![Baker Banana 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Baker_Banana_2.jpg)
The word ''negrophilia'' is derived from the French ''négrophilie'' that means ''love of the negro''. It was a term that
avant-garde art
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or 'vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical D ...
ists used amongst themselves to describe their fetishization of Black culture. Its origins were concurrent with art movements such as
surrealism and
Dada
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
ism in the late nineteenth century. Sources of inspiration were inanimate African art objects (''l'art nègre'') such as masks and wooden carvings that found their way into Paris's flea markets and galleries alike (products of France's colonial exploitation), which inspired artworks such as
Picasso's
Les Demoiselles d' Avignon that found their way into Paris as a result of colonial looting of Africa as well as live performances by Black people, many of whom were ex-soldiers remaining in European cities after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, who had no choice but to entertain as a source of income. Equally of interest to avant-garde creators were live arts such as dance, music and theatrical performances by Black artists, as evidenced by the popularity of comic artist
Chocolat and the musical review ''Les Heureux Nègres (1902).''
Factors/ideas influencing the emergence of negrophilia
What began as artistic interest grew to a society-wide, mass fetish in France in the aftermath of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. An entire generation of youth was lost in La Grande Guerre. The violence and loss witnessed in Europe, in particular in France, by those who survived, challenged the belief in the superiority of Western civilization fostered during the age of
Enlightenment, which also fueled questions on the exploitative effects of colonialism. French society was looking for alternative ideologies, and the exotic, "primitive" cultures of French colonies, erstwhile and current, were seen as alternatives to cold capitalism and modernity. The post-war ideological vacuum thus fed off of earlier artistic movements centered around primitivism.
Simultaneously, the arrival of numerous African and African-American soldiers during the war years, their subsequent decision to return to or remain in post-war France, as well as numerous incoming artists, students, writers and professionals of color seeking accepting ground for themselves & their work, were significant contributors to the pervasiveness of Negrophilia in French society.
Significant personalities emerging from Les années folles
This fetishization of foreign cultures had already been established within France due to the regular expositions the country held to showcase the objects and people of the French colonies. The fascination with specifically black culture and the "primitivised" existence associated with it flourished in the combined aftermath of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914–1918) and the
1931 Colonial Exposition when artists yearned for a "simpler, idyllic lifestyle to counter modern life's mechanistic violence." Yet to advertise the Colonial Exposition, the organizers relied on "racist imagery" in a children's comic book in the form of a character, Nénufar, who personified the savage with child-like curiosity, not the colonized oppressed peoples. Pictured with "steel wool hair" and practically naked except for a loincloth, cuffs and gloves on his feet, he appears to be aiming for but failing at assimilation.
Avant-garde artists recognised for their negrophilia interests include poet and art critic
Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent.
Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...
, artists
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...
,
Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...
,
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...
,
Paul Colin, surrealists
Georges Bataille and
Michel Leiris
Julien Michel Leiris (; 20 April 1901 in Paris – 30 September 1990 in Saint-Hilaire, Essonne) was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer. Part of the Surrealist group in Paris, Leiris became a key member of the College of Sociology with ...
, and political activist
Nancy Cunard
Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...
. The During 1920–1930s Paris, negrophilia was a craze to collect
African art
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the ...
, to listen to
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, and to dance the
Charleston, the
Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many danc ...
or the
Black Bottom, were signs of being modern and fashionable. Perhaps the most popular revue and entertainer during this time was'' La Revue Nègre'' (1925) starring
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...
.
Josephine Baker
Regarding Baker and her style of dancing, a literary critic at the time,
Gerard Bauër, called this the dawning of the romanticism of "''couleur''" (meaning "dark skin"), as opposed to "exoticism," because romanticism was felt by the heart, and was not just a scientific inquiry. Bauër, the biological (but illegitimate) grandson of the author
Alexandre Dumas ''père'' (his father Henry was born of an extramarital relationship), was a prolific author and chronicler in Paris, and would later become a member of the
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Go ...
and the
Société des gens des lettres (Society of Persons of Letters), which defended the rights of authors. As he described it, the animal-like intensity of Josephine Baker's dancing, for example, transported the viewer to a new state of feeling and not just curiosity. In addition to her color and near complete nudity, what elicited these feelings were Ms. Baker's movements—near perpetual trembling, her body extended like a serpent with elements of a contortionist, and ending on all fours with her head on the stage and her ''derrière'' in the air. Similarly, the African ''bamboula'' dance was described as a "frenzy" of noise and movement where one loses oneself, and where the dance becomes nearly an act of sexual intercourse.
