The Talking Book: African Americans and the BibleYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 295 pages A 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
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... interpretations — History. 2. Bible — Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Afrocentrism — Religious aspects — Christianity — History. 4. African Americans— Religion. I. Title. bs521.2.c35 2006 220.089′96073 — dc22 A catalogue record for ...
... interpretation. The chapter on Exile elaborates on thinking reflected in essays I wrote treating the biblical ... interpretations of the figure of Jesus. In that summary review I said little about Hip-Hop and “Gansta” Rap, cultural ...
... interpretation is a veritable subgenre in the Hip-Hop music of African- American urban youth, and the figure of Jesus inhabits what poet Sonia Sanchez has called “a theological space” in which young black people identify with his ...
... interpretation of the Bible.”15 Evangelicalism would make the Bible the most accessible literature in America. African- American Evangelicals would make it the most danger- ous. In 1800 two slaves of Tom Prosser, Gabriel and his brother ...
... interpretation was of antique vintage . In early medieval commentary , the rabbis had speculated long ago that Cain had been made black by the back draft of soot from his unacceptable sacrifice . In Ameri- can religion , blackness ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
3 The Good Book | 41 |
4 Exile | 49 |
5 Exodus | 83 |
6 Ethiopia | 138 |
7 Emmanuel | 185 |
Postscript | 240 |
Notes | 247 |
275 | |
284 | |