Paris and African and North-African artists have long been historically intertwined through political activism, literature, architecture, cinema, music, and beyond. In this course, Paris noir and North-African, we will map the spatial presence of the avant-garde of African artists, both African-American and African French writers, thinkers, performers and designers in Paris and how their being & belonging in the City of Light has inherently shaped the French Capital and its understanding of alterity throughout the twentieth and the twenty-first century. We will not only focus on the Parisian connections and the long-lasting imprint they left on Paris by "othering" the urban landscape, offering alternative conceptions of the Parisian territories for generations to come, but also on their own journeys of self-discovering, sense of belonging, intellectual awakening and political activism in the streets of Paris : how Paris transforms them and how they transform Paris. From Richard Wright to Frantz Fanon, from James Baldwin to Aime Cesaire, from Josephine Baker to Leila Slimani, from Angela Davis to Black Lives Matter in Paris : exploring how the pioneers of the Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean and Maghrebi Parisian diaspora(s) paved the way for the future generations. Special focus of the Algerian war in Paris as experienced through the eyes of African-American artists, with site visits and guest speakers.
3 units · Letter (ABCD/NP) · GER: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Paris and African and North-African artists have long been historically intertwined through political activism, literature, architecture, cinema, music, and beyond. In this course, Paris noir and North-African, we will map the spatial presence of the avant-garde of African artists, both African-American and African French writers, thinkers, performers and designers in Paris and how their being & belonging in the City of Light has inherently shaped the French Capital and its understanding of alterity throughout the twentieth and the twenty-first century. We will not only focus on the Parisian connections and the long-lasting imprint they left on Paris by "othering" the urban landscape, offering alternative conceptions of the Parisian territories for generations to come, but also on their own journeys of self-discovering, sense of belonging, intellectual awakening and political activism in the streets of Paris : how Paris transforms them and how they transform Paris. From Richard Wright to Frantz Fanon, from James Baldwin to Aime Cesaire, from Josephine Baker to Leila Slimani, from Angela Davis to Black Lives Matter in Paris : exploring how the pioneers of the Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean and Maghrebi Parisian diaspora(s) paved the way for the future generations. Special focus of the Algerian war in Paris as experienced through the eyes of African-American artists, with site visits and guest speakers.
Offered in Autumn 2025, Winter 2026 at Stanford University.