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The African Aesthetic in World Creativity

Anthony Braxton's Philosophy of Vibrational Affinity Dynamics

Monash University

With a focus on the African aesthetic in the context of world creativity, this article explores the conception of "vibrational affinity dynamics" formulated in Anthony Braxton's Tri-Axium Writings. From an African-centered position that exposes the historical and cultural interconnectedness of all modes of knowledge in world culture, Braxton's conceptual tools are examined in conjunction with a critique of the negative implications of Western culture that are associated with the tendency to suppress the multiformity of knowledge types that are perceived as Other. Braxton's related notion of "affinity insight" is analyzed and compared with related models from the European postphenomenological tradition. Braxton's affinity concepts are shown to facilitate the comprehension of the role that African culture has played in the re-spiritualization of Western culture—especially through creative music—in the past century, as well as the continued role that Africa will play in the positive transformation of world culture.

Key Words: African aesthetic • Black culture • Western culture • world culture • Black music • improvisation • creativity • phenomenology

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