The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life

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dc.contributor.advisorMonoa, Thabang
dc.contributor.authorMzizi, Chiara
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-28T09:40:53Z
dc.date.available2026-09-28T09:40:53Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.date.updated2026-09-28T09:01:37Z
dc.description.abstractThis study conducts a phenomenological account of the Rhodes Must Fall Movement (RMF) through an aesthetic lens. It aims to show the existence and role of artistic affect in maintaining both political movements and black social life. By theorising on what I term, in this study, the Black Mood, I argue that particular grammars of aesthetic practice induce an atmosphere of togetherness, kinship, and understanding. Held together under the speculative framework of Black Mooding, these collective forces refuse the structural alienation described by RMF as “black pain”. Thus, the Black Mood indexes a felt sense of togetherness in the context of colonial violence and resistance to it. Structurally, the study divides RMF's aesthetic operations under the banners of Chorus, Choreography and Curating. Therein, themes pertaining to aesthetic embodiment, multi-sensoriality, memory, time, and ontology are unpacked. These ideas provide an analytical framework from which to meditate on decolonial conceptions of black protest/art that move beyond humanistic conceptions of Being. Therefore, this study hopes to make three primary interventions. Firstly, it uses the philosophical and aesthetic conception of a ‘mood' to present a phenomenological reading of RMF. Secondly, in theorising the Black Mood, I attend to decolonial and post-human conceptions of blackness that trouble the border between black social life and black social death. And lastly, in line with RMF's philosophies, I hope to sketch out a way of thinking about the role of aesthetics in socio-political negotiations of power.
dc.identifier.apacitationMzizi, C. (2026). <i>The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43827en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMzizi, Chiara. <i>"The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2026. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43827en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMzizi, C. 2026. The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43827en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Mzizi, Chiara AB - This study conducts a phenomenological account of the Rhodes Must Fall Movement (RMF) through an aesthetic lens. It aims to show the existence and role of artistic affect in maintaining both political movements and black social life. By theorising on what I term, in this study, the Black Mood, I argue that particular grammars of aesthetic practice induce an atmosphere of togetherness, kinship, and understanding. Held together under the speculative framework of Black Mooding, these collective forces refuse the structural alienation described by RMF as “black pain”. Thus, the Black Mood indexes a felt sense of togetherness in the context of colonial violence and resistance to it. Structurally, the study divides RMF's aesthetic operations under the banners of Chorus, Choreography and Curating. Therein, themes pertaining to aesthetic embodiment, multi-sensoriality, memory, time, and ontology are unpacked. These ideas provide an analytical framework from which to meditate on decolonial conceptions of black protest/art that move beyond humanistic conceptions of Being. Therefore, this study hopes to make three primary interventions. Firstly, it uses the philosophical and aesthetic conception of a ‘mood' to present a phenomenological reading of RMF. Secondly, in theorising the Black Mood, I attend to decolonial and post-human conceptions of blackness that trouble the border between black social life and black social death. And lastly, in line with RMF's philosophies, I hope to sketch out a way of thinking about the role of aesthetics in socio-political negotiations of power. DA - 2026 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Decoloniality KW - Social Movements KW - Post-Apartheid KW - Aesthetic Embodiment KW - Post-Humanism KW - Performance Art KW - Black Studies KW - Curating LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2026 T1 - The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life TI - The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43827 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/43827
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMzizi C. The Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2026 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43827en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentMichaelis School of Fine Art
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectDecoloniality
dc.subjectSocial Movements
dc.subjectPost-Apartheid
dc.subjectAesthetic Embodiment
dc.subjectPost-Humanism
dc.subjectPerformance Art
dc.subjectBlack Studies
dc.subjectCurating
dc.titleThe Black Mood: The Role of Aesthetic Affect in Black Social Life
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters of Art in Fine Art
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