The Talking Book: African Americans and the BibleA striking narrative of the Bible’s central role in African-American history from the early days of slavery to the present The Talking Book casts the Bible as the central character in a vivid portrait of black America, tracing the origins of African-American culture from slavery’s secluded forest prayer meetings to the bright lights and bold style of today’s hip-hop artists. The Bible has profoundly influenced African Americans throughout history. From a variety of perspectives this wide-ranging book is the first to explore the Bible’s role in the triumph of the black experience. Using the Bible as a foundation, African Americans shared religious beliefs, created their own music, and shaped the ultimate key to their freedom—literacy. Allen Callahan highlights the intersection of biblical images with African-American music, politics, religion, art, and literature. The author tells a moving story of a biblically informed African-American culture, identifying four major biblical images—Exile, Exodus, Ethiopia, and Emmanuel. He brings these themes to life in a unique African-American history that grows from the harsh experience of slavery into a rich culture that endures as one of the most important forces of twenty-first-century America. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 54
... West Africa: they read the Bible as a text into which these traditions were woven. The characters and events of the Bible became the functional equivalent of the ancestors and heroes long celebrated in West Africa. The many ancestral ...
... West African Muslim named London who was a slave on a Georgia plantation. The language corresponded to none of the dialects that the learned philologist knew. The letters formed the following mysterious sounds: “fas chapta o jon / inde ...
... West African musical composition . African - American singers plied this ancestral musical form in setting biblical phrases and stories to spontaneously improvised songs raised in worship . It was through the human voice , then , and ...
... West Virginia during Reconstruction, Washington witnessed many men receive “the call,” a dramatic affair often attended by conniptions and catatonic fits that recurred until the preacher-to-be accepted his new vocation. “In my youth ...
... West African Mandinka and was proud of his pure-blood African heritage. His father had absconded from a Virginia plantation with his wife and children and fled to New York. As escaped slaves, the Gar- nets were in constant danger of ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
41 | |
49 | |
5 Exodus | 83 |
6 Ethiopia | 138 |
7 Emmanuel | 185 |
Postscript | 240 |
Notes | 247 |
Subject Index | 275 |
Scripture Index | 284 |