Synopses & Reviews
This book explores the formation of the African-American identity through the theory of cultural trauma. The trauma in question is slavery, not as an institution or as personal experience, but as collective memory--a pervasive remembrance that grounded a people's sense of itself. Ron Eyerman offers insights into the intellectual and generational conflicts of identity-formation which have a truly universal significance, and provides a new and compelling account of the birth of African-American identity.
Review
"Slavery has had a significant, long-lasting effect on US history and society. Along with Elizabeth Bethel in ^The Roots of African-American Identity(1997), Eyerman clearly traces this long, sometimes agonizing, process for anyone engaged n serious work on US race relations." Choice
Synopsis
Ron Eyerman explores the formation of African American identity through the cultural trauma of slavery.
Synopsis
In this book, Ron Eyerman explores the formation of the African-American identity through the cultural trauma of slavery. He offers insights into the intellectual and generational conflicts of identity-formation which have a truly universal significance, as well as providing a new and compelling account of the birth of African-American identity.
About the Author
Ronald Eyerman is the holder of the Segerstedt Chair of Sociology, and a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University (1900-2000). His recent publications include Music and Social Movements (Cambridge, 1998).
Table of Contents
1. Cultural trauma and collective memory; 2. Remembering and forgetting; 3. Out of Africa; 4. The black public sphere and the heritage of slavery; 5. Memory and representation; 6. Civil rights and black nationalism; References; Index.