Central Africans And Cultural Transformations In The American Diaspora

This book first published in 2001 sets out a paradigm that increases our understanding of African culture and the forces that led to its transformation during the period of the Atlantic slave trade and beyond putting long overdue emphasis on the importance of Central African culture to the cultures of the United States Brazil and the Caribbean Focusing on the KongoAngola culture zone the book illustrates how African peoples reshaped their cultural institutions beliefs and practices as they interacted with Portuguese slave traders up to 1800 then follows Central Africans through all the regions where they were taken as slaves and recaptives Here for the first time in one volume leading scholars of Africa Brazil Latin America and the Caribbean have collaborated to analyze the culture history of Africa and its diaspora This interdisciplinary approach across geographic areas is sure to set a precedent for other scholars of Africa and its diaspora