Gold Coast Diasporas: Identity, Culture, and Power Contributor(s): Rucker, Walter C. (Author), Thornton, John K. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0253016940 ISBN-13: 9780253016942 Publisher: Indiana University Press OUR PRICE: $54.45 Product Type: Hardcover Published: September 2015 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Americas (north Central South West Indies) - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social |
Dewey: 305.895 |
LCCN: 2015006250 |
Series: Blacks in the Diaspora |
Physical Information: 1" H x 6.2" W x 9.3" (1.40 lbs) 326 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Although they came from distinct polities and peoples who spoke different languages, slaves from the African Gold Coast were collectively identified by Europeans as Coromantee or Mina. Why these ethnic labels were embraced and how they were utilized by enslaved Africans to develop new group identities is the subject of Walter C. Rucker's absorbing study. Rucker examines the social and political factors that contributed to the creation of New World ethnic identities and assesses the ways displaced Gold Coast Africans used familiar ideas about power as a means of understanding, defining, and resisting oppression. He explains how performing Coromantee and Mina identity involved a common set of concerns and the creation of the ideological weapons necessary to resist the slavocracy. These weapons included obeah powders, charms, and potions; the evolution of peasant consciousness and the ennoblement of common people; increasingly aggressive displays of masculinity; and the empowerment of women as leaders, spiritualists, and warriors, all of which marked sharp breaks or reformulations of patterns in their Gold Coast past. |