The Déjà Vu: Black Dreams & Black Time

Gabrielle Civil mines black dreams and black time to reveal a vibrant archive of black feminist creative expressions.

Emerging from the intersection of pandemic and uprising, the déjà vu activates forms both new and ancestral, drawing movement, speech, and lyric essay into performance memoir. As Civil considers Haitian tourist paintings, dance rituals, race at the movies, black feminist legacies, and more, she reflects on her personal losses and desires, speculates on black time, and dreams into expansive black life. With intimacy, humor, and verve, the déjà vu blurs boundaries between memory, grief, and love; then, now, and the future.

Author: Gabrielle Civil
Publisher: Coffee House Press
Published: 02/22/2022
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.19h x 5.43w x 1.02d
ISBN: 9781566896221

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/22/2021
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2022

About the Author

Gabrielle Civil is a black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer originally from Detroit. She has premiered fifty performance artworks around the world. Her performance memoirs include Swallow the Fish, Experiments in Joy, (ghost gestures) and in and out of place. She teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. The aim of her work is to open up space.