The Magic of Decolonization

Abstract

Using a single line in Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (1961) as a jumping-off point, this article meditates on the decolonial possibilities of Afro-Atlantic religions and their associated ritual objects. In it, I argue not that Afro-Atlantic works are inherently opposed to colonial epistemes but rather that moralizing colonial regimes’ exercises of power has forced their association with the concept “magic” and, in turn, the institutional critiques that “magic” creates. As such, I speculate on the forms of ontological uprooting necessitated by a full reckoning with Afro-Atlantic spiritualities—or what the institutional structures noted above might characterize as “Black magic”—may afford the disciplines of art history and material culture.

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Publication Title

West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts Design History and Material Culture

Department

Art History

Additional Department

Latin American Studies

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1086/737612

Language

English

Format

text

Link to Full Text

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