As any well-organized, carefully annotated bibliography does, this work by Southern and Wright brings order out of chaos. . . . This useful bibliography is recommended for libraries on all campuses where there is an interest in the black experience. Choice
As any well-organized, carefully annotated bibliography does, this work by Southern and Wright brings order out of chaos. The 2,328 entries identify books, articles, sermons, pamphlets, and broadsides, among other formats, all centered on black folk culture with emphasis on the manifestations of that culture from 1600 to 1920 through song, dance, games, sermons, and illustrations. . . . This carefully done and useful bibliography is recommended for libraries on all campuses where there is an interest in the black experience. Choice
African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance is undeniably the most valuable resource available to scholars engaged in Afro-American folk culture research. An untapped wealth of primary information has been chronologically cataloged within this comprehensive, annotated guide. It covers a period of over 300 years of African-American cultural history in the United States. Materials fall into three categories: literary publications, iconographical records, and collections of song, tale, and sermon texts. Focusing on folk culture, 2,328 items were chosen for their historical relevance as well as to insure broad representation. Eileen Southern and Josephine Wright's bibliography provides researchers with the tools needed to shatter myths and stereotypes and to form concise theses supported by extensive evidence.
The bibliography is divided into four major chronological sections: Colonial-Federalist, Antebellum, Post-Emancipation, and Early Twentieth Century. A fifth section, The WPA Slave Narrative Collection, includes materials (collected in the 1930s) that are essential to a serious discussion of American slavery. Within these five sections materials are classified as literature, artwork, and/or collections. Literature and artwork subsections are further divided into social activities, religious experience, song, and tale. Iconographical entries often compliment the literary ones and some themes run throughout the book. The materials are indexed by names of authors and artists, by subject, and by first lines of songs.
Reviews
As any well-organized, carefully annotated bibliography does, this work by Southern (Harvard, emerita) and Wright (College of Wooster) brings order out of chaos. The 2,328 entries identify books, articles, sermons, pamphlets, and broadsides, among other formats, all centered on black folk culture with emphasis on the manifestations of that culture from 1600 to 1920 through song, dance, games, sermons, and illustrations. A volume in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Black Music, the book is organized chronologically into four major sections and then subdivided into publications grouped around the topics Social Activities, Religious Experience, The Song, and The Tale. The annotations not only describe the item listed but provide a note to indicate whether it includes the text of a particular song, sermon, or game. As a supplement to the enumeration of textual sources the compilers have supplied an extensive and unique annotated listing of iconographic materials--drawings, paintings, sketches, and photographs that illustrate the various facets of black folk culture. Indexes supply access by author, subject, illustrator, and first line of both chorus and verse of songs. The text is presented in camera-ready copy. This carefully done and useful bibliography is recommended for libraries on all campuses where there is an interest in the black experience.—Choice
