Redrawing afrocentrism: Visual nommo in George H. Ben Johnson's editorial cartoons

Abstract:

This article considers the manner in which the editorial cartooning of George H. Ben Johnson (c. 1917-1920) expanded current conceptions of Afrocentrism in order to open a space for Afrocentric visual rhetorics, which have been historically used by African Americans to disrupt European power structures. This article first defines and conceptualizes nommo and some of its manifestations to expand this definition to include a space for visual nommo. An analysis of the rhetorical significance of Johnson's use of five visual manifestations of nommoincluding indirection, visual depictions of African history, repetition of images, the depiction of visual symbols of mythication, and stylin'is provided to ground an Afrocentric visual rhetoric. Finally, this article offers implications for expanding current conceptions of Afrocentrism in order to better embrace the visual.

Año de publicación:

2008

Keywords:

• Manifestations of nommo
• Visual rhetoric
• Afrocentrism
• African American rhetoric
• George H. Ben Johnson
• Editorial cartoons

Fuente:

scopus