Research Catalog
Singing the master : the emergence of African American culture in the plantation south
- Title
- Singing the master : the emergence of African American culture in the plantation south / Roger D. Abrahams.
- Author
- Abrahams, Roger D.
- Publication
- New York : Pantheon Books, 1992.
- ©1992
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | Sc D 92-514 | Schomburg Center - Research & Reference |
Details
- Description
- xxvi, 341 pages : illustrations; 22 cm
- Summary
- In the American South before the Civil War, a harvest celebration developed surrounding the shucking of the corn each autumn. This event brought together both slave and master, with the slaves encouraged to perform. Thanks to the reports of visitors and foreigners, the corn-shucking ceremony became a representative scene of plantation life. In Singing the Master, Roger Abrahams reconstructs the genesis of the celebration--and offers a controversial and radical interpretation of the occasion. Tracing the origins of the ceremony to the English custom of harvest home, Abrahams shows how the slaves, encouraged to express their African cultural heritage, transformed a chance for performance and self-expression into an opportunity for moral and social commentary--an occasion to mock and ridicule their masters. Abrahams also analyzes the corn-shucking ceremony's fascinating dual cultural legacy--how the African American performance style influenced white culture as it was adapted and imitated by whites in minstrel and vaudeville shows; and also how the bardic role of the performer, the subversive treatment of authority, and interplay with the audience are present in African American performance style today.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-202) and index.
- Contents
- 1. "Ain't You Gwine to the Shucking of the Corn?" -- 2. Orders Within Order: Cavalier and Slave Culture on the Plantation -- 3. An American Version of Pastoral -- 4. Festive Spirit in the Development of African American Style -- 5. Signifying Leadership on the Plantation -- 6. Powerful Imitations -- Appendix I: The Corn-Shucking Accounts -- Appendix II: Accounts from Interviews with Ex-Slaves.
- Call Number
- Sc D 92-514
- ISBN
- 0394555910
- 9780394555911
- LCCN
- 91030163
- OCLC
- 24318784
- Author
- Abrahams, Roger D., author.
- Title
- Singing the master : the emergence of African American culture in the plantation south / Roger D. Abrahams.
- Publisher
- New York : Pantheon Books, 1992.
- Copyright Date
- ©1992
- Edition
- 1st ed.
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-202) and index.
- Connect to:
- Research Call Number
- Sc D 92-514