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FASHIONFUTURISM: The Afrofuturistic Approach To Cultural Identity in Contemporary Black Fashion

Amoah, Maame A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent15960737328946

Abstract Details

2020, MFIS, Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Fashion.
Afrofuturism is a cultural and aesthetic movement within the African Diaspora that draws on the present and historical experiences of Black people and reimagines a future filtered through a Black cultural lens. There has been a growing number of fashion creatives and enthusiasts throughout the African Diaspora who are adopting this aesthetic in order to celebrate Black culture and identity. However, the role of Africa in Afrofuturism continues to be debated as many believe the term to be inherently centered on Black American experiences and cultures and not necessarily on the African experience. The purpose of this research is to explore the connection between Afrofuturism, fashion, and cultural identity in the African Diaspora. A qualitative approach using interviews and an arts-based creative online collage exercise was used to uncover the role and signification of cultural identity in the Afrofuturistic expressions of West Africans in Africa, West Africans living in America (Diasporic Africans) and African Americans. Because fashion has been likened to a form of symbolic language, this study also aims to uncover the “codes” involved in each group’s communication of their cultural identities. Through the data gathered, a 3- look capsule collection was created to represent a visual summary of the views of each group on Afrofuturistic fashion expressions.
Tameka Ellington, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Linda Ohrn-McDaniel, MFA (Advisor)
Kendra Lapolla, MFA (Committee Member)
Felix Kumah-Abiwu, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
112 p.
Aesthetics; African American Studies; African Americans; African Studies; American Studies; Art Education; Black Studies; Communication; Curriculum Development; Design; Divinity; Ecology; Education; Educational Theory; Fine Arts; Gender Studies; Health; Individual and Family Studies; Instructional Design; Marketing; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Mental Health; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Modern History; Multicultural Education; Music; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Personality Psychology; Philosophy; Psychology; Religion; Sub Saharan Africa Studies; Textile Research
Afrofuturism, Fashion, Cultural Identity, Culture, Black studies, Africans, African Americans, African Immigrants, Diaspora, Diasporic Africans, African fashion, African American fashion, Black Hair, Spirituality, Aesthetic, Futurism, Design, Symbols

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Amoah, M. A. (2020). FASHIONFUTURISM: The Afrofuturistic Approach To Cultural Identity in Contemporary Black Fashion [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent15960737328946

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Amoah, Maame. FASHIONFUTURISM: The Afrofuturistic Approach To Cultural Identity in Contemporary Black Fashion. 2020. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent15960737328946.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Amoah, Maame. "FASHIONFUTURISM: The Afrofuturistic Approach To Cultural Identity in Contemporary Black Fashion." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent15960737328946

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent15960737328946
3,596
© 2020, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License FASHIONFUTURISM: The Afrofuturistic Approach To Cultural Identity in Contemporary Black Fashion by Maame A. Amoah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.