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The African Presence and Influence on the Cultures of the Americas
Editor: Brenda M. Greene
Date Of Publication: Jul 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2216-9
Isbn: 1-4438-2216-7
The African Presence and Influence on the Cultures of the Americas, an interdisciplinary collection of essays by scholars and writers whose disciplines include but are not limited to literature, languages, linguistics, history, sociology and psychology, reflects the complexity and diversity of the historical and cultural legacy of the African diasporic reality and provides a critical perspective for examining the persistence of African cultural traditions in the Americas. These writers and scholars explore the ways in which people connected by moments in history and the common legacies of racism, classism, colonialism and imperialism, have used literature, music, dance, religion and cultural rites and rituals to survive and resist.

The poetry and prose of Afro-Cuban icon, Nicolás Guillén and Afro-American literary legend, Gwendolyn Brooks provide a context for exploring these themes. Guillén and Brooks symbolize the triumph of the human spirit and the “Africanisms” present amongst people who share a common legacy originating in Africa. Building on the themes in the work of these poets, the scholars and writers in The African Presence and Influence on the Cultures of the Americas examine the nature, persistence and impact of these themes in literature, language, music, dance and religion. The scholarship generated in this collection has implications for the ways in which we read, study and teach cultural studies, literature, history, language, African American Studies, Caribbean Studies and Africana Studies.

Brenda M. Greene is Professor of English and Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. She is co-editor of Resistance and Transformation: Conversations with Black Writers, (2010) Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing, (2008), Redefining Ourselves, Black Writers in the Nineties, (1999) and Rethinking American Literature (1997).

“This collection, The Impact of Africa on the Culture of the Americas, is a must read for those teaching courses related to the literature and cultures of the African diaspora and for scholars committed to this research. The writers and scholars in this collection provide a critical lens from which to view the ways in which “Africanisms” present in the poetry, fiction, essays, dance and music in the Americas embody similar themes and patterns. By drawing upon the disciplines of history, sociology, literature, linguistics, music and dance, they offer readers a context for examining the emergence of these shared cultural practices, rituals and traditions of people throughout the African diaspora.

Prof. Greene has assembled a group of essays that will offer academics a valuable contribution to African diasporic studies.”

—Joyce E. King, Ph.D., Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair for Urban Teaching, Learning & Leadership and Professor of Educational Policy Students, Georgia State University

“The African Presence and Influence on the Cultures of the Americas will be an important contribution to Africana belles letters because of its interdisciplinarity. As Dr. Daisy Cocco

De Fillippis indicates in the foreword, The African Presence and Influence on the Cultures of the Americas captures the ebullient spirit of scholars from seven institutions engaged in an intercampus discussion on the impact of Africa in the Americas. Their essays reinforce the linkages wrought by the African presence among the many diverse cultures of the Americas. While Dr. Brenda Greene in the introduction notes at least seven disciplines represented by the writers, she also emphasizes the common themes that they share. The organization of the book—its fourteen chapters and division into four sections—provides diverse approaches to teaching the text to college students.

As a Caribbeanist and Professor of English, I welcome this book to further the conversation began in the comparable texts edited and published between 1993 and 2006 by Joseph Harris, Isidore Okpewho & Carole Boyce Davies, Sheila Walker, Genevieve Fabre & Klaus Benesch, and Michael Gomez.”

—Dr. Jacqueline Brice-Finch, Acting Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Coppin State University

Price Uk Gbp: 34.99
Price Us Usd: 52.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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