Subversion In Black Fantasy Literature
Subversion in Black Fantasy Literature Fantasy literature is known to feature superhuman characters, creatures of all different sorts, and unknown worlds. For readers and writers alike, fantasy offers an escape from the often bleak and disappointing reality of today. For the African American community, in particular, fantasy provides an alternate realm—a realm where denouncing the authority of the white establishment is possible. The unfortunate reality is that for many black authors, a story of subversion does not seem to fit within the context of our world. The reality of the day is extremely disheartening, as racism and discrimination are perpetuated by society. African Americans, past and present, feel disillusioned by their unfortunate …show more content…
Wilson’s (published under the pen name “Ethiop”) “The Afric-American Picture Gallery,” subversion against white authority is outright and presented in a very fantastical way. “The Afric-American Picture Galley” starts out as a written tour of an undisclosed picture gallery, but about half-way through the text, the text takes a curious detour. The narrator embarks on a journey through the mythical “Black Forest.” The Black Forest section of Wilson’s piece seems inharmonious with the rest of the text. Up until the Black Forest section, Wilson keeps his writing very realistic and believable. He describes various works of African-American themed art found in a remote picture gallery. The Black Forest section, however, takes an expected fantastical …show more content…
As is evidenced by Sofia Samatar’s “Ogres of East Africa” and William J. Wilson’s “Black Forest” section of his “Afric-American Picture Gallery,” fantasy serves as an outlet where the world we know can be flipped upside down. Ogres can resist the encroachment of “humans,” a race of milk white people can be expunged from the world, and a black man can enslave a white man. Where in the real world, racism has seem to run amuck, infiltrating virtually every part of the society we know, fantasy provides a place for all of that to be challenged and
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