Just Below South: Intercultural Performance in the Caribbean and the U.S. South

by Jessica Adams (editor), Michael P. Bibler (Editor), Cécile Accilien (Editor)

Just Below South is the first book to examine the U.S. South and the Caribbean as a "regional interculture" shaped by performance--as a space defined not so much by a shared set of geographical boundaries or by a single, common culture as by the weave of performances and identities moving across and throughout it. By offering fresh ways for thinking about region, language, and performance, the volume helps to reimagine the possibilities for American Studies. It advances beyond current analyses of historical or literary commonalities between the South and the Caribbean to explore startling and significant connections between a range of performances, including Trinidadian carnival, Civil War reenactments, the Martinican dance form kalenda, dramatic adaptations of Uncle Tom's Cabin, rituals of spirit possession, the teaching of Haitian Kreyòl, the translation of Louisiana Creole, and the imaginative "travels" of southern and Caribbean writers. While generating textual conversations among scholars of Francophone, Anglophone, and Hispanophone literature and culture and forging innovative ties between cultural studies, performance studies, linguistics, literary analysis, and studies of the African diaspora, these essays raise provocative new questions about race, ethnicity, gender, class, and nationality. ContributorsJessica Adams, University of California, Berkeley * Carolyn Vellenga Berman, The New School * Anne Malena, University of Alberta * Cécile Accilien, Columbus State University, Georgia * Don E. Walicek, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras * Julian Gerstin, San Jose State University * Rawle Gibbons, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine * Kathleen M. Gough, University of Glasgow * Shirley Toland-Dix, University of South Florida, Tampa * Michael P. Bibler, University of Mary Washington * Jana Evans Braziel, University of Cincinnati

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Jessica Adams is an astrologer and author. Her books include 2020 Vision, Handbag Horoscopes and Astrolove (Penguin) and Essential Astrology for Women (HarperCollins). Her recent book 2020 Astrology: Your Five-Year Horoscope Guide, was a #1 Amazon bestseller in America and Australia. Jessica has worked as a team editor on the Girls' Night In and Kids' Night in series, for Penguin and HarperCollins, with contributors including J.K.Rowling, Stella McCartney and Nick Hornby. She is the Editor of The Holiday Goddess Guide to Paris, London, New York and Rome (HarperCollins). Jessica lives in Australia and her astrology has appeared everywhere from VOGUE (Japan) to GQ (Great Britain). Her latest book is Your Birthday (Hachette/Running Press) with Rachel Wells. She is the astrological consultant on The Aries Billionaire by Rachel Wells (Audible UK).