When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands

by Patricia Jones-Jackson, Charles Joyner

Overview

When Roots Die celebrates and preserves the venerable Gullah culture of the sea islands of the South Carolina and Georgia coast. Entering into communities long isolated from the world by a blazing sun and salt marshes, Patricia Jones-Jackson captures the cadence of the storyteller lost in the adventures of "Brer Rabbit," records voices lifted in song or prayer, and describes folkways and beliefs that have endured, through ocean voyage and human bondage, for more than two hundred years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820323930
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	01/07/2004
Series:	Brown Thrasher Books Series
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	795,181
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

PATRICIA JONES-JACKSON, an associate professor of English at Howard University, died in 1986 while on assignment for the National Geographic Society on Johns Island, South Carolina.

PATRICIA JONES-JACKSON, an associate professor of English at Howard University, died in 1986 while on assignment for the National Geographic Society on Johns Island, South Carolina.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	In Memoriam	xviii
	Preface	xix
	Acknowledgments	xxv
	Introduction	1
1	The Social History and Organization	4
	Topography
	Demography
	Economy
	Social Structure
2	The Folk Literature	32
	Oral Presentation
	The Setting
	The Audience
	The Storytellers
	Conclusion
3	The Texts	77
	The Prayers
	A Sermon
	Gullah Tales Exemplifying Audience Participation
	Three Gullah Tales with African Parallels
4	The Language	132
	History
	Present-Day Gullah
	Features of Grammar
	Conclusion	147
Appendix 1	An Interview: Catching Fish	151
Appendix 2	Buh Rabbit en' de Lawd	156
Appendix 3	Phoentic Text: The Soul and the Spirit	158
Appendix 4	The Land Question	165
	Notes	169
	Selected Bibliography	179
	Index	185

Editorial Reviews

Jones-Jackson's sketches of her Wadmalaw Island friends and informants are uniformly rewarding. In a series of gilt-edged portraits, she introduces us to Gullah-speaking men and women whom the twentieth century is crowding out. . . . At the end of this short book, the reader wishes there were more. More tales from the lips of Ted Williams; more sermons from the allusive genius of the Reverend Renty Pickney, who has memorized the Bible; more interviews with fishermen like Daniel Dent, who can call porpoises for miles around.

Natural History

This book is based on fieldwork done for the late Jones-Jackson's dissertation (1978), an ethnography of the Gullah language surviving on the Sea Islands off of the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia . . . Although the subject has previously attracted substantial scholarly attention, Jones-Jackson's work adds greater description and analysis of the performance and social context of the Gullah language and lore. She also provides comparisons drawn from performances that she collected firsthand in Africa . . . The collection she presents-prayers, sermons, and ‘Brer Rabbit and other animal tales-is a rich trove of lore that scholars will appreciate. Students also will appreciate the work because of Jones-Jackson's clear writing.

Choice

A remarkable book about the life and language of the Sea Islands.

National Geographic

Jones-Jackson's greatest contribution is her consideration of language. Although, as she insists, written accounts cannot properly capture the vividness and vitality of linguistic expression in a culture that is still basically oral, she comes as close as may be possible to accomplishing that task.

North Carolina Historical Review

A remarkable book about the life and language of the Sea Islands.

National Geographic

Jones-Jackson's sketches of her Wadmalaw Island friends and informants are uniformly rewarding. In a series of gilt-edged portraits, she introduces us to Gullah-speaking men and women whom the twentieth century is crowding out. . . . At the end of this short book, the reader wishes there were more. More tales from the lips of Ted Williams; more sermons from the allusive genius of the Reverend Renty Pickney, who has memorized the Bible; more interviews with fishermen like Daniel Dent, who can call porpoises for miles around.

Natural History

"A remarkable book about the life and language of the Sea Islands."--National Geographic

"Jones-Jackson's sketches of her Wadmalaw Island friends and informants are uniformly rewarding. In a series of gilt-edged portraits, she introduces us to Gullah-speaking men and women whom the twentieth century is crowding out. . . . At the end of this short book, the reader wishes there were more. More tales from the lips of Ted Williams; more sermons from the allusive genius of the Reverend Renty Pickney, who has memorized the Bible; more interviews with fishermen like Daniel Dent, who can call porpoises for miles around."--Natural History

"Jones-Jackson's greatest contribution is her consideration of language. Although, as she insists, written accounts cannot properly capture the vividness and vitality of linguistic expression in a culture that is still basically oral, she comes as close as may be possible to accomplishing that task."--North Carolina Historical Review

"This book is based on fieldwork done for the late Jones-Jackson's dissertation (1978), an ethnography of the Gullah language surviving on the Sea Islands off of the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia . . . Although the subject has previously attracted substantial scholarly attention, Jones-Jackson's work adds greater description and analysis of the performance and social context of the Gullah language and lore. She also provides comparisons drawn from performances that she collected firsthand in Africa . . . The collection she presents-prayers, sermons, and ‘Brer Rabbit and other animal tales-is a rich trove of lore that scholars will appreciate. Students also will appreciate the work because of Jones-Jackson's clear writing."--Choice

From the Publisher