Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2021
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Advisor(s)
Amos Kiewe
Second Advisor
Kendall Phillips
Keywords
Afrofuturism, Black, Imagination, Invention, Liberation, Utopia
Subject Categories
African American Studies | Arts and Humanities | Philosophy | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Rhetoric and Composition
Abstract
Inspired by recent events following the deaths of unarmed Black bodies killed at the hands of police officers and white vigilante citizens (Griffith, 2020; Oppel, 2020; BBC, 2020) this thesis seeks to validate the seemingly impossible aspirations of Black struggle and liberation in attempt to dismantle white supremacist ideology and oppression. Grounded in rhetorical theory emphasizing the imagination and canon of invention alongside critical perspectives of Afrofuturism and Black utopian thought, this thesis demonstrates the liberatory power of the Black American imagination within the United States in the 21st century through an analysis of A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019).
Access
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Weathers, Natalie, "Imaginative Rhetorical Invention In The 21st Century: An Analysis Of Afrofuturism And Black Utopian Thought In A Black Lady Sketch Show As An Avenue Toward Black Liberation" (2021). Theses - ALL. 501.
https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/501
