WIP in Ancient Philosophy: Joshua Wilburn (Wayne State University)

Works in Progress in Ancient Philosophy held by Cinzia Arruzza. The guest speaker for this session is Joshua Wilburn (Wayne State University). Title: "Not Without Laughter": Plato, Langston Hughes, and a Blues Approach to Race in the Ancient World. Abstract: The Blues and jazz music famously influenced the poetry of Langston Hughes, and his poetry is what he's best known for. However, his interpretation of the Blues also informed his artistic and political approach to issues of race and anti-Black racism in the United States, and not only in his poetry but also in his fiction, essays, autobiography, and non-fiction writing. One of the key features of his approach involved the use of humor to expose the absurdity of American racism. This paper argues that the Hughesian Blues approach offers important lessons for Classicists and scholars of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy who address questions about race and racial prejudice in the ancient context. In particular, it suggests that many scholars employ overly simple and inflexible definitions of racial terminology that fail to account for the inconsistencies, ironies, and contradictions that Hughes took to be typical of race and racism as he and many of his fellow Black Americans experienced them. The paper offers a sketch of how a Hughesian Blues lens might illuminate our interpretation of the various racial or ethnographic representations of "barbarians" that we find in Greek authors like Plato. The talk will be followed by a small reception with cheese and wine.