Significant pieces
* La Revue Nègre
* La Folie du Jour
The ''Bal Nègre''
Due to World War I, France saw an influx of African colonials migrate into Paris. This sudden rise in diversity led white Parisians to become fascinated by the introduction and immersion of black cultures in the city. During the late 1920s, several Parisian nightclubs began hosting bals, or authentic African-inspired dances, which were very popular among both the black and white French crowds. These bals became one of the leading interracial social spaces in France.
While African immigrants went to a ''bal colonial'', or bal nègre, for recreation and fun, French surrealists often came for the scientific observation of black culture. The jazz music and dancing found in black nightclubs were studied by surrealists as major components of black civilization. This appreciation of the night lifestyle of
Black Africans and
African Americans in France
African Americans (also referred to as Afro-Americans or Black Americans) in France are people of African American heritage or black people from the United States who are or have become residents or citizens of France. This includes students an ...
was really the French sexualizing and fetishizing
black culture. The bals were also one of the most prominent areas for interracial exchanges and relationships to occur. Hidden in the dark of night, young French and African adults could socialize and interact in ways that were highly controversial in average European society.
To the average Frenchman, the bal nègre was considered an opportunity for "exotic" experiences and sexual freedom.
Black party-goers were no longer thought to be in these bals for their own enjoyment, but for the interests of white guests. As the appeal of exoticism rose, the opportunity for white people to interact and dance with black people became very attractive. This promise of "exotic experimentation" made these nightclubs very popular with the French bourgeois and turned them into tourist attractions. Interracial dancing gave the French a sense of liberation from the conventions of modern society, especially since the French deemed Africa and Africans primitive and passionate. These "progressive" interracial relations did not surpass the walls of the Parisian nightclubs. The racial and social structures remained the same for Blacks and whites in France during the early 20th century.
Concurrent movements and opposing ideas
* Negrophilia was a metropolitan movement that also elicited opposition from parts of French society. The combination of African primitive music and American popular culture through presentations like La Revue Nègre, was a threat to refined French tastes. Not all Parisians welcomed incoming foreigners in the inter war years- they were seen as competition for employment opportunities in a recovering economy, nor was Paris free from racism.
* Dissenting voices were strengthening in the French colonies. An example : The formation of the ''Association Panafricaine'' in 1921 post the
Pan-African Congress. Soldiers from French colonies who fought on behalf of France during the Great War were voicing demands for citizenship and equality, challenging French colonial power.
Negrophilia today- cultural appropriation
Negrophilia and the fetishization of Black faces, bodies, arts, music and dance that were its manifestations, have been criticized for objectifying, sexualizing and ultimately trivializing peoples of so-called "primitive" or "exotic" cultures, in a process of racial "othering".
The fetishization and selective exploitation of Black physical traits, hair, manner of dress and cultural attributes can seen in contemporary social media, electronic media and public life, by celebrities as well as people seeking celebrity status. The contemporary phenomena of
Cultural appropriation and
Blackfishing
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
can be called the modern iterations of Negrophilia.
y whom?Members of the dominant social group, in this case White persons, either adopt - without acknowledgement- certain customs, mannerisms etc. of people of African origin, or in some cases, give themselves a completely different racial identity. The objectives are varied: gaining attention, rebuilding a celebrity image, marketing and business interests. Several public figures from across domains have, in the recent past, been identified for this commodification of Black identity, including
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...
,
Eminem,
Ariana Grande and
Rachel Dolezal
Nkechi Amare Diallo (; born Rachel Anne Dolezal, November 12, 1977) () is an American former college instructor and activist known for identifying as a transracial black woman. In addition to claiming black ancestry, she also claimed Native Ame ...
.
References
* Petrine Archer-Straw, ''Avant-Garde Paris and Black Culture in the 1920s'' (2000)
* Michel Fabre, ''From Harlem to Paris'' (1991)
* Tyler Stovall, ''Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light'' (1996)
See also
*
Afrophobia
Afrophobia, Afroscepticism, or Anti-African sentiment is a perceived or actual prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or racism towards people and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora.
Prejudice against Africans and people of African desce ...
*
Afro (disambiguation)
*''
Négritude
''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...
''
*
Wigger
''Wigger'', or ''wigga'', is a term for a white person of European ethnic origin, who emulates the perceived mannerisms, language, and fashions associated with African-American culture, particularly hip hop. The term is a portmanteau of ''whit ...
*
Rachel Dolezal
Nkechi Amare Diallo (; born Rachel Anne Dolezal, November 12, 1977) () is an American former college instructor and activist known for identifying as a transracial black woman. In addition to claiming black ancestry, she also claimed Native Ame ...
{{Cultural appreciation
African culture
Politics and race
Race and society
Admiration of foreign cultures