Philosophy and Literature

Abstract:

Great art has been created under conditions of immense suffering and social injustice. How can one responsively and sensitively make sense of and appreciate such art? How does one acknowledge the suffering that went into making the art, while seeing the creators as something other than victims of circumstance? I offer some reflections on the challenge of appreciating African American music, with the central example of the song "Joe Turner Blues." I outline two possible approaches to these questions (those of Arlene Croce and Fred Moten) before offering my own suggestions.