Black Madness :: Mad Blackness

by Theri Alyce Pickens

In Black Madness :: Mad Blackness Therí Alyce Pickens rethinks the relationship between Blackness and disability, unsettling the common theorization that they are mutually constitutive. Pickens shows how Black speculative and science fiction authors such as Octavia Butler, Nalo Hopkinson, and Tananarive Due craft new worlds that reimagine the intersection of Blackness and madness. These creative writer-theorists formulate new parameters for thinking through Blackness and madness. Pickens considers Butler's Fledgling as an archive of Black madness that demonstrates how race and ability shape subjectivity while constructing the building blocks for antiracist and anti-ableist futures. She examines how Hopkinson's Midnight Robber theorizes mad Blackness and how Due's African Immortals series contests dominant definitions of the human. The theorizations of race and disability that emerge from these works, Pickens demonstrates, challenge the paradigms of subjectivity that white supremacy and ableism enforce, thereby pointing to the potential for new forms of radical politics.

Genres: Disability, Nonfiction, Disability Studies, Race, Theory, Psychology, Mental Illness

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2019

Reviews

[Aerik Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this text! I thought Pickens did a fantastic job of shining light on the mutual constitution of discourse that comes from Black studies and Disability studies. Pickens' introduction makes clear that this type of study is already entangled in the politics of academia and tenure, a sobering fact that makes me all the more thankful for her work and trusting of her methodology. Questions regarding the value and limitations of "humanness" are nuanced in this book, examining the rejection of humanness that comes from Black Feminist scholars like Sylvia Wynter alongside the stretching of the label of human that comes from Disability studies. The text also offers refreshing critiques of linearity that account for how people experience time differently (i.e pauses/gaps), relying on the work of Black and Disabled scholars once more. As a poet, I also loved how each discussion in the text was always introduced with and in conversation with Black Femme poetics. Highly recommend this book!

[Leonie Nicks]

I feel like I can't rate this book and that would also be inappropriate and counter to its general philosophy. I've never read academic critical theory before and so I found it quite hard to read as it felt as though there were many references that would make sense if you know more about critical theory. The author made it clear that the book would subvert a linear arc towards neat conclusions, which is an approach I fully support - i.e. there are no clear answers and the 'conversation' is always ongoing. However, since I'm not used to that, I found it quite hard to stay engaged and keep following what it was saying. She refers to a lot of other critical theorists and scholars and many of the passages focus heavily on characters in novels - none of which I've read so I didn't have the background to fully understand what was going on a lot of the time. Nonetheless, I still managed to have moments of clarity when a profound observation would emerge. For example, the various different points she made about defining 'madness' in social relative terms, which when intersected with Blackness intertwines multiple layers of juxtaposed normalcy in the context of White ableist hegemony.

[J. Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling and sprightly examination of the ways in which the figure of/concept of Mad Blackness might unsettle linear progress narratives and undo the idea of "humanity" often placed at the center of discussions of disability and race. Pickens uses Black speculative fiction examples to demonstrate other ways of presenting madness (in its many valences) and Blackness which don't rely on the two concepts as mutually constituted or always tending towards "cure" or solution. At times the examples were a bit quickly presented but the arguments and the precision with which Pickens considers multiple fields of study was stunning. Definitely a book that I finished and left me invigorated to do more reading and writing to try and match this rigor.

[Ayre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very academic book so its very dry. Just a fair warning to anyone going into this who might not be used to reading academic text.

This text compares the intersectionality between race (blackness) and disability and how they're portrayed together in black literature. It does spoil the plots of 4 different works of fiction: Fledgling by Octavia Butler, Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson, The African Immortals series by Tananarive Due, and Hunting in Harlem by Mat Johnson.

I do believe that if this is a topic you're researching then this will be a good resource for you but this isn't a casual read

[Ngozi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top favorite books, ever. Seriously invites readers to think outside of the way Blackness and disability is taught/structured by the academy. Was very refreshing to read, and even inspired my own theories around Blackness and disability.

[Gabe Dulecki]

This was so jargon and theory heavy and I honestly have no idea what I read!!! I tried really hard but I did not have the brainpower to make this one happen! I would love to come back to this in audiobook format

[Ella Louise Schalski]

Read for class

[Kevix Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its quite a slog. Lots of things to read that it referenced. Butler, hopkins, due.

[n]

Reading this reminds me to always elevate the stakes of critique; Pickens play so fast and loose with Black crit phil that the book becomes a revanchist project for disability studies.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A twisting jargon-heavy romp through the (self-admittedly) confusing interplay outside normativity that are Blackness and madness, Pickens sometimes stretches and wends, but still manages to dig and provoke.

The latter half is the strongest, where her examples struggle less to depict Blackness and madness (Butler and Hopkinson don't conform easily to white normativity or to theses). But throughout there are some great thoughts and barbs as to how we view the world and how much work can be done to examine and upturn those paradigms.

Pickens admits she does not have answers, and foregrounds so much thought, like a lot of academic writing, in previous thinkers that it bogs down at times, but it's definitely something you can return to, and will add some great books to your reading list.