"[Monáe's] impact as a queer, Afrofuturist, Black radical feminist is analyzed with deft care and even joy. . . . texts such as this contribute to the much-needed broadening of the historically Eurocentric canon of utopian studies. By focusing on theories and concepts across Afrofuturism, Black utopias, posthumanism, queer theory, and Black feminism, Hassler-Forest's book helps re-frame the field's major concerns, demonstrating the importance of centering the experiences and thinking of groups who have been historically marginalized and oppressed."
“An expert critic of the ideological construction of transmedia worlds, Dan Hassler-Forest offers a tour de force analysis of virtuoso music and media artist Janelle Monae as a vernacular theorist and intersectional figure. The resulting book makes a compelling case that her interventions into popular culture may help to shape how we collectively imagine our futures and the world according to Janelle Monae is a better one by far.”
"Building on a close reading of the transformative potential central to Afrofuturism, Janelle Monáe's Queer Afrofuturism highlights how Monáe's mix of speculation and liberation shines a light on acceptance, care, and community central to Afrofuturism's appeal. Carefully framing intersectional concerns around bodies and power expressed in Monáe's artistic work allows Hassler-Forest to provide an intriguing examination of an artist who has quickly come to embody the transformative potential of black speculative practice."
“Hassler-Forest clarifies why artist-activists like Monae are so central not only to how we can imagine a future that is free from the strictures of white supremacy but also to how we can harness the power of utopian thinking in the here and the now.”
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