By the work of their hands : studies in Afro-American folklife
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
By the work of their hands : studies in Afro-American folklife
University Press of Virginia, c1991
- : pbk
Available at 5 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-235) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In this book the author aims to revolutionize our understanding of Afro-American material culture. Bringing to the essays his extensive research into the written, oral and material sources of Afro-American culture as well on his scholarly knowledge of folklife, social history, anthropology, and art history, Vlach presents the evidence of African influence on Black American folklife, both past and present. The 9 essays in the book are divided into three categories: folk arts and crafts, artisan's lives, and black buildings. They encompass a broad range of folklife, bringing together the fragmented pieces of African as well as Caribbean influence. From South Carolina to Texas, and from Louisiana to Virginia, Vlach provides both general surveys and specific case studies, and focuses not only on artifacts, but on the artisan's role as designer and maker. He examines various manifestations of African culture form direct retentions of African items to stylistic influences inherent in the creative philosophy, in the intellectual premises on which the artifact is designed. The noted stonecarver William Edmonson of Tennessee and contemporary blacksmith Philip Simmons of Charleston are featured, as well as countless other artisans from both past and present. The last 20 years have brought an increased awareness of black America's African heritage, but the lasting influences of African tradition in material culture has been largely overlooked or denied by scholars claiming that slave owners had succeeded in divesting black people of all tangible aspects of the life they had lost. Using multidisciplinary means, Vlach has broken much new ground in this complex cross-cultural experience. He uses unconventional documents to create an alternative history and to demonstrate just how much of African culture was remembered and how rich and vibrant the tradition is.
by "Nielsen BookData"