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Explore the fascinating historical and contemporary philosophical issues that arise in Black Panther
In Black Panther and Philosophy: What Can Wakanda Offer The World, a diverse panel of experts delivers incisive critical reflections on the Oscar-winning 2018 film, Black Panther, and the comic book mythology that preceded it. The collection explores historical and contemporary issues—including colonialism, slavery, the Black Lives Matter movement, intersectionality, and identity—raised by the superhero tale.
Beyond discussions of the influences of race and ethnicity on the most critically and culturally significant movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this book presents the moral, feminist, metaphysical, epistemological, existential, and Afrofuturistic issues framing Black Panther’s narrative. The explorations of these issues shed light on our increasingly interconnected world and allow the reader to consider engaging questions like:
Perfect for fans of the most culturally significant film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther and Philosophy will also earn a place in the libraries of students of philosophy and anyone with a personal or professional interest in the defining issues of our time.
Edwardo Pérez is Professor of English at Tarrant County College in Hurst, Texas, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at the University of Texas at Arlington in Texas. He is a frequent contributor to Wiley’s Philosophy and Popular Culture series and website at www.andphilosophy.com.
Timothy E. Brown is Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington. He is a founding member of the Neuroethics Trust in the Center for Neurotechnology and leads diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the International Neuroethics Society.
Contributors: One Single Tribe xi
Introduction: A Few Words from the Wakandan International Outreach Centre 1
Edwardo Pérez and Timothy E. Brown
Part I Yibambe! 3
1 Challenge Day: Tradition and Revolution in Wakanda 5
Armond Boudreaux
2 Transforming Wakanda: Justice (or Not?) in Black Panther 14
Steve Bein and Deana Lewis
3 Sins of the Fathers: Historical Injustice and Its Repair in Black Panther 22
Ben Almassi
4 “What Would You Have Wakanda Do about It?”: Black Panther, Global Justice, and African Philosophy 32
Christine Hobden
5 T’Challa’s Liberalism and Killmonger’s Pan-Africanism 42
Stephen C.W. Graves
Part II Wakanda Forever! 51
6 Panther Virtue: The Many Roles of T’Challa 53
Mark D. White
7 Should Wakanda Take Over the World? The Ethics of International Power 61
Greg Littmann
8 T’Challa, the Revolutionary King: Legitimation Crises in Wakanda 70
Kevin J. Porter
9 T’Challa’s Machiavellian Methods 80
Ian J. Drake and Matthew B. Lloyd
10 Understanding the Reigns of T’Challa and Killmonger through Hannah Arendt 87
Jolynna Sinanan
Part III The Heart-Shaped Herb 95
11 Beastly Boys: The Racial-Sexual Politics of Meat 97
Sofia Huerter
12 Panther Mystique: Wakandan Feminism Demystified 107
J. Lenore Wright and Edwardo Pérez
13 The Ancestral Plane: Metaphysical Mystery or Meaningful Metaphor? 123
Dean A. Kowalski
14 The Afterlife of Erik Killmonger in African Philosophy 132
Paul A. Dottin
15 Wakandan Resources: The Epistemological Reality of Black Panther’s Fiction 152
Ruby Komic
Part IV Vibranium 163
16 When Tech Meets Tradition: How Wakandan Technology Transcends Anti-Blackness 165
Timothy E. Brown
17 Vibranium Dreams and Afrofuturist Visions: Technology, Nature, and Culture 175
Alessio Gerola
18 Black Panther’s Afrofuturism: Reconnecting Neural and Cultural Pathways 184
Michael J. Gormley, Benjamin D. Wendorf, and Ryan Solinsky
19 Wakanda and the Dilemma of Racial Utopianism 193
Juan M. Floyd-Thomas
20 The Value of Vibranium 203
Edwardo Pérez
Part V Black Lives Matter 211
21 Dismantling the Master’s House with the Master’s Tools 213
Thanayi M. Jackson
22 An Impossible Return? (Anti)Colonialism in/of Black Panther 221
Julio C. Covarrubias-Cabeza
23 T’Challa’s Dream and Killmonger’s Means: Echoes of MLK and Malcolm X 230
Gerald Browning
24 “It’s Time They Knew the Truth about Us! We’re Warriors!”: Black Panther and the Black Panther Party 238
Karen Joan Kohoutek
25 Fear of a Black Museum: Black Existentialism in Black Panther 247
Charles F. Peterson
Index 256
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