Different Drummers: Rhythm and Race in the Americas Volume 14

Long a taboo subject among critics, rhythm finally takes center stage in this book's dazzling, wide-ranging examination of diverse black cultures across the New World. Martin Munros groundbreaking work traces the central—and contested—role of music in shaping identities, politics, social history, and artistic expression. Starting with enslaved African musicians, Munro takes us to Haiti, Trinidad, the French Caribbean, and to the civil rights era in the United States. Along the way, he highlights such figures as Toussaint Louverture, Jacques Roumain, Jean Price-Mars, The Mighty Sparrow, Aimé Césaire, Edouard Glissant, Joseph Zobel, Daniel Maximin, James Brown, and Amiri Baraka. Bringing to light new connections among black cultures, Munro shows how rhythm has been both a persistent marker of race as well as a dynamic force for change at virtually every major turning point in black New World history.

“A compelling interdisciplinary exploration of rhythm and sound in the circum-Caribbean.”

“A compelling interdisciplinary exploration of rhythm and sound in the circum-Caribbean.” Kaima L. Glover

“Examining Black music in the western hemisphere since slavery, this book makes clear the essential role it has played in culture, politics and social change.”

"Munro argues in an informed and imaginative way that greater attention should be paid to the recurring sonic elements of black cultures in the new world. Different Drummers provides profound insights into the importance of rhythm as a marker of resistance and a dynamic facet of everyday life across Caribbean literatures and in African American music."—J. Michael Dash, New York University

"Munro takes us on a fascinating journey through the music of poetry and the poetry of music, beautifully tying together the cultures and literary texts of a range of Caribbean societies."—Laurent Dubois, author of Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France

Martin Munro is Associate Professor of French and Francophone Literatures at Florida State University.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Slaves to the Rhythm

1. Beating Back Darkness: Rhythm and Revolution in Haiti

2. Rhythm, Creolization, and Conflict in Trinidad

3. Rhythm, Music, and Literature in the French Caribbean

4. James Brown, Rhythm, and Black Power

Conclusion: Listening to New World History

Notes

References

Index