To be or not to be American:' African-American Boxing in Interwar France

Dr. Peter Bloom

The celebration of African-American boxing figures in France during the interwar period is starting point for this discussion of how French perceptions of African-Americans were differentiated from African performers. Dr. Bloom will discuss the intersecting itineraries of Jack Johnson, Battling Siki, and Panama Al Brown, and their integration into the boxing and music hall culture. He will address the question of how African-American figures were appropriated in France as a more creative kind of American: Jack Johnson's boxing style was a source of inspiration for the French Dadaist poet Arthur Cravan (1992), and Panama Al Brown was an icon for the French Surrealists. Battling Siki, a French colonial subject born in Senegal and brought up in Marseilles, became persona non gratis in France after defeating Georges Carpentier, the French middle-weight champion, in a fixed match that he was supposed to lose. "To be or not to be American," a Dadaist credo, suggests a French interwar fascination with African-American style, movement, and music in opposition to the colonial African subject.

Specializing in French and francophone cinema and society, Dr. Bloom's interests range from the development of international film technologies at the turn of the twentieth century to contemporary film and media in Europe and Africa. His ongoing research examines the relationship between French colonial cinema, the history of ethnographic film, postcolonial francophone visual culture, and historical practices of media production. Bring a bag lunch. Light refreshments will be served.