Full Description
This book examines the transformative potential of arts on Afghan society, specifically focusing on how artistic praxes have shaped and influenced social dynamics and identity. Theorising sociocultural responses to military interventions, political instability and upheaval, this book delves into the concept of artistic praxis as a sociological tool. Including interviews with male and female Afghan artists, it explores their experiences and creations to contribute to a deeper understanding and constructions of society within the artistic ecologies in Afghanistan. This book explicates the nuances of gender conceptualisation in artistic expression. Challenging traditional and reductive depictions of masculinity, this book foregrounds feminisms and masculinity rooted in the contexts of the Global South. Filling a crucial gap in the limited literature on Afghan arts and artists, a section is devoted to the period since the Taliban take-over in August 2021. This book will be of importance to students and scholars interested in the intersections of sociology, arts, decolonial studies, gender and feminist studies, diaspora studies, as well as peace and conflict studies.
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.- PART ONE: Enchantment and Encounter.- Chapter 2: Why Art?.- Chapter 3: Art as Counter-narrative.- PART TWO: Contextualising Gender.- Chapter 4: Feminism as Praxis.- Chapter 5: Complex Masculinity, Postcolonial Masculinity.- PART THREE: People and Place.- Chapter 6: From the Same Blue Planet.- Chapter 7: Kabul - A Tale of Two Cities.- PART FOUR: Thresholds of Violence.- Chapter 8: Praxis and Displacement.- Chapter 9: Conclusion.
