Capitalist Modernity, Dissident Metaphors

Capitalist Modernity analyzes expressive commonalities across dissident cultures of the contemporary transatlantic.

The book coheres around shared use of subversive metaphors in Africa and the Americas, offering close study of select texts in Nigeria, Peru, and the United States. Montesano articulates his view of texts as speech-producing social actors, engaging racial capitalist theory as essential context for his global comparative analysis.

With readings of works by James Baldwin, Joy Harjo, Ralph Ellison, Alonso Cueto, Ogaga Ifowodo, and Sonia Sanchez with Sweet Honey in the Rock, the project investigates the political significance of subversive arts on the one hand, and the mediated nature of their impact on the other.

In its scrutiny of literature’s capacities and its constraints in the political sphere, the book helps artists, educators, and general readers make better use of its powers.