African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry

by Ras Michael Brown

Overview

African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry examines perceptions of the natural world revealed by the religious ideas and practices of African-descended communities in South Carolina from the colonial period into the twentieth century. Focusing on Kongo nature spirits known as the simbi, Ras Michael Brown describes the essential role religion played in key historical processes, such as establishing new communities and incorporating American forms of Christianity into an African-based spirituality. This book illuminates how people of African descent engaged the spiritual landscape of the Lowcountry through their subsistence practices, religious experiences and political discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139564670
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/27/2012
Series:	Cambridge Studies on the American South
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	345,141
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Ras Michael Brown is Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Table of Contents

1. Place, culture, and power; 2. Land of the living; 3. African spirits of the land and water; 4. African landscapes of the Lowcountry; 5. Spiritual guardians in the wilderness; 6. Mermaid histories and power.

Editorial Reviews

"Recommended."
Choice

"African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry contextualizes U.S. African American religious cultures in the transnational, transoceanic psychic and cultural space of the African-Atlantic, and offers the promise of future forays into yet unexplored scholarly terrains."
Alexis S. Wells, Southern Spaces

"This important book will be immediately useful to anyone interested in African American cultural and religious history."
Jason R. Young, Journal of American History

From the Publisher