The Afro-surrealist creates sensual gods to hunt down beautiful destroyed idols."^[6]

The parallel between Afro-surrealism and the question of the otherworldly is especially vividly traced on the example of paragraphs 2 and 5. Paragraph 2 is practically a paraphrase of Wittgenstein's ideas, which are set out in the "Logical and Philosophical Treatise", such as, for example, the idea of the border passing between the world as it is and our inner picture of this world, on the basis of which we base our judgments ^{[7, pp. 120-121]}. Here Miller says that the experience of being human is surreal in itself, that it is an integral part of human nature. An addition and extension of this thought is paragraph 5, which states that even if reality is accessible to sensory experience for perception, such perception will still not be objective. Thus, this manifesto directly asserts the connection of Afro-surrealism with a complex of ideas about the otherworldly, inaccessible to objective knowledge.

Unlike European surrealism, where the author seeks to reveal and display the content of his unconscious, Afro-surrealism seeks to cause the viewer to feel the surreality of what is happening, as if immersing him inside the consciousness of another person, thereby allowing him to see things that previously remained invisible to the viewer.

"Invisibility is not the same as absence,– Miller writes. "In fact, Ellison's invisibility is based on attention blindness, a psychological lack of attention unrelated to any defects or deficiencies in vision. Research shows that the phenomenon can occur in any person, regardless of cognitive disabilities. When it simply becomes impossible to pay attention to all the stimuli in a given situation, the effect of temporary blindness can occur; that is, people do not see objects or stimuli that are unexpected and often outstanding" ^[6].

Thus, by placing the viewer in the perception of another person, the Afro-surrealist reveals to him an aspect of the world that has been in front of the viewer all this time, but remained hidden by the blindness of attention that Miller writes about. And this is exactly the process that is the subject of this study. Expressing surrealism and absurdity in visual images, the authors of this trend discover a mechanism that allows them to experience the otherworldly, bypassing the stage of its rationalization in consciousness.

"Atlanta" and "Twin Peaks"

Let's turn to specific examples. "Atlanta" is a television series created by Donald Glover that aired from 2016 to 2022. The plot of the series takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, and revolves around the life of Ernest Marx, nicknamed "Armie", who becomes a manager for his cousin, who dreams of achieving success in the rap industry. Gradually, Marx is drawn into the nuances of working in the music industry. The series explores not only the music scene, but also the discussion of racial and social issues plays a huge role, and the topic of inequality and violence is raised. Each episode is a kaleidoscope of images that demonstrate various aspects of modern American culture from one side or another.

But within the framework of this study, we are interested in the special atmosphere of strangeness created by Glover, which permeates every scene of the series. This strangeness is just an attempt to bring the viewer into that special surreal state when the boundary between reality and the otherworldly begins to blur. This is exactly the oddity that distinguishes the current of Afro-surrealism. It runs very clearly through the entire work, creating the feeling that strangeness is an independent character. In one scene, Glover's character directly asks a friend if she thinks this place feels weird.

"Atlanta" is not a plot-oriented work. Instead of this movement, the series prefers to draw the texture of its world scene by scene, systematically displaying, as it were, a "portrait of the world". This approach is not something new, TV series and films have already been created that focused not so much on telling a story as on exploring the world, creating an atmosphere. The difference between "Atlanta" is what means it uses, and, most importantly, what kind of world it builds with them. There are quite obvious deviations from reality as we know it, for example, in the world of the TV series, Justin Bieber is black, and invisible cars can be found in the city. But there are also more subtle details that are revealed by excellent camera work and installation. Random glances, unusual angles, unnatural light. All this creates the very feeling that Miller wrote about in his manifesto – the feeling that through the dense strangeness that envelops everything that happens in the series, some other world is manifested. A world that has always been present around, but remained hidden from our eyes, being subject to the blindness of attention. Once we see the dark-skinned Justin Bieber, we begin to doubt the authenticity of everything that catches the eyes of the characters, and with them the audience themselves. We begin to look into the darkness, and when we look into it, we begin to see things in it that we could not even imagine. The otherworldly opens up to the heroes and the audience. Through a sense of strangeness, the habit of seeing the world around you in one single specific way is destroyed.

The TV series "Twin Peaks", created by David Lynch, of course, is not a representative of the current of Afro-surrealism, but nevertheless it is appropriate to draw a parallel between it and "Atlanta", since they are very similar in their atmosphere. "Twin Peaks" also resorts to surrealist techniques and metaphors to get the viewer to look beyond what looks like reality. That's how J. begins his article about this series. Weinstock: "... A strange swaying of the traffic light. An elevated view of a neat stack of donuts. A log that keeps secrets. ... The strangeness of the world created by David Lynch and Mark Frost in Twin Peaks, in its magnificent disorienting mystery, embodies the creepy side of matter – things are out of place, things full of affect that have lost recognition" ^{[8, p. 29]}. As we will see, these words about Twin Peaks can easily be applied to Atlanta. Both series create "strange" characters, but both do it in a very special, different way from each other. Unlike plot-oriented works that can lead strange characters in order to motivate the characters to make a choice, or to reveal the inner world of the character through interaction with a strange hero, "Atlanta" and "Twin Peaks" create strangeness as a way to take the viewer away from the usual patterns of perception of reality. Duality plays a special role in Lynch's series, as S. Lyons notes in his article ^{[9, pp. 4-5]}. Both "Twin Peaks" and "Atlanta" use this technique in order to instill in the viewer a sense of the strange. Moreover, if "Twin Peaks" still continues to use characters such as a Giant or a Lady with a log to develop the plot, then the episode of "Atlanta" with a man on a bus who unexpectedly offered the main character a sandwich does not affect further events in any way and does not inform the viewer of any information. It just exists to convey to the viewer a sense of strangeness. Specifically in this scene, the effect is based on the dissonance between how the character behaves on the screen and what the viewer is used to considering the norm. Almost all over the world, a person offering a sandwich to a stranger without any context will be perceived in a strange way.

In this episode, as in many other episodes of the series, featuring unusual characters who seem to have come from another world, the authors of the series play with the viewer's idea of what the norm is. Rather, they play with a deviation from the norm, thereby awakening the viewer's attention to what may lie outside the familiar world. Such episodes pull the viewer out of the blindness of attention that Miller wrote about, thereby revealing the presence of the other right next to the familiar. Rather, such episodes do not reveal anything in themselves, they only indicate the possibility of the presence of the otherworldly. Another character in the series, who plays the role of a hook, to which the viewer's attention clings and which pulls him out of the usual routine, is Teddy Perkins. A separate episode is dedicated to this character in the series. Teddy has a very specific appearance, his face resembles an eerie mask, because he has unnaturally pronounced sharp features, strange facial expressions and deathly pallor. The hero's face really looks like it's another person wearing a mask. This hypothesis is even put forward by the characters of the series: one of the characters, Darius, comes to Perkins in order to buy a piano that belonged to a famous musician named Benny. After Darius sees the surroundings of the mansion, as well as the strange owner, who looks like a mannequin, he assumes in a conversation with his brother that Perkins is Benny, who pretends to be another person in order to cope with the crisis and draw attention to his fading career. Later in the episode, it turns out that this assumption is wrong when, accidentally finding himself in the basement, Darius sees the real Benny in a wheelchair, completely wrapped in bandages. This scene, like the whole series, departs very far from the general light comedic tone of the series. And thus it only further plays into the hands of the authors, even deeper implanting in the viewer's perception the idea of the existence of something more than reality, but nevertheless imperceptible. This episode does this at the level of the structure of the series. If by themselves strange events and characters within the fabric of the narrative create a kind of knots, which the viewer's perception stumbles over, thereby achieving the effect of, one might say, shock, which pulls the viewer out of the familiar world, making him feel the presence of another world, then the series about Teddy Perkins resembles, rather, a hole through which the viewer he begins to see what is on the other side of this fabric. A series in the horror genre within a comedy series begins to represent a kind of non-structural element, similar to the one that Derrida was looking for in the texts, dealing with deconstruction. One of the most famous examples is the discussion of the role of writing in the dialogue "Phaedrus" by Plato ^{[10, p. 67]}.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that Afro-surrealism as a genre uses many elements of the language inherent in surrealist works, but does so in a special way. Instead of inscribing vivid and strange otherworldly images into the fabric of reality, Afro-surrealism tends to use interspersed surreal elements in order to create a kind of gap in reality through which something else is visible. Stumbling over such an element, the viewer begins to feel that a completely different reality may be hiding behind the familiar and understandable reality. Beyond description, irrational.