Roger D Abrahams

Singing the Master

The Emergence of African-American Culture in the PlantationSouth

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

"Impressive…A scrupulously researched work enlarging our understanding of an integral aspect of slave culture."--The Washington Post Book World What was it like to be a slave on a plantation of the antebellum South? How did the fiction of the happy slave and myth of the plantation "family" evolve? How did slaves create a performance style that unified them, while simultaneously entertaining and mocking the master? The answers to these questions may be found in the groundbreaking study of the corn-shucking ceremonies of the prewar South, where white masters played host to local slaves and watched their "guests" perform exuberant displays of singing and dancing. Drawing on the detailed written and oral histories of masters, slaves, and Northern commentators, distinguished folklorist Roger Abrahams peels through layers of racism and nostalgia surrounding this celebration to uncover its true significance in the lives and imagination of both blacks and whites - and in the evolution of an enduring African-American culture.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Seitenzahl: 384
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Januar 1994
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 197mm x 129mm x 19mm
• Gewicht: 268g
• ISBN-13: 9780140179194
• ISBN-10: 0140179194
• Artikelnr.: 21064281

Autorenporträt

Roger D. Abrahams

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgments
Introduction
ONE "Ain't You Gwine to the Shucking of the Corn?"
TWO Orders within Order: Cavalier and Slave Culture on the Plantation
THREE An American Version of Pastoral
FOUR Festive Spirit in the Development of African American Style
FIVE Signifying Leadership on the Plantation
SIX Powerful Imitations
Coda: Freedom Mighty Sweet
Notes
APPENDIX I: The Corn-Shucking Accounts
APPENDIX II: Accounts from Interviews with Ex-Slaves
Index