SCREENING & DISCUSSION:
Isaac Julien’s Looking for Langston (1989)
Respondant: Stephanie Batiste (Black Studies and English, UCSB)
Wednesday, April 16 / 6:00 PM
MultiCultural Center Theater
In this lyrical and poetic consideration of the life of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, Isaac Julien invokes Hughes as a black gay cultural icon, against an impressionistic, atmospheric setting that parallels a Harlem speakeasy of the 1920s with an ‘80s London nightclub. Extracts from Hughes’ poetry are interwoven with the work of cultural figures from the 1920s and beyond, including black poets Essex Hemphill and Bruce Nugent, and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, constructing a lyrical and multilayered narrative. Julien explores the ambiguous sexual subtexts of a period of rich artistic expression, and the enduring cultural significance of these pioneers’ work. Presented in conjunction with the University Art Museum exhibit Isaac Julien: Fantôme Afrique (February 28 - May 11, 2008).
Professor Stephanie Batiste specializes in African American and 20th-century American literature and culture. Her research investigates relationships between representation, performance, identity, race, and power. Her book, Darkening Mirrors: Imperial Representation in Depression Era African American Performance, illuminates the complicated ways in which African Americans participated in American ideologies of cultural imperialism.
Public programs for Isaac Julien: Fantôme Afrique have been organized by Naima Keith, Black Studies and co-sponsored by the University Art Museum, the MultiCultural Center and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center.
