Richard Wright on the Question of Palestine at Bandung: The Aesthetic of Difference in The Color Curtain

Abstract This essay explores Richard Wright's account of the Bandung Conference, which took place in Indonesia in 1955, in an attempt to come to grips with the effects of Wright's partially privileged mobility on his conception of such issues as underdevelopment, irrationalism, colonialism, and—most importantly—solidarity between oppressed peoples in the Global South and elsewhere. More specifically, it argues that Wright's account of the conference in The Color Curtain (1956) creates its own curtain in both form and content while uncovering the color curtain, particularly in relation to the question of Palestine. From a formal point of view, the essay, following the insights of Kenneth W. Warren, further suggests that Wright produces an aesthetic of difference, an art form congruent with the US agenda in the Cold War era that in turn contributes to curtaining Palestine and Palestinians. It also reflects on the relevance of such an analysis in these critical times, especially because of the ongoing genocide in Gaza in particular and in Palestine at large.