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Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America
First published January 1, 1994
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May 6, 2008
It’s all about reclaiming the juiciness of folk religion; about answering Christ’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” in your own way, a way that empowers not only yourself but your people.
My people, though, are not the ones who constrained the Bible and forced Jesus to serve rich reactionaries. Rather, they are ... well, everyone else.
A handful of tidbits:
The reason there are so many famous sermons is that they were passed down practically verbatim and performed for many, many years – some for perhaps as much as two centuries. A book of modern (1927) poetry based on this form is John Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones. About the tropes that appear in both the book and the “theopoetic” art form of folk sermons, Smith has this to say: “...Johnson’s verses may be said to ‘mime’ divine creativity. But this divine creativity is itself, as represented by Johnson, mimetic in nature. Like a musical instrument that simulates human experience, God’s gestures simulate their intended effects on physical materials and on the sentient beings of the universe. Beginning with material productions, we see in ‘The Creation’ that God’s smile suffices to achieve the appearance of light. That marvel occurs presumably by way of the heightening (brightening) of the divine countenance: an obviously mimetic or mirror effect.”
Later:
“Turning now to African-American representations of Moses, I advance my hypothesis on the basis of continuities first in area (1): that is, with respect to Yoruba beliefs regarding specific divine figures or characterizations of deity. Since Moses is also represented by the tradition as a type of conjuror, I subsequently take up continuities in area (2): with regard, that is, to Kongo practices involving charms and sacred medicines as a source for black American conjure traditions. In alternating here from Yoruba deities to Bakongo charms I follow Robert Farris Thompson, who compares the complexity of the Yoruba pantheon to a correlative complexity among the Bakongo: ‘they have, instead, a complex system of minkisi, or sacred medicines.’ Raboteau also notes [in his book Slave Religion] that ‘the religious life of the peoples of the Kongo focused not upon a pantheon but upon a large range of minkisi, or sacred medicines, embodying spirits who could harm or cure.’ In each case I could of course consider a larger number of West African traditions [for the sake of historical completeness]. Most conspicuously absent in the following treatment, for example, is the continuity between African American figuration of Moses and the deity Damballah of the Fon people.” He goes on to trace “African-American characterizations of Moses from the compounding of two or three orisha alone,” while cautioning us that this is probably not the whole story.
I am tempted to quote more, but then I would not be able to stop. When I took notes on this book, they ran to twenty-seven pages of single-spaced type.
This is a fascinating, but somewhat stiff read. It is, after all, an academic book. I will probably read it again, more than once.
My people, though, are not the ones who constrained the Bible and forced Jesus to serve rich reactionaries. Rather, they are ... well, everyone else.
A handful of tidbits:
The reason there are so many famous sermons is that they were passed down practically verbatim and performed for many, many years – some for perhaps as much as two centuries. A book of modern (1927) poetry based on this form is John Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones. About the tropes that appear in both the book and the “theopoetic” art form of folk sermons, Smith has this to say: “...Johnson’s verses may be said to ‘mime’ divine creativity. But this divine creativity is itself, as represented by Johnson, mimetic in nature. Like a musical instrument that simulates human experience, God’s gestures simulate their intended effects on physical materials and on the sentient beings of the universe. Beginning with material productions, we see in ‘The Creation’ that God’s smile suffices to achieve the appearance of light. That marvel occurs presumably by way of the heightening (brightening) of the divine countenance: an obviously mimetic or mirror effect.”
Later:
“Turning now to African-American representations of Moses, I advance my hypothesis on the basis of continuities first in area (1): that is, with respect to Yoruba beliefs regarding specific divine figures or characterizations of deity. Since Moses is also represented by the tradition as a type of conjuror, I subsequently take up continuities in area (2): with regard, that is, to Kongo practices involving charms and sacred medicines as a source for black American conjure traditions. In alternating here from Yoruba deities to Bakongo charms I follow Robert Farris Thompson, who compares the complexity of the Yoruba pantheon to a correlative complexity among the Bakongo: ‘they have, instead, a complex system of minkisi, or sacred medicines.’ Raboteau also notes [in his book Slave Religion] that ‘the religious life of the peoples of the Kongo focused not upon a pantheon but upon a large range of minkisi, or sacred medicines, embodying spirits who could harm or cure.’ In each case I could of course consider a larger number of West African traditions [for the sake of historical completeness]. Most conspicuously absent in the following treatment, for example, is the continuity between African American figuration of Moses and the deity Damballah of the Fon people.” He goes on to trace “African-American characterizations of Moses from the compounding of two or three orisha alone,” while cautioning us that this is probably not the whole story.
I am tempted to quote more, but then I would not be able to stop. When I took notes on this book, they ran to twenty-seven pages of single-spaced type.
This is a fascinating, but somewhat stiff read. It is, after all, an academic book. I will probably read it again, more than once.
Displaying 1 of 1 review