Product details
- ISBN 9781496865342
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 15 Dec 2026
- Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Contributions by Arthur Banton, Adrian A. Bautista, Shannon M. Cochran, Nancy J. Holland, Zachary Hoskins, Judson L. Jeffries, Zada Johnson, Deirdre T. Guion Peoples, Caterina Y. Pierre, John Rafalski, Molly Reinhoudt, Gina Shropshire, and Laura Tiebert
Erotic City and Beyond: Prince, Place, and the Making of an Icon, the third and final volume in the PrincEnlighteNmenT: A Study of Society through Music project, explores the intricate, complex, and nuanced interplay between Prince’s artistry, his social orbit, and the enduring impact of his life and work. Divided into three thematic sections, essayists examine how his music and public persona intersected with race, gender, politics, and geography, revealing him as both a product and a shaper of postmodern civil rights America.
Part I, "Space, Place, and Political Sociology in Prince’s World," considers how Prince engaged with urban landscapes, gender, and social critique. Essays explore him as a postmodern flâneur in Under the Cherry Moon, interpret "When Doves Cry" as a meditation on Black urban life and masculinity, and situate Paisley Park, his former home and recording studio in the suburb of Chanhassen, Minnesota, as a site of cultural memory and mythmaking. Part II, "Iconography and the Making of a Legend," examines how Prince destabilized hierarchies of race, gender, and sexuality, challenged the boundaries between creator and performer, and redefined his role as a "Black New Waver," expanding a genre often marked by racial division. The final section, "Purple Tears, Mourning, and the Psychology of Living," turns to Prince’s legacy, exploring how fans find meaning, transformation, and inspiration through their connections to him, highlighting the cultural power of fandom as both a reflection of and response to the artist’s influence.
Together, the essays in this volume demonstrate that a richer understanding of Prince—and the America that shaped him—emerges from examining the social, cultural, and political contexts in which he lived and created.
Judson L. Jeffries is professor of African American and African studies at The Ohio State University-Columbus. He is editor or author of numerous books, including Huey P. Newton: The Radical Theorist and On the Ground: The Black Panther Party in Communities across America, both published by University Press of Mississippi.
Shannon M. Cochran is professor in the Department of English and the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and coordinator of the African American Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies programs at Clayton State University. Included in her body of work on race, gender, and body politics is the intersectional examination of how representations in visual and narrative cultures impact the lived experiences of African American identities.
Molly Reinhoudt is former managing editor of Research in African Literatures and Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men in the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University. Jeffries, Cochran, and Reinhoudt are coeditors of The Purple One: Prince, Race, Gender, and Everything in Between and Feel My Big Guitar: Prince and the Sound He Helped Create, both published by University Press of Mississippi.
