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Adilifu Nama
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Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes Kindle Edition

by Adilifu Nama (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 112 ratings
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“A welcome overview of black superheroes and Afrocentric treatments of black-white relations in US superhero comics since the 1960s.” –ImageTexT Journal

Winner, American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation

Super Black places the appearance of black superheroes alongside broad and sweeping cultural trends in American politics and pop culture, which reveals how black superheroes are not disposable pop products, but rather a fascinating racial phenomenon through which futuristic expressions and fantastic visions of black racial identity and symbolic political meaning are presented. Adilifu Nama sees the value—and finds new avenues for exploring racial identity—in black superheroes who are often dismissed as sidekicks, imitators of established white heroes, or are accused of having no role outside of blaxploitation film contexts.

Nama examines seminal black comic book superheroes such as Black Panther, Black Lightning, Storm, Luke Cage, Blade, the Falcon, Nubia, and others, some of whom also appear on the small and large screens, as well as how the imaginary black superhero has come to life in the image of President Barack Obama. Super Black explores how black superheroes are a powerful source of racial meaning, narrative, and imagination in American society that express a myriad of racial assumptions, political perspectives, and fantastic (re)imaginings of black identity. The book also demonstrates how these figures overtly represent or implicitly signify social discourse and accepted wisdom concerning notions of racial reciprocity, equality, forgiveness, and ultimately, racial justice.

“A refreshingly nuanced approach . . . Nama complicates the black superhero by also seeing the ways that they put issues of post-colonialism, race, poverty, and identity struggles front and center.” –Rain Taxi
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  1. Print length
    259 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    University of Texas Press
  5. Publication date
    Oct. 1 2011
  6. File size
    11623 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product description

Review

"This well-conceptualized, well-written book is enriched by Nama's witty turns of expression, occasional corrections of earlier errors and omissions, and fascinating background material." (Choice)

"Throughout, Nama takes a refreshingly nuanced approach to his subject. Nama complicates the black superhero by also seeing the ways that they put issues of post-colonialism, race, poverty, and identity struggles front and center." (Rain Taxi)

About the Author

Adilifu Nama is an Associate Professor at California State University Northridge. He is the author of the award-winning Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film, the first book length examination of the topic. Throughout his books, various articles, and presentations, Nama has explored how race and media intersect in television, film, and hip-hop music with a critical eye toward contextualizing black representation along with black racial formation.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00826MF5M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Texas Press (Oct. 1 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 11623 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 259 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 112 ratings

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Adilifu Nama

Adilifu Nama

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
112 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

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Top reviews from other countries

Lin
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely love this book
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
Definitely love this book Still reading it here and there but so far so good
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Doczilla
5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
I read Super Black when it first came out. Lately I've been re-reading much of it, and I'm reminded how impressive this particular book is. Dr. Nama has deftly managed the feat of providing genuine scholarship while writing in a way that would be meaningful and interesting for a general audience. The review of character history blends well with his thoughts on culture and symbolism. It is truly an excellent work.
5 people found this helpful
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Jaye
4.0 out of 5 stars Great but smaller than I thought
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2018
Verified Purchase
It wasn’t as large as I had hoped and I thought it would be a hard cover. It may have been my fault and I didnt read the description thoroughly but it’s still good and looks great. I just wanted to display it and it’s too small for the display shelf I purchased.
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Nathan S.O Stevenson
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Educational Analysis of Black Superheroes
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
It was a detailed and interesting piece on black superheroes. Doc Nama really has done his work and really does do a great job of making this socio-cultural analysis very fun and educational. It also introduced me to some great comic book runs (or arcs if you are more familiar with that term) that I need to check out such as Green Lantern: Mosiac.
One person found this helpful
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poetRMS-316
5.0 out of 5 stars Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes -- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
I purchased this book because I wanted to learn about African-Americans in science fiction. I was amazed by the history, the education and the artistry of Black science fiction. I learned about the negativity, as well as the positivity of Black sci-fi characters in comic books, television, movies and documentaries. It is important for African-Americans to become more involved with sci-fi because there are plenty more stories about Black History to be told through sci-fi and other genres of literature.
6 people found this helpful
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