PJAS 18-16
Maja Piskadło
“All That Is Good Is Nasty!”: Parliament-Funkadelic and the Grooving Bodies of Afrofuturistic Citizens
Polish Journal for American Studies, vol. 18 (2024), pp. 223-239
Abstract: This paper discusses the idea of citizenship as represented through Parliament-Funkadelic’s trademark Afrofuturistic take on funk music. Afrofuturism connects and reimagines the past, present, and future of the Black diaspora, often from an African American perspective. As a product of Black culture, born out of a response to the turbulent circumstances of the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, funk proves a powerful lens for discussing citizenship. The purpose of this paper is to present funk as an affective mnemonic device that carries social and historical knowledge, crucial to the formation of national identities. To illustrate this, Parliament-Funkadelic’s Afrofuturistic journey towards the liberation of the Black body and its communal agency is discussed. I highlight the band’s emphasis on sourcing freedom in the innate drives of the body, and thus bringing about a sort of collective intimacy which fosters the creation of new identities, united in movement.
Keywords: Afrofuturism, funk, music, African American music, citizenship, community
DOI: 10.7311/PJAS.18/2024.16