Synopses & Reviews
This is a study of the transplantation of a creed devised by and for African Americans--the African Methodist Episcopal Church--that was appropriated and transformed in a variety of South African contexts. Focusing on a transatlantic institution like the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the book studies the complex human and intellectual traffic that has bound African American and South African experience. It explores the development and growth of the African Methodist Episcopal Church both in South Africa and America, and the interaction between the two churches. This is a highly innovative work of comparative and religious history. Its linking of the United States and African black religious experiences is unique and makes it appealing to readers interested in religious history and black experience in both the United States and South Africa.
Review
"Campbell's scrupulous scholarship and sensitivity to this trans-Atlantic context along make the book worthwhile. Of special interest to students of African-American history and religion at more advanced levels."--Choice
"Songs of Zion is essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the character of black people and, by virtue of that, the American spirit as well. Balanced in every respect, rich in research, James Campbell's history of the A.M.E. Church on two continents is a major contribution to the literature of the African diaspora."--Charles Johnson, author of Middle Passage and University of Washington
"Songs of the Zion is the definitive account of the most important institutional connection between African Americans and black South Africans. Using the common experience of African Methodism as a window into black experience in the two countries, Campbell makes a major contribution to comparative studies and to the history of Pan-Africanism."--George Fredrickson, Stanford University
"...[An] invaluable comparative study."--eaching History
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [337]-395) and index.