Africanisms In American Culture (Blacks in the Diaspora)

book: Africanisms In American Culture (Blacks in the Diaspora)

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Africanisms In Ame...

	Africanisms In American Culture (Blacks in the Diaspora) Indiana University Press, 2005 - 436 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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An important work in the field of diaspora studies for the past decade, this collection has inspired scholars and others to explore a trail blazed originally by Melville J. Herskovits, the father of New World African studies. Since its original publication, the field has changed considerably. Africanism has been explored in its broader dimensions, particularly in the area of white Africanisms. Thus, the new edition has been revised and expanded. Joseph E. Holloway has written three essays for the new volume. The first uses a trans-national framework to examine how African cultural survivals have changed over time and readapted to diasporic conditions while experiencing slavery, forced labour, and racial discrimination. The second essay is "Africanisms in African American Names in the United States." The third reconstructs Gullah history, citing numerous Africanisms not previously identified by others. In addition, "The African Heritage of White America" by John Phillips has been revised to take note of many more instances of African cultural survivals in white America and to present a new synthesis of approaches.

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Newly revised and expanded!

The first edition of this book (published in 1990) has stood as an important work in the field of diaspora studies for the past decade, and now the revised, expanded edition reflects the considerable changes in the field, exploring both West and Central African carryovers in America.

"Africanisms" are elements of culture in the New World which can be traced to an African origin. The study of Africanisms is not without controversy, and editor Holloway details its historiography in his introduction.

Fourteen essays by eleven contributors explore African elements in African American language, names, religious practices, music, artistic culture and folklore. Two essays focus specifically on the Gullah, and several others reference them. "The African Heritage of White America" by John Edward Philips (revised for this edition) discusses ways African culture has influenced whites, especially in Southern culture. What I found particularly intriguing was the idea that the basic elements of some "white Africanisms" have pretty much vanished from black culture. For example, though the banjo is of African origin, it is associated today almost entirely with white performers, specifically Appalachian.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in American culture, though I think it will appeal more to academic readers than general ones.

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