Jayne Brown – Black Utopias. Speculative Life and the Music of Other Worlds (Duke University Press, Buch)

What separates a utopia from a dystopia usually depends on the perspective. In Thomas More's classic »Utopia,« for example, you will find a lack of pubs, but not of penal codes - and those who were excluded from it really were never given the chance to enjoy More’s brave new world in the first place. Researcher Jayne Brown's work focuses on black and diasporic cultural narratives, ranging from the punk movement to speculative literature. The book »Black Utopias. Speculative Life and the Music of Other Worlds« in this respect represents a culmination of her previous publications and inquires into the utopian enclaves that the excluded have created for themselves across the arts. It is not only about the science fiction literature of Octavia Butler, but also about the music of Alice Coltrane and - of course - Sun Ra.