African-Atlantic cultures and the South Carolina lowcountry
By: Ras Michael Brown, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Series: Cambridge studies on the American South
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9781107024090; 9781107668829
Subjects: HISTORY / World; Social life and customs; Religion; South Carolina; Africans; African Americans; Christianity and other religions
Description: "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"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 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.