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
Results 1-5 of 59
... stories from the life of Jesus . Yet biblical phrases and motifs have been manifest in African- American life far beyond the boundaries that moderns have marked off with the word religion . In traditional parlance still used in some ...
... stories of Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob qualify the ancient rule of men over women — stories that , to compound the irony , scholars call “ Patriarchal narratives . ” In the story of the Exodus runaway slaves stage a spectacular escape ...
... story figures prominently at a meeting of the co - conspirators at Vesey's home . That night at Vesey's we determined to have arms made , and each man put in 122 cents toward that purpose . Though Vesey's room was full I did not know an ...
... stories to spontaneously improvised songs raised in worship . It was through the human voice , then , and not the printed page , that the Bible came to inhabit the slave's inner world . The slaves ' Bible became musical , even as the ...
... story he had heard about an illiterate slave preacher . We all went to church every Sunday . We would go to the white folks ' church in the morning and to our church in the evening . Bill McWilliams , Old Master's oldest boy , didn't ...
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 | |