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
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